Career Pivot Point - Being Fired From the First Company You Founded with Dave Ferrera

What happens when your first company fires you… and it becomes the best thing that ever happened?

In this MedTech Snapshot, Dave Ferrera shares the career-defining moment that shaped everything that came after: getting fired from the very first company he co-founded.

But that setback became the setup:

↗️ He got the opportunity to learn from a high-caliber executive team
⚒️ It gave him the business tools he was missing
📈 Prepared him so he felt ready to found another company

Sometimes your biggest break can start with a breakdown.

Transcript:

Travis:
Welcome back to the Med Tech Snapshot podcast, the one-question one-answer digest discussion surrounding all things medical device. Today we're covering an interesting topic with our guests where we asked them a surprise question, one in which they had no time to prepare for. That question is share with us a breakthrough moment, a defining moment in your career, which when looking back on it was the catalyst for where you are today. I personally love this portion of the interview because it really leads us through a candid look under the proverbial hood of our guest in their career, along with the decisions that they made and how they got to where they are today. 

Hi Dave. So I have a surprise question for you. I know we didn't talk about this, but we'll have some fun with it none the less. So I want you to think back into your career. You know, I mean, you've been a part of so many different start-ups. You—most of them you started yourself or you were part of a team. And can you think back to a pivotal moment in your career? This is a breakthrough moment where because of that, it really just changed the trajectory of your career thereafter. Can you share with us what that moment was and what you learned or took away from that moment? 

Dave: 
Boy, I've talked about this a lot. Maybe people who know me know this. The first company I co-founded in '97, I got fired from it in 1999. Now I was a young engineer. I was 30 when we co-founded the company with a doctor and a business person. 

And I knew how to run projects, but I didn't know how to raise money or really build teams or get products to market. I just knew how to design, develop and make stuff—and having that business sense of, you know, understanding what financing looks like or even expense reporting regulatory strategy. 

I trusted the CEO a lot because, you know, he was an older gentleman—had lots of experience—and there were certain things going on that I didn't really understand or even agree with. And I brought those to the attention of the board of directors—got me fired. 

So in hindsight, I probably would have done things a little different. I might have still gotten terminated. But that experience landed me in Orange County. 

And then I worked for another company called MicroVention, which is here in Orange County. And I got to be part of an all-star team of executives who actually had done it before. You know, the co-founders, with Bob Roosevelt and Brian Cox and Rob Green, had done it before. They built the leadership team in regulatory and sales and marketing and R&D. 

So then I got to see how the team was formed, all the work they did, how they work together. Yeah, they still challenged each other and bantered, but I got to see that happen. I get to see the rounds of financing that were needed, the course corrections, how they dealt with that. Nothing's perfect. They brought in a new CEO at one point. I saw how the exit happened to Terumo.  

So then I was like, 'I'm more prepared now to go start a company'. And that's when I left. The year after that, in '06, left in '07 to do MindFrame with another business guy and doctor and that was much more successful. We still had our challenges and all that, but we were doing brand new product, brand new indication. We made the first stent retriever, then that led to the company being acquired by Covidien. But I was much more prepared because I had failed due to my naiveness and business. 
​
But yeah, I mean, that was a pivotal moment. Had I not got fired and worked for MicroVention, I wouldn't be where I am today. I know that for sure.