Why Building a Community is Crucial for Medical Device Startups: Interview with Blackrock Neurotech’s Co-Founder and CEO Marcus Gerhardt

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we’re sitting down with Marcus Gerhardt, who has started multiple companies, including an eCommerce platform and international consulting firm. In 2008, he co-founded Blackrock Neurotech, a pioneer in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, and the world’s leading collaborative partner for developing approved medical devices at scale for neurological therapies. He currently serves as CEO and is on the company’s board.In this episode of Medsider, Marcus explains why Blackrock’s business model works for medtech companies, how the approach gave the company an “in” with the neuroscience research community, and why medical device companies need to work with — and not against — regulatory bodies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Before we jump into the conversation, I wanted to mention a few things:If you’re into learning from proven medtech and healthtech leaders, and want to know when new content and interviews go live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. You’ll get access to gated articles, and lots of other interesting healthcare content.Second, if you want even more inside info from proven experts, think about a Medsider premium membership. We talk to experienced healthcare leaders about the nuts and bolts of running a business and bringing products to market. This is your place for valuable knowledge on specific topics like seed funding, prototyping, insurance reimbursement, and positioning a medtech startup for an exit.In addition to the entire back catalog of Medsider interviews over the past decade, Premium members get exclusive Ask Me Anything interviews and masterclasses with some of the world’s most successful medtech founders and executives. Since making the premium memberships available, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many people have signed up. If you’re interested, go to medsider.com/subscribe to learn more.Lastly, here's the link to the full interview with Marcus if you'd rather read it instead.