10 things I Did in My First Week as COO of a Startup Medical Device Incubator

WOW! Where do I start. First of all what a great opportunity. I'm super fortunate to have this opportunity. As much as I would like to discuss the RIGHT things to do in your first week as a COO at a Medical Device Incubator. I would like to share with you what I did.

Before I jump into the article. To give some context. I have been in medical device sales for 16 years, 15 states, 4 x Presidents Clubs including #1 spot. I have been a part of 2 successful acquisitions, albeit only a sales role. I was approached by Vita Group Leadership to be the Chief Operating Officer. My dream job.

What is Vita Group? Vita Group is a Medical Device Incubator that helps individuals take napkin ideas to commercialization through 5 verticals.

1. Vita Financial: Financial backing for startup medical device companies.

2. Vita Group: ISO compliant research, design, physician partners, prototyping, usability, testing, manufacturer selection, FDA 510k submission.

3. Creation of Medical Device Company: Plug and Play partners to setup mechanisms to run the business such as warehousing, customer service, marketing, social media, ticketing, FDA compliant complaint handling, design change history file (Grand Avenue), and other FDA compliant aspects of the business.

4. Vita Solutions: Plug and Play 40 person medical device sales force in the USA to achieve rapid growth. Mercenary Team for hire.

5. Vita Worldwide Partners: Distribution channels setup worldwide. Specifically Central and South America.

Now that I have successfully regurgitated Vita Group. Lets get into the meat and potatoes of the "10 things I did in my first week as COO of a start up Medical Device Incubator."

1. WHY? I have taken the time to talk with each person that is at Vita (50+ individuals). Finding out their WHY? What makes them tick. Why are they here. My sole job is to make sure I do everything in my power to help them achieve their individual goals whether it is with Vita or not. Help people as much as possible. I keep a spreadsheet of people's goals, their WHY, and how I can personally help them.

2. Projects. Currently, Vita Group has 5 Medical device companies they have partnered with. These projects are in various medical device segments. Various stages of development. Listening to the engineers/physicians/partners of current problems, potential solutions, and risks/challenges associated with each decision.

3. Business Plan. Being involved in GO-TO market strategy for each project is exciting and daunting. Refining the strategy to be realistic and identifying resources to help grow the market segment.

4. Lab Testing. Being in the lab testing each project to put everything in perspective. Yes you can have a great GO-TO market strategy, business plan, financial backing, best sales team in the world, etc. BUT if the product doesn't provide value. It doesn't matter.

5. Manufacturing partners. Getting to know the vendor partners for each product has been super important. Capabilities, costs, quoting, ISO certifications, risks, etc.

6. Investors. I have found it important to engage our investors to keep the communication at an appropriate level. More importantly, hitting milestones is a great way to provide a pulse on each project category.

7. Vita Solutions Medical Device Reps. Our A Team! These individuals are the backbone of Vita Solutions. Talented individuals. Spent the majority of my time this past week, helping individuals with strategy and making myself available for webinars/meetings. I work for the reps. Whatever I can do to help.

8. Marketing Team. We have a great marketing team. What does that mean? Our team provides graphic content, video generation, 3D renderings, etc in a matter of hours! Super talented folks! Getting to know these individuals is key.

9. Operations. Where do I start. I suppose I would classify this as our physical buildings. Managing the contracts for our buildings is important and making sure everything is compliant, addressing bottlenecks, and making sure we have a road map to execute.

10. Current Medical Device Contracts. Currently, Vita Solutions has 10+ Startup Medical Device Companies. Getting to know each manufacturer, goals, challenges, resources, compensation structures, etc.

Really excited to immerse myself into VitaGroup and to really get to know the business verticals. Thank you VitaGroup! Let's roll!

Jason Scherer

COO

Credits: Photo by Adolfo Félix on Unsplash