What should early-stage entrepreneurs and medtech companies consider with commercialization in relation to how regulatory strategy affects business roadmap, pitfalls companies fall into, and fundraising efforts?

In this episode of the Global Medical Device Podcast, Etienne Nichols talks to Duane Mancini, CEO and Managing Partner at Project Medtech. Duane has experience in go-to-market strategy, including regulatory and reimbursement, biocompatibility, pre-clinical efficacy testing, and clinical trial design and execution. He has developed a comprehensive understanding of what early-stage startups need to do to be successful.

With all of the complexities of running a medtech company and taking a product to the market, Duane has seen a huge variation in how startups develop strategies and milestones. In this episode, we discuss how early decisions impact other aspects in the future and how companies can create a blueprint to build and grow long-term.

Some of the highlights of this episode include:

Fundraising: Figure out who you want to raise capital from, what should be in your pitch deck, and what questions will investors ask about problems/solutions.
When trying to raise money, startups need to know that there are three types of investors—good, neutral, and bad. Sometimes, bad investors are hard to spot.
When considering acquiring a company, some of the top things strategics look at is how you capture more clients, build your team, incorporate a quality management system (QMS), and handle regulatory challenges.
If you are selling products to a hospital system, you will need to check three things—physician/clinician (especially nurses) ownership, patient improvement, and economic benefit.
Build, develop, and invest in your team by finding people who complement your weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to fractionalize. One of the most important thing you can do for your company is to find advisors, partners, and mentors with large professional networks.
When people are raising money, unless you are raising from a high net worth individual or angel group, be strategic with who you want to raise money. Venture Capitalists have a responsibility to spend (invest) their money just like you have a responsibility to raise it.
Clients need to understand that regulatory fits into their business, clinical, reimbursement, and commercialization strategies—all those things work together and overlap, so make sure to ask the right questions to the right expert.

Memorable quotes from Duane Mancini:

“The #1 thing we try to tell all of our startups when they’re going out to raise money is there’s three types of investors. There’s good, neutral, and bad. You really want to avoid bad.”

“For those first few investors, you want to find a good investor. Someone who’s going to bring something else to the table. Fill a knowledge or network gap that you don’t have. Understand what your mission is for the company and how they are going to support it.”

“We talk to a lot of investors and a lot of entrepreneurs, and the one thing we’ve learned is that there is more than one way to raise money. However, there are patterns.”

“Regulatory fits into your business strategy, fits into your clinical strategy, fits into your commercialization strategy—all those things work together and overlap.”

Links:

Duane Mancini on LinkedIn

Project Medtech

Project Medtech Podcast

Etienne Nichols on LinkedIn

FDA - Overview of Device Regulation

FDA - 510(k) Clearances

FDA - Premarket Approval (PMA)