LTR 50: Humility is the key to startup success

“The teams I see really successful are the ones that realize where their gaps lie and stive to reach out to mentors and advisors to fill those gaps”.Developing a medical device and bringing it successfully to the market is a huge challenge, especially for early stage startups. Even for large, established manufacturers, it takes a significant amount of time to launch a new device. In this Let’s Talk Risk! conversation, Devon Campbell encourages us to honestly acknowledge gaps in available resources, knowledge and skills, and seek to fill those gaps by collaborating with both internal and external resources.It takes a lot of humility to admit that we can’t do it alone. It is true that early stage start up companies face a lot of challenges, but working in a fast-paced environment can be a lot of fun. It does requires a strategic approach to build out the required quality processes just in time to support the overall business strategy. Whether you want to go to market with your own product, or plan an exit through acquisition, it helps to keep the end in mind.Listen to this Let’s Talk Risk! conversation with Devon Campbell, which also includes an open discussion with the audience. Jump to a section of interest using these timestamps.00:01:50 Introduction00:04:23 How it feels to be in a startup environment00:06:25 Success factors for startups00:09:46 A short story of a successful startup exit00:14:00 Audience Q&A, general discussion 00:32:30 Closing comments and key takeawaysIf you enjoyed this podcast, consider subscribing to the Let’s Talk Risk! newsletter.About Devon CampbellDevon C. Campbell is the Founder and Managing Director at Prodct, where he and his team provides hands-on support and advisory services to early stage medical device, diagnostic, and therapeutic companies. He serves as a mentor, advisor, or board member for several startups. Additionally, he is the Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Senior Vice President of R&D/Quality at myBiometry, an early stage diagnostic company focused on asthma. He also supports the NIH RADx program as a content expert and was the lead author for Chapter 6 of the recent NIH book “Accelerating Diagnostics in a Time of Crisis” exploring quality, risk, and product developing during RADx. He has been active in the medical device industry for more than 25 years in various engineering and leadership roles. He holds BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering.About Let’s Talk Risk! with Dr. Naveen AgarwalLet’s Talk Risk! with Dr. Naveen Agarwal is a weekly live audio event on LinkedIn, where we talk about risk management related topics in a casual, informal way. Join us at 11:00 am EST every Friday on LinkedIn.DisclaimerInformation and insights presented in this podcast are for educational purposes only. Views expressed by all speakers are their own and do not reflect those of their respective organizations. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit naveenagarwalphd.substack.com/subscribe