| Date | Title | Description |
| 11.01.2016 | A 2016 proposal for medtech: Build the brand | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
For the past few years, medtech entrepreneurs have seemed practically apologetic for being in medtech. True, there are many reasons, or maybe excuses, to have had ears down and tail between legs. Venture capital ha... |
| 13.10.2015 | The drug pricing backlash – Should medtech pay attention? | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
Admittedly, the biotech boom of the past few years has left some of us in medtech feeling a bit inferior, maybe even jealous. Those huge funding rounds, heady IPOs and rich pre-revenue M&A deals can be hard to ... |
| 04.06.2015 | Five tall tales medtech startups tell investors | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
Honesty is a virtue to which we all aspire, but in the game of funding a medtech startup sometimes the straight story and a nickel won’t buy you a cup of coffee. Most entrepreneurs, particularly the engineering typ... |
| 30.04.2015 | Skin in the game: Can risk sharing energize medtech? | By Tim Kofol, S2N Health
Everyone wants advances in medical technology, but getting paid for innovation is tough even with the most convincing story about improving care and saving costs. Hospitals are understandably skeptical; can these ma... |
| 06.02.2015 | The Pfizer-Hospira Deal: Do Pharma and Device Companies Need Each Other? | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
Having been at the flag-raising ceremony for Hospira when it spun out of Abbott back in 2004, the news of Pfizer’s acquisition was a bit emotional for me. I didn’t cry or anything, but I did feel a little sad, and ... |
| 25.11.2014 | The importance of being scrappy: Tips from med tech entrepreneur Amar Sawhney | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
One thing medical device investors love to see in their portfolio companies is “capital efficiency”, or getting from point A to value-creating milestone B with the least dilutive dollars possible. To achieve capita... |
| 05.11.2014 | Realizing the value of med-tech innovations | By Tim Kofol, S2N Health
I recently attended a workshop hosted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the UK agency that reigns over new technology assessment and drives reimbursement decisions within and sometimes... |
| 15.10.2014 | Top 5 reasons why med tech is still cool | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
In S2N’s very first blog, back when we founded our company in 2011, we shared our top 5 reasons why we like the med tech industry. Times have been challenging for emerging med tech companies, though, and the bad da... |
| 20.08.2014 | IPO or bust for emerging medtechs | Click image to enlarge
By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
The recent receptivity of public equity markets to early stage biotech has encouraged more than a few emerging medtech companies to consider IPOs. The allure of the IPO, if successful, is obv... |
| 19.06.2014 | Medtronic, Covidien merger: Good or bad for medtech innovation? | By Amy Siegel & Tim Kofol, S2N Health
Let’s be honest – the headlining acquisition of Covidien by Medtronic may go down as the most boring deal of 2014, unless of course you are an international tax accountant. The swirling buzzwords ar... |
| 05.06.2014 | The case for early deals in med tech | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
To the consternation of many emerging med tech executives and their investors, the big medical device companies are much less active in the early stage deal space than their bio-pharma counterparts. Drug company le... |
| 09.04.2014 | Emerging medtech margins: Don’t think price, think COGS | By Tim Kofol, S2N Health
Fact: the prices of medical devices, whether innovative or commodity, are under significant pressure from all corners and in all parts of the globe, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Fact: whether ... |
| 10.03.2014 | Marketing steps up in med tech | By Amy Siegel & Tim Kofol, S2N Health
Historically, marketing has been the Rodney Dangerfield of med tech. We marketing people don’t get much respect. Sure, we wear dark suits at the booth and talk to customers, but the med tech Sales &... |
| 17.01.2014 | It’s not so Symple: the Rise (and Fall?) of Renal Denervation | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
When we founded S2N in 2011, the emerging medtech world was still awed, no dazzled by the uber-generous 2010 acquisition of Ardian by Medtronic for more than $800M. Last week, Medtronic unceremoniously announced th... |
| 02.01.2014 | 5 New Year’s resolutions for medtech companies | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
