BackTable / ENT / Podcast / Episode #47
Mavericks as Innovators: How Daring Leads to Discovery
with Dr. Michael Rutter
Pediatric airway surgeon Dr. Michael Rutter and I discuss risk-taking and effective market analysis in entrepreneurship. In the operating room, Dr. Rutter cultivates a congenial OR environment and often seeks ideas from other team members with different areas of expertise. These problem solving-driven conversations often result in pioneering new airway surgery techniques. In the medical device sphere, he outlines his journey of creating a tracheal balloon dilation device, explaining how he obtained intellectual property rights, cleared FDA regulations, and marketed the product.
Be part of the conversation. Put your sponsored messaging on this episode. Learn how.
BackTable, LLC (Producer). (2022, February 4). Ep. 47 – Mavericks as Innovators: How Daring Leads to Discovery [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.backtable.com
Stay Up To Date
Follow:
Subscribe:
Sign Up:
Podcast Contributors
Dr. Michael Rutter
Dr. Michael Rutter is a medtech entrepreneur and a professor in the Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Dr. Eric Gantwerker
Eric Gantwerker is a Pediatric Otolaryngologist at Cohen Children's Hospital at Northwell Health/Hofstra, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and Vice President, Medical Director at Level Ex.
Synopsis
In this episode, pediatric airway surgeon Dr. Michael Rutter and our host Dr. Eric Gantwerker discuss risk-taking and effective market analysis in entrepreneurship.
Dr. Rutter shares about his career path from medical school, to orthopedic surgery training, to his current hybrid role in otolaryngology and device entrepreneurship. Interestingly, his experience in orthopedic surgery has inspired him to adopt orthopedic tools and techniques in solving complex ENT cases. He elaborates on this idea of borrowing concepts from other fields, saying that he cultivates a congenial OR environment and often seeks ideas from other team members with different areas of expertise. These problem solving-driven conversations often result in pioneering of new airway surgery techniques.
As we transition to discussing product development, Dr. Rutter outlines his twelve year journey of creating a balloon dilator for the trachea, explaining how he obtained intellectual property rights, cleared FDA regulations, and marketed the product. When in a competitive marketplace, he highlights the benefits of conducting a non-inferiority (“Pollyanna”) study combined with attractive value propositions. Finally, he discusses the reality that some good ideas will not necessarily be successful, due to insufficient market size or extremely high costs of research and development. We conclude on the point that an entrepreneur must evaluate the balance between benefits gained and losses incurred when bringing their product to market.
Disclaimer: The Materials available on BackTable.com are for informational and educational purposes only and are not a substitute for the professional judgment of a healthcare professional in diagnosing and treating patients. The opinions expressed by participants of the BackTable Podcast belong solely to the participants, and do not necessarily reflect the views of BackTable.