The August 31, 2023 online edition of Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MDDI) features Choosing the Right Medtech Product Development Consultancy by David Dobson, Vice President, Business Development at StarFish Medical. Dobson explains that explores areas and ideas that should be added to a partner qualification tool kit. Several criteria are often used by medical […]
The June 1, 2022 online issue of Medical Product Outsourcing (MPO) features online and print exclusive, 4 Ways to Align Product Development with Investor Milestones, written by Scott Phillips, StarFish Medical Founder and CEO. Sub-headed Aligning all technical activities around the investor gates typically means, the whole company must be aligned around lean startup […]
Throughout the development of a product there are technology-related project risks that have the potential to negatively impact budget and timeline. At StarFish, our development process defines medical device proof-of-concept (POC) prototypes to mitigate these risks, either by resolving the uncertainty one way or the other, or by testing the use of a new or […]
In my travels I frequently come across an interesting group of people, who, regardless of location and considerable education, share a common misunderstanding of how successful products are developed. These individuals reside in newly formed companies that have spun out of university and/or hospital settings. Companies composed of very smart scientists/doctors/academics (who are often the […]
I have taken part in a large number of brainstorming sessions with a variety of techniques. In general I am usually disappointed with the quality of the solutions that are generated. As a facilitator I will exit the brainstorm with a fist full of ideas and then spend time dissecting them and more often than […]
Hacking (gaining access to a device through unintended means) commonly has negative connotations, but it need not imply an intent to destroy data or harm hardware. I’ll use the term Hacking in this blog, with the acknowledgement that when malicious intent is involved, a better term is Cracking. Hacking medical devices is not new, but […]
Around 10 years ago, I set up a company with the entrepreneurial Professor from my PhD. After recruiting an MBA as chief executive and performing very many pitches, we eventually secured seed funding then series A funding to develop a novel medical device technology. The development was a new application of an existing technology and […]
Think back to your last job interview… in all likelihood you were asked to describe a difficult situation you faced and how you tackled it, or to explain your greatest weaknesses, or a major failure you encountered in your career. You squirm in your chair and try to think of a positive way to spin […]
Are you expecting your engineers to cover both innovation and execution tasks? Are you in fact leaving a lot of potential success on the table? I used to believe that a single point of accountability from beginning to end of a project was ideal. My confidence was shaken however after seeing projects that either failed […]
Developing a complex medical device spans a significant period of time and a significant expertise spectrum. Early ideation and technology development through transfer to volume manufacturing covers a tremendous range of skill sets. Staged product development as employed by StarFish has some unique benefits for dealing with the changing skill sets required throughout the development […]
We’re all probably familiar with the following scenarios from sometime in our careers. Maybe we’ve just powered up the first populated sample of our new prototype PCB; it all seems to work fine. Two weeks later something smokes and we subsequently discover that one of the boost converters is unstable and killing downstream parts.
We all need trust. Trust that the sun will shine tomorrow (OK – not necessarily in Victoria in February); trust that gravity will keep our feet firmly on the floor. We also tend to trust what we read, believing that what someone has spent time to put to words is likely reliable. There are, however, […]