Episode: 201 - Stacy Enxing Seng on Why People and Culture Determine Medtech

Meeting the right people can completely change the trajectory of one’s career. In this episode of Medtech Talk, host Geoff Pardo speaks with Stacy Enxing Seng, independent director and venture partner, about her journey from Harvard Business School to SciMed to ev3 and beyond. She delves into the lