Chris Cavanaugh OLY

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝟓 𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐑𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐡𝐞𝐧 I’ve been lucky to call Ray Cohen both a mentor and a friend. Recently I drove up the SoCal coast to spend an afternoon with him. We talked about fishing, life, and our families. And of course we couldn't help but chat medtech. He doesn’t just build companies — he builds teams that win, stories that raise capital, and cultures that last. Here are 5 lessons that stuck with me from our conversations — and they’re worth passing on: 🧠 𝟏. 𝐁𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 Don’t waste your time on incremental tech. Find a massive TAM and build a story around a radically better solution. 🚀 𝟐. 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 Axonics hired 100 reps a year before FDA approval — and trained them for 9 months. Sales exploded from day one. That’s what urgency + conviction looks like. 💸 𝟑. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐈𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 “100% of nothing is nothing.” Raise what you need, when you need it. Execution builds value faster than ownership alone. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 𝟒. 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐢𝐧 Ray personally interviewed 500+ team members. He paid top reps nearly $1M/year and gave them equity. That’s how you build loyalty and accountability. 📣 𝟓. 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. No jargon. No posturing. Just real talk, clear expectations, and full transparency. It builds trust fast — especially when things get hard. Ray once told me: “You have to forecast the future — then go make it come true.” That’s what leadership looks like in MedTech. #medtech #medicaldevices #medicaldevice #medicaldevicesales #medicalsales #digitalhealth

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Kestra Medical picks former Axonics exec, Al Ford, as new Chief Commercial Officer Kestra Medical Technologies announced today that it appointed Al Ford as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). As CCO, Ford will be responsible for advancing sales strategy and leading the Kestra commercial team. Kirkland, Washington-based Kestra develops the Assure wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) system. Assure, a modern wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) system, received FDA approval in 2021. Kestra designed Assure to provide autonomous detection and defibrillation for ventricular arrhythmias. It can also detect and record other clinically significant arrhythmias. Brian Webster, president and CEO at Kestra said, “With significant experience managing sales and commercial operations, Al brings valuable knowledge, perspective, and leadership to our organization. Al also has deep experience in the underlying defibrillation technologies that are central to the Assure system. We are confident that he will be an impactful addition as we continue to drive adoption of our lifesaving system.” Ford has 20 years of experience in MedTech, most recently serving as CCO at Axonics, Inc. There, he led the worldwide commercialization team before Boston Scientific acquired the company for $3.7 billion in November. Prior to Axonics, he served as CCO at Cardiac Science Corporation. “I am honored to join Kestra in a commercial leadership role that aligns seamlessly with my experience,” said Mr. Ford.

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Had the pleasure of sitting down with Dave Coffaro from the Greater Irvine Chamber to talk about medtech innovation globally and in Orange County —specifically, the potential of therapeutic ultrasound to transform care. We discussed how non-invasive technologies like ours can help patients avoid surgery, reduce risk, and improve outcomes—while also strengthening Orange County’s role as a hub for health innovation. I’m especially glad to see that the Greater Irvine Chamber has identified MedTech as a top industry focus in its strategic plan for regional growth. MedTech doesn’t just save and improve lives—it drives innovation, fuels economic development, and creates high-paying jobs. Grateful for the Chamber’s leadership in supporting our growing medtech ecosystem. The future of healthcare is being built right here. Listen now on the app, website, or your favorite podcast platform: https://lnkd.in/gCevh4Ag #MedTech #Innovation #TherapeuticUltrasound #NonInvasiveCare #OrangeCounty #HealthcareLeadership #EconomicGrowth

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This is a special study that is the culmination of almost 7 years of AI-based research. Congratulations to Exactech's ML team for developing our automated ML framework and to each of my co-authors for this foundational radiomic publication. As described in this press release, this 4000+ patient CT image study is the first large scale radiomic analysis of the bones and muscles in the shoulder. By combining clinical outcomes data with radiomic data, we identified the most clinically relevant radiomic measurements (including those associated with the complications of instability and scapular bone fractures) and used that data to improve predictions of pre-op pain/motion/function and post-operative clinical outcomes after aTSA & rTSA (vs ML predictions w/o image data). Finally, we analyzed ML feature importance data and performed a clustering analysis to create novel bone/muscle classifications associated with differences in pre- and post-operative clinical outcomes. This study demonstrates how AI can be used at scale to create objective, clinically relevant data from real-world CT images. These automated capabilities will be used in the near future to evolve CT-based pre-op planning software into a novel clinical decision support tool. Josie Elwell, Vikas Kumar, Hamidreza Rajabzadeh-Oghaz, PhD, William Aibinder, Bradley Schoch, Daniel Wessell, Bruno Gobbato https://lnkd.in/emceA42j

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Andrew Savarese, from PA Consulting and I discuss the endoluminal market in surgical robotics. We dig into the emerging technical challenges but also how the economics of a D&T Hybrid (diagnose & therapeutic) robotic platform will have a compelling cost benefit basis that may well drive higher adoption rates in centers of care as well as better outcomes for patients. This category is rolling very rapidly. I believe that new technologies will emerge that will represent an inflection point in surgical robotics and a revolution in end effector technologies.

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Why do shockwaves promote VEGF release, nerve modulation, and even cognitive improvement? This study offers a groundbreaking explanation: momentum transfer as a driver of mechano-transduction and mechano-sensory transduction. This insight has implications far beyond orthopedics. https://hubs.la/Q03f-v6M0

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Got an absolute rockstar for this week's Medtech Innovation Pod episode! Oke A. Anakwenze MD, MBA, Chief of Shoulder Surgery at Duke, developed the world's first all-suture staple for tendon repair (and gave me all the secrets): He leads SutureTech, and their Rapidfix device is sitting at the FDA. Rapidfix delivers a much needed solution for Rotator Cuff repair procedures that have an abysmal 30%+ failure rate. What other goodies are in this episode? - Timely pitfalls during product development and how to avoid them - Their FDA submission strategy that de-risks while building enterprise value - Finding and vetting the right development partners - How to communicate with investors when you still have a day job This is straight talk for innovators who want the pro tips and hacks to win. Link to full episode in comments! Oh and follow the XO Medtech YouTube channel if you haven't yet. #medtech #innovation #medicaldevice #rotatorcuff #tendonrepair #surgeonfounder #surgeoninnovator #sportsmed

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The latest issue of The Lens just dropped. Stacked with insights, big ideas, and industry moves shaping the future of Medtech. This edition includes: - Cover Story: Solving Wicked Problems at the Intersection of Healthcare and Technology with Catherine Mohr - Innovator Spotlight: CardiaCare CEO Amir Soltanianzadeh - Soundbites & Hot Takes w/ Bernard Zovighian, Nick Pachuda, Diana Saraceni, Duke Rohlen, Alan Cohen, Frederic Moll, Paul LaViolette - Market Dives: Neurovascular & Cryoablation Devices Forecasts - Procedure Volume Trends: Neurosurgeries & Heart Rhythm Procedures through 2030 - Industry Winners, Capital Raises, Power Moves & More P.S. Catherine will be leading a panel at LSI USA ‘25 on Mar 18 at 9am that I’m especially looking forward to: "Staying Sexy Without GenAI or SaaS – Building Deceptively Simple but Brilliant Products," featuring panelists Rui Jing J., Sydney Robinson, and James Stone. Sure to be a good read ahead of what we’re about to see unfold next week in Dana Point. Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/epsHbbSA

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