Why Finding Investors Who Understand Your Product is Critical: Interview with EchoNous CEO Kevin Goodwin

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we’re sitting down with Kevin Goodwin, the CEO and founder of EchoNous. Kevin has already been part of a medical first. In 1998, he founded Sonosite, which released the first point-of-care ultrasound device (PoCUS) the following year. It was a classic startup story: Sonosite hit NASDAQ immediately after launching, with no product, no approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and no revenue. Sonosite was acquired by Fujifilm in 2012, and Kevin left the company in 2014. In 2015, Kevin co-founded EchoNous, to make a handheld PoCUS device that cost significantly less than the models used as the standard in hospitals. Even more ambitious, it would use AI and ML to not only deliver more accurate results, but to improve the detail and accuracy of those results over time. The company’s AI-powered Kosmos platform was approved by the FDA in 2020. In this episode of Medsider, Kevin explains the pros and cons of public versus private investors, what happens when a competitor with an inferior product dominates the headlines, and why the toughest potential customers are the ones you should try to win over first.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 Kevin if you'd rather read it instead.