As I sit here reaching for one more stale holiday cookie, mulling the merits of spiked eggnog vs. spiked hot cider, I realize it’s time to make some New Year’s resolutions. Ugh. I much prefer hiding under the cover... |
| 27.11.2013 | Making the Most of Scientific Meetings – 5 Tips for Emerging Medtech Companies | By: Erin Warner, S2N Health
I’ve attended at least three lifetime’s worth of trade shows and scientific meetings, both as an exhibitor and a hanger-on, and I still find myself wondering before each one whether it’s worth the time and money ... |
| 10.10.2013 | Medical Device Startups: 5 essentials for your pitch deck | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
Last month I had the sadistic pleasure of serving as a judge for a business plan competition at the 2013 AdvaMed conference. I have to give credit to the fledgling entrepreneurs who agree to present at such session... |
| 09.09.2013 | The Asthmatx story: Reimbursement fundamentals for disruptive medical technologies | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
Many new medical technologies, particularly the low- or mid-tech ones, fit more or less neatly into an existing reimbursement code. For the companies developing such devices, de-risking involves demonstrating 1) it... |
| 31.07.2013 | Should I fund my medical device company on Kickstarter? | By Tim Kofol, S2N Health
If you don’t prowl the crowdfunding site Kickstarter as often as I do (I admit I’ve funded ten projects to date), you might not know that a medical device company recently reached its stretch goal of raising more th... |
| 11.07.2013 | Emerging markets: MedTech heads to Africa | By Erin Warner
The large medtech companies talk endlessly about emerging markets delivering their top-line growth targets, and they are not just talking about BRIC countries anymore.
During his recent visit to Africa, President Obama stumpe... |
| 17.06.2013 | Medical Devices: What does it really mean to be disruptive? | By Amy Siegel & Tim Kofol, S2N Health
In our line of work, we come across many innovative medical technologies appended with the adjective “disruptive” but some uses of the term require more squinting to imagine than others.
The disrupt... |
| 05.06.2013 | Five marketing essentials for medical device startups | By Erin Warner, S2N Health
Early stage med tech companies often have little time, money or resources to commit to marketing activities, especially when their exciting new technologies may be months or years away from commercialization. The ... |
| 07.05.2013 | The luck factor for new medical devices | By Amy Siegel, S2N Health
If all a startup med-tech company needed to succeed were a clever invention, a smart plan and competent execution, the odds of a big payday would be far better than they are today.
But life is a non-linear, unpredi... |
| 27.02.2013 | The Rise of Robotics in Med Tech | Robots represent a vision of the future, a vision that inspires two parts amazement and one part fear of being replaced by superior machines. In manufacturing, robots have been deployed since the 1960’s to exceed human precision and product... |
| 18.02.2013 | Five Marketing Essentials for Emerging Medical Technology Companies | Early stage med tech companies often have little time, money or resources to commit to marketing activities, especially when their exciting new technologies may be months or years away from commercialization. The whole concept of marketing ... |
| 13.09.2012 | How to drive early market adoption for your new medical device | First we asked Julia what’s different about launching new medical technologies today as compared to 5 or 10 years ago. No surprises there: “Now it’s all about delivering a product that will produce a better outcome at a lower price,” says J... |
| 19.07.2012 | The Affordable Care Act: Implications for Emerging Med Tech Companies | Primary care services are slated for increased reimbursement and bonuses under the ACA, not that a lot of expensive devices are used in this setting. Wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine an increase in routine point of care testing with the enc... |
| 18.07.2012 | Six Ways Through the Valley of Death for Emerging Medical Device Companies | Incubators: Once the rage, then out of favor, and now the rage again. Incubators (a.k.a. “Accelerators”) aspire to smooth the rough edges on very early technologies and and their founders, while getting in on the equity ground floor. The ne... |
| 24.05.2012 | The Mythical Emerging Medical Device “Platform” Company | What do unicorns, fairies and medical device platform plays all have in common? They would be delightful to see, but sadly don’t exist. “Wait a minute,” you say, “My incredible new medical technology has so many potential applications that ... |
| 25.04.2012 | Top 5 anxiety-provoking medtech acronyms | FDA
