Ray Cohen: The CEO Business Pivot

​In this episode of MedTech Snapshot, Travis chats with industry veteran Ray Cohen. Listen as Ray shares advice for CEOs to listen to the market and be adaptable. 
Transcript:

Travis: 
Welcome back to another Med tech snapshot. The one-question, one-Answer Medical Device Digest podcast. With me today is Ray Cohen. We're going to be diving into some interesting topics having to do with when should we look at an acquisition, should it be an IPO versus M&A? We're also going to get into the business pivot, so stay tuned. 
 
All right, Ray, so we're covering now kind of the business pivot. You know, interestingly enough, you and I have known each other for, I don't know, the better part of 15 years and I've watched you do this on multiple occasions. I think the first time I got involved with you was Cardiac Science [now Cardiac Defibrillators]. You pivoted that business into the AED environment. After that was Minnow Medical, pivoting that into renal denervation, which then became Vessix [Vascular] and so on. 
 
So can you walk us through why does a CEO need to be aware constantly of that situation, the business pivot, why do you do it? And then kind of walk us through the process for looking at that? 
 
Ray: 
Sure. Look, I think that the mistake that a lot of folks make is they get locked into a certain direction. You know, 'I've pitched this', 'I've raised money about this' and, you know, 'that's what I've sold to people'. And so you just get stuck and, no matter what else is happening, people continue to plow that same field. And I think that's what gets a lot of folks in trouble. 
 
I mean, you've got to be able to read the tea leaves. You've got to be able to not fall in love with your own story and your own technology. You've got to be open. 
 
So for a CEO, it's all about having conversations with your customers. And in our business, that's physicians, right? You want to make sure you why they want to buy your product, or if not, what are the issues? and so on and so forth. 
 
You've got to look at the market that you're in--the size of the market, on and on and on. You gotta listen to the feedback you're getting when you're out pitching your story and trying to raise capital. 
 
Those objections that you're getting, those questions that you're getting, may appear as innocuous, but they may be actually giving you the hints.  
 
So I think that you cannot be afraid. That's the key. You've got to be able to think big and act boldly. Make the changes that you believe are the right thing to do. 
 
People will fall in line. People will get behind you, if you've got conviction. Travis, there's not one project I've ever been involved in where the beginning point was ultimately what the company decided to do. 
 
You know, even at Axonics, I mean, the initial idea was pain. We did a lot of research and did the work to then determine, no, no, no, that's not the market we want to go in. 
 
We thought, overactive bladder or women's issues and pelvic health was the way to go. Then I'll add a bonus comment, which is you also need to be thinking about what is your next act. 
 
All right, so OK, you got a cool product, you got in the market, you're doing well. Now the question is how do you differentiate yourself from your competition? And maybe you need a second act in the play, and that's something that people should be thinking about as well.