Medsider: Learn from Medtech and Healthtech Founders and CEOs

Scott Nelson
  • 4.7 (70)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Semiweekly

Learn from the brightest CEOs in medtech and healthtech. That's our primary goal with Medsider. We unpack the strategies, tactics, and secrets behind the most successful startups. Join tens of thousands of ambitious doers and get access to the top medical device and health technology thought leaders.

  1. Jul 6

    Designing for Access, Not Just Affordability: Interview with SS Innovations Founder Dr. Sudhir Srivastava

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Dr. Sudhir Srivastava, founder, chairman, and CEO of SS Innovations (Nasdaq: SSII).  The company’s SSi Mantra surgical robotic system supports a variety of surgical robotic procedures, including cardiac surgery.  Sudhir brings more than three decades of experience in minimally invasive and robotic cardiac interventions, having served as Director of Robotic Cardiac Surgery at the University of Chicago and founder of the International College of Robotic Surgery. A pioneer in the field, Sudhir has performed more than 1,400 robotic procedures, including over 750 beating-heart totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB) surgeries. In this interview, Sudhir discusses what it takes to democratize robotic surgery beyond affordability, how SS Innovations built teleproctoring, telesurgery, and the supporting infrastructure for its robotic platform, and his milestone-based approach to financing a capital-intensive medtech company.  Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Sudhir Srivastava, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like! KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (03:01) - Sudhir's journey from performing the world's first beating-heart robotic bypass to founding SS Innovations (07:14) - The 22-year-old patient who became the catalyst for Sudhir’s affordable robotic surgery platform (08:59) - Building Mantra 3 from the ground up in just five months (12:14) - Inside the engineering process that eliminated months of costly iteration (16:20) - The question that shaped SS Innovations: "How do you democratize access?" (27:10) - From one office to performing 24 telesurgeries in 12 hours across India (29:29) - How a mobile training bus became part of Sudhir's answer to make robotic surgery accessible (33:49) - Lessons from commercializing a surgical robotics platform across developing markets (39:43) - Starting with just $5 million: Sudhir's milestone-based approach to fundraising

    Designing for Access, Not Just Affordability: Interview with SS Innovations Founder Dr. Sudhir Srivastava

  2. Jun 29

    Three Hurdles to Medical Device Adoption: Interview with Esperto Medical CEO Aditya Rajagopal

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Aditya Rajagopal, co-founder and CEO of Esperto Medical. Esperto is a Caltech spin-out utilizing compressed sensing technology with ultrasound to continuously and non-invasively measure blood pressure. Before Esperto, Aditya co-founded ChromaCode, a molecular diagnostics company, and was a researcher at Google[x], where he worked on novel medical imaging methods. Aditya also serves as part-time faculty at Caltech and USC, and holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Caltech.  In this interview, Aditya discusses why great science doesn’t necessarily make great companies, what it takes to win as a fast-follower in medtech, and how to sequence a platform technology without spreading resources too thin. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Aditya Rajagopal, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like! KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (02:44) - Aditya’s journey from Caltech and Google to tackling one of medicine's hardest engineering problems at Esperto (05:17) - How Esperto is trying to solve a 50-year-old problem: continuous blood pressure monitoring without an arterial catheter (07:17) - Why Esperto was okay with being a fast-follower in an established market instead of creating a new one (16:12) - "Great science doesn't necessarily make great companies" and other lessons Aditya learned at ChromaCode (24:02) - Three hurdles every medical device must clear before clinicians will actually adopt it (27:44) - How Aditya determines whether a technical problem actually has a "there there" (37:51) - Esperto’s pitch strategy and how it raised from a position of strength (43:18) - What first-time founders often misunderstand about how venture capital actually works

    Three Hurdles to Medical Device Adoption: Interview with Esperto Medical CEO Aditya Rajagopal

  3. Jun 22

    Creating Consumer Demand for a New Category: Interview with Climatic CEO Eric Kau

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Eric Kau, co-founder and CEO of Climatic. Climatic is commercializing L Max, a daily inhaled system that proactively supports lung function. Before Climatic, Eric served as COO of Seed Health and was part of the foundational team at Chewy. Earlier in his career, Eric held growth and operational leadership roles across consumer, wellness, and e-commerce businesses, including Amazon, BoxyCharm, Target, and Best Buy.  In this interview, Eric discusses what it takes to build a consumer category that doesn’t yet exist, how Climatic approached clinical validation and consumer education simultaneously, and how early user behavior helped identify the company’s strongest initial customer cohorts. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Eric Kau, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like! KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (02:49) - Eric’s path through Amazon, Chewy, Seed, and the consumer health experiences that led to Climatic (05:49) - Why Climatic is treating lung health like hydration, sleep, or nutrition (11:47) - How Climatic rapidly iterated on formulas, delivery systems, and prototypes to launch a product for a new category in under 2 years (14:56) - Climatic’s approach to product design, which is built around gym bags, vanities, and existing wellness routines (19:59) - How early users shaped both Climatic’s clinical strategy and its go-to-market focus on endurance athletes and biohackers (23:56) - Why Climatic spent more time teaching consumers about lung health than selling the product itself (34:07) - What investors needed to believe before funding a category that didn’t yet exist (40:27) - How Climatic built a 15,000-person waitlist through Strava run clubs instead of paid ads

    Creating Consumer Demand for a New Category: Interview with Climatic CEO Eric Kau

  4. Jun 8

    Building Clinical Evidence Around Your Target Market: Interview with Teal Health CEO Kara Egan

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Kara Egan, founder and CEO of Teal Health. Teal Health is the company behind the first FDA-authorized at-home cervical cancer screening wand. Before founding Teal, Kara worked in healthcare and software investing at .406 Ventures and Emergence Capital, and held product and marketing roles at Zendesk and Stitch Labs.   In this interview, Kara discusses building support and follow-up into at-home screening, how Teal expanded its comparative clinical study to support broader market adoption, and how healthcare incentives, reimbursement, and institutional trust shape new care models. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Kara Egan, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like! KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (02:49) - Kara’s background in health technology investing and software that shaped Teal’s consumer-first approach (05:14) - How Teal turned the traditional Pap smear into the first FDA-authorized at-home screening product (07:30) - Turning at-home testing, telehealth, and clinician follow-up into a single care experience (13:48) - Raising Teal’s first $1M with mockups and consumer-grade design (22:17) - Teal’s comparative study that matched physician-collected screening with 96% sensitivity (23:40) - How asking women what they actually wanted changed Teal’s view of the market opportunity (32:05) - “Take off the healthcare hat” — Kara’s framework for fundraising, incentives, and commercialization (41:48) - What investors actually care about beyond the company’s mission

    Building Clinical Evidence Around Your Target Market: Interview with Teal Health CEO Kara Egan

  5. Jun 1

    Solving for Healthcare’s Broken Doorway: Interview with OnMed CEO Karthik Ganesh

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Karthik Ganesh, CEO of OnMed. OnMed is the healthcare technology company behind OnMed CareStation, a “Clinic-in-a-Box” designed to expand access to primary and urgent care.  Before OnMed, Karthik served as CEO of EmpiRx Health, leading the company through rapid growth and a successful private equity transaction in 2021. Throughout his career, he’s held leadership roles at QualCare, CareAllies, and Aetna, and advised healthcare organizations through Deloitte and EY. In this interview, Karthik discusses why hybrid care models still require a human touch, how enterprise healthcare buyers evaluate value propositions differently, why brand and culture should shape execution early, and how operating under constraints can sharpen innovation. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Karthik Ganesh, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like! KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (03:04) - Karthik’s obsession with healthcare access, and the “broken doorway” problem behind OnMed (05:51) - How OnMed combines telemedicine and brick-and-mortar care into a “Clinic in a Box” (09:04) - The OnMed metrics that surprised Karthik most, including a 37% patient return rate, and the reasons behind the company’s success (09:22) - What OnMed designed differently after realizing that patients approach healthcare with their guard up (15:27) - The pitfalls of B2C healthcare and how OnMed was built as a B2B company by intention (22:01) - How Karthik reshaped OnMed around clarity, structure, and high performers (30:23) - What “brand” actually means to Karthik (39:37) - How OnMed tailored its value proposition for payers, providers, employers, and universities (45:45) - Karthik’s fundraising philosophy: constraints keep companies inventive

