In this Q&A session, I had the pleasure of engaging with Holly Scott, Vice President and Partner at The Mullings Group, a leading talent search agency dedicated to the medical device industry. With their deep expertise and extensive knowledge, the Mullings Group has played a pivotal role in shaping the startup landscape within the industry.
Over the past five years, the MedTech industry has undergone notable transformations, signaling a shift towards a more mature phase of its lifecycle. From the consolidation of key players across the supply chain to the accelerated adoption of telehealth and digital platforms, these changes have impacted the industry in profound ways. Holly Scott sheds light on the key developments and their impact on the startup landscape served by the Mullings Group. Join us as we delve into the discussion on industry changes, areas of innovation, challenges faced by startups, and the Mullings Group's approach to meeting the needs of their customers in this dynamic landscape.
The MedTech industry continues to deliver high growth in comparison to other industries. However, there are a number of signals that the industry is transitioning to a more mature phase of its lifecycle—as evident in consolidation of key players at all levels of the supply chain. What key changes in the industry stand out to you over the past five years and how has that impacted the startup landscape the Mullings Group serves?
The signals of transition in the industry are totally dependent on the segment of the dynamic market we are serving. For instance, orthopedics may be more on the mature phase of its lifecycle, while tech addressing women’s health is truly in its infancy. Although cardiovascular and neurovascular technologies have been a focus for decades, there is still enormous opportunity to address heart and brain health in more comprehensive ways. Even within areas like orthopedics, there remains much interest in robotics, better biologic/regenerative materials, and less invasive procedures. The consolidation in key players isn’t as much a sign of industry maturation as it is a response to macroeconomic conditions. Innovation has and will always happen in the emerging startups.
As for key industry changes, the last five years have set us up for immense opportunity for innovative startups. Covid threw gas on the fire with adoption of telehealth and digital platforms, which has set the table for additional entry for remote health management. Getting the patient out of the hospital, and home, where we all know health and healing are optimized, can be safe and effective for patients as well as less burdensome for the healthcare ecosystem.
The focus towards rapid, accurate diagnostics leveraging software and genetics have facilitated cross collaborative partnerships unlike ever seen before. For example, medical device companies working closely with pharma companies have allowed for earlier clinical insight as well as early revenue for these bootstrapped startups.
What areas of innovation stand out to and excite you the most as we look ahead to the next five years?
There is so much good happening real-time it is hard to narrow down to a few. I am tremendously excited about the possibilities in these cross-collaborative relationships between Big Pharma and young medical device companies. For example, we have made significant headway in managing diseases through neuromodulation, and now we are seeing opportunities through targeted organ nerve stimulation that could revolutionize the way we treat horrible autoimmune diseases. For those who do not respond to drug therapy, these device centric alternatives can dramatically improve quality of life. We are seeing data monitoring tools offer insight into drug regimens for difficult to treat disorders like epilepsy and depression. Overall, these cross functional efforts are an incredible advancement for our patients.
Cross collaboration is also an important step towards real action in big topics like health equity and democratization of health access. The deep pockets and global reach of Big Pharma can help work with MedTech companies to drive education and awareness, often the larger challenge with broad and deep socio economic issues. I am optimistic we will see more education, awareness, attention, AND solutions be bundled to meet patients where they are at today.
Although our market is currently recovering from a “digital hangover”, the infiltration of data tools remains powerful. We have learned and grown through the trials and tribulations of the last five years. Having data alone is not valuable. Having insightful, actionable information that impacts patient outcome and decreases payer burden is highly valuable.
The FDA has learned and adjusted over the last 5 years to support companies with software as a medical device (SaMD) and software as a service (SaaS). This progress will allow our future innovation to have an easier path to demonstrate safety and efficacy.
At what point in their journey do startups typically look to partner with the Mullings Group and what are typically challenges and constraints do you navigate to meet the needs of your customers?
We work with all MedTech companies, although building startups is a specialty. We have started with young companies at the very beginning of their journey, often adding employee number two to ten for a company. Investors work with us on their portfolio companies to ensure the right c-suite leadership drives successfully. By way of numbers, we are hired most frequently when a company is scaling to meet clinical and regulatory milestones, but that is based on the frequent demand. With that said, we have built commercial teams, as well as c-suite for next level growth, often replacing early founders. There truly isn’t anything we haven’t done in the industry when it comes to hiring, this is the beauty of three decades in the market and 8000 plus placements. We have built and “grown up” with the industry. We always start with the company goals and the problem we are looking to solve and build our plan from there.
Startups are challenged in many ways. The road towards success involves a clear path of value- add to the patient, clinician and/or clinical workflow, and the payer. The navigation of this road starts with the right people, which is our strength. We are the strongest performing search firm in the industry, and the only one with a dedicated best-in-class media and marketing engine. Through these channels, we provide awareness and attention to the organization that gets the right eyes- investors, strategics, and all that care about the innovation, in addition to pulling in the leaders that move the company forward.
Constraints in startups are financially driven, and we address this area in a significant way.
We are never focused on inflated fees; it is always on delivering value. We want long term partnerships. We do our best to meet clients where they are in terms of burn rate and organizational needs. The companies may transact, but the relationships with people carry with you.
You and your colleagues demonstrate significant domain expertise as you deploy your content across video, articles, interviews, etc. I am a huge fan of your content and respect your demonstrated expertise in the industry. What is your approach to continuing to build and grow your knowledge in this evolving landscape and how do you approach your own content?
Thank you. Adding our media component was driven by my visionary partner Joe Mullings. When he introduced the idea, I was leery until he explained the value our insight could be for the marketplace. He was correct. The industry of executive search has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Our ability to offer counsel and insight, as well as create awareness and attention to the marketplace for our unique client partnerships, has been an incredible value-add to our firm. This practice allows us to share at scale what can benefit our market. We are at a point in our company’s evolution that the people we serve expect to have subject matter experts from TMG as partners, not only to facilitate hiring talent, but to navigate their business strategy.
As for continuing to build and grow, all of us at TMG are students of the industry. Being a lifelong learner is a requirement on our team. Content development is easy when it is authentic. What you see is who we are at TMG.
What is the one piece of advice you would offer a new client company, as well as individual managing their own career?
As a company, understand your success depends on what we call the “Four Pillars”. Your product or service, the market you serve, the company mission, and your leadership team. Each of these pillars must stand strong to successfully drive a company forward. Everything mission critical stems from these pillars; Attraction, retention, strategy and execution. Leadership cannot lose focus of these four principles to keep the company’s “North Star” clear for their team.
Individuals need to think of themselves as a product/service to the marketplace, and always drive towards learning and growth in the current role that will prepare them for their next career opportunity. It is assumed in 2-4 years you will be ready for your next challenge, whether inside the current company or in a career transition. Think of your growth as future marketability. Skillset demand occurs at the intersection of market size and market sentiment. Plan a scheduled check in, I call your Most Important Meeting, where you set aside time to focus on your individual business plan. Four times a year, assess where you have been and what you want to accomplish moving forward. Empowerment happens when we have this mindset coupled with an actionable strategy and plan.