The only US executive branch agency more groan-worthy than the IRS is the Food & Drug Administration, particularly among med-tech entrepreneurs. At least taxation (like death) is predictable; not so with device regulation under the ... |
| 22.03.2012 | Aligning Stakeholders in Emerging Med Tech Companies | So where do the wheels come off the bus? To answer this question, we sought the wisdom of John McDonough, CEO of T2 Biosystems and deep thinker on the topic of leadership alignment in VC-backed companies (John will show you his battle scars... |
| 07.02.2012 | How low can you go? Creating value with cheap medical devices | Medtronic may be able to play the price disruption game, but we ask ourselves whether the small emerging med-tech company can achieve success (and funding) with a “tons cheaper” value proposition. In theory, any company starting fresh with ... |
| 15.12.2011 | The legacy of Boston Scientific for medtech entrepreneurs | BSC’s core focus on minimally invasive devices placed the company squarely in a hot market that was growing rapidly and enticingly replete with high priced, high margin disposables (especially back in the 80’s and 90’s). But device revenues... |
| 09.08.2011 | Back to Basics: The Surgical Segment Heats Up | Looking outward to the markets, a.k.a. the people and institutions that actually buy med tech stuff (easy to lose site of these important folk), one can find plenty of reasons to invest in surgical technologies:
Hospital economics: In gener... |
| - | Top 5 anxiety-provoking medtech acronyms | Every industry has its three-letter acronyms (TLAs), and certainly med tech is no exception. If you work for a big device company, you practically qualify as bilingual with the extent and array of acronyms forced into your personal lexicon.... |
| - | Six Ways Through the Valley of Death for Emerging Medical Device Companies | The proverbial Valley of Death is the most feared geography in the emerging medical tech and biotech industries. So much promise, so little data. Huge vision, tons of risk. Game changing technology, but man that is a lot of money to get the... |
| - | Aligning Stakeholders in Emerging Med Tech Companies | An emerging med tech company is like a family. There can be lots of drama. With the inevitable cycle of successes and setbacks in our highly regulated, unpredictable industry, the little corporate family can rally together or come apart at ... |
| - | Five Marketing Essentials for Emerging Medical Technology Companies | Early stage med tech companies often have little time, money or resources to commit to marketing activities, especially when their exciting new technologies may be months or years away from commercialization. The whole concept of marketing ... |
| - | How to drive early market adoption for your new medical device | CEO speech! High fives! Champagne! Somehow you got your new medical device through the FDA. Time to get this product on the market and start selling. You won’t have long with the last round of cash you raised to get to break-even, or to an ... |
| - | The Affordable Care Act: Implications for Emerging Med Tech Companies | Most Americans, even the smart ones, are still scratching their heads about what the Affordable Care Act (full name “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”, acronym ACA) means for them. As a healthcare consumer, I have the year 2014 in... |
| - | The legacy of Boston Scientific for medtech entrepreneurs | Being based in Boston, with a locally rooted professional network, it was entirely unsurprising to discover that nearly all of our clients were at one point employees of Boston Scientific. If you are a leader in our chosen city and industry... |
| - | The Mythical Emerging Medical Device “Platform” Company | What do unicorns, fairies and medical device platform plays all have in common? They would be delightful to see, but sadly don’t exist. “Wait a minute,” you say, “My incredible new medical technology has so many potential applications that ... |
| - | The Rise of Robotics in Med Tech | Robots represent a vision of the future, a vision that inspires two parts amazement and one part fear of being replaced by superior machines. In manufacturing, robots have been deployed since the 1960’s to exceed human precision and product... |
| - | Back to Basics: The Surgical Segment Heats Up | With all the turmoil in the US healthcare market, a port in the storm is not easy to find. A port that can accommodate an outsized tanker ship like Medtronic is even harder to locate. With two back-to-back acquisitions last month of Peak Su... |
| - | How low can you go? Creating value with cheap medical devices | In the world of high tech gadgetry, consumers are spoiled by the practical implications of Moore’s Law, namely that processing power doubles in 18 months at the same cost. Today’s $500 iPhone packs the same computing punch as did all of NAS... |