    Solving for Healthcare’s Broken Doorway: Interview with OnMed CEO Karthik Ganesh

  6. May 26

    Meeting Patients Where They Are: Interview with Clairity CEO Dr. Connie Lehman

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Dr. Connie Lehman, founder and CEO of Clairity. Clairity is the first FDA-authorized AI platform that predicts a woman's five-year risk of developing breast cancer using only a routine screening mammogram. A physician scientist with over 300 peer-reviewed publications, Connie is a Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Breast Imaging Specialist at Massachusetts General Brigham (on leave). She holds an MD and PhD from Yale and was named to Forbes' 50 Over 50 Innovators and TIME 100 World’s Most Influential Leaders in Health. In this interview, Connie discusses her experience translating academic research into a commercially viable startup, the massive undertaking of generating clinical evidence when you’re creating a new category, and how Clairity is approaching adoption on two fronts: fitting into physician workflows and building access pathways for patients. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Connie Lehman, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like! KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (03:04) - The broken screening paradigm Connie saw in clinic — and the gap that became Clairity (05:09) - How Clairity rolls the clock back from detection to predicting risk in healthy women (07:31) - Why "more data is better" turned out to be wrong and how that shaped Clairity's product scope (21:57) - How physicians can translate grant-generating discipline into building a company (24:56) - What 18 months of pre-sub meetings revealed about navigating a de novo pathway (26:49) - Why Clairity validated its technology in over 250,000 mammograms when FDA required far less (34:43) - How Connie flipped the natural question from "how can doctors offer this?" to "how can women access it?" (43:47) - How relationships, not pitches, drove Clairity’s $43M Series B

    Meeting Patients Where They Are: Interview with Clairity CEO Dr. Connie Lehman

  7. May 18

    Translating Academic IP into a Medtech Startup: Interview with Echopoint Medical CEO Antony Odell

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Antony Odell, co-founder and CEO of Echopoint Medical. Echopoint is a London-based UCL spinout developing iKOr, an optical microcatheter for coronary diagnostics. Antony brings over 30 years of medtech experience across Johnson & Johnson, Fresenius, and Stryker, before transitioning into startups as CEO of Tayside Flow Technologies and Tissue Regenix. He holds a BSc in Physiology and Biochemistry. In this interview, Antony discusses translating academic IP into a commercial device, choosing early clinical sites to balance speed and learning, managing non-dilutive funding as a long-term discipline, and outlines the most important responsibilities of an early-stage medtech CEO. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Antony Odell, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like! KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (03:06) - How Antony’s career centered on translating clinical insights into commercial reality (05:54) - What Echopoint's iKOr does, and why 40% of cath lab patients leave without a diagnosis (12:13) - How Echopoint landed its first U.S. clinical site, and what that means for the company (13:48) - What to assess before spinning out an academic idea, and why clinician input is the first real test (20:14) - Why Echopoint chose Barts over typical sites for its first-in-human study (22:58) - How getting too close to one clinical site can lead to dangerous groupthink (30:54) - Why non-dilutive funding belongs on the board agenda permanently (39:54) - How CEOs should manage boards, control information flow, and avoid becoming a “glorified note-taker”

    Translating Academic IP into a Medtech Startup: Interview with Echopoint Medical CEO Antony Odell

  8. May 12

    Why Early Revenue is the Most Credible Proof in Medtech: Interview with restor3d CEO Kurt Jacobus

    In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Kurt Jacobus, co-founder and CEO of restor3d. restor3d provides patient-specific orthopedic implants using 3D printing and advanced software. Kurt has over two decades of experience in medtech entrepreneurship, including successful exits to Enovis and NuVasive. Prior to his career in medical devices, Kurt was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and is an Adjunct Professor at Georgia Tech.  In this interview, Kurt discusses how restor3d used the FDA's 520(b) pathway to generate revenue and regulatory proof simultaneously, why self-regulating beyond FDA requirements makes submissions a competitive barrier, and how to approach investor relationships and board construction with long-term thinking. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization. These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass. If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Kurt Jacobus. KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW (03:21) - How Kurt went from wanting to build race cars to 20 years of orthopedic entrepreneurship (06:03) - How restor3d’s patient-specific implants challenge the “8 sizes fit 8 billion people” model (15:36) - Why early-stage companies should “ring the cash register” as soon as possible (17:16) - How a 520(b) pathway helped restor3d generate revenue before full FDA clearance (31:48) - How restor3d treats every FDA submission like a PhD thesis and holds itself to standards beyond what regulators ask for (35:24) - What Kurt learned from restor3d’s limited market release (40:03) - How Kurt raised is last$100M+ round, and why fundraising is really a networking game (45:13) - What makes a great board, and how the wrong one can quietly derail a company

    Why Early Revenue is the Most Credible Proof in Medtech: Interview with restor3d CEO Kurt Jacobus
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4.7
out of 5
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Learn from the brightest CEOs in medtech and healthtech. That's our primary goal with Medsider. We unpack the strategies, tactics, and secrets behind the most successful startups. Join tens of thousands of ambitious doers and get access to the top medical device and health technology thought leaders.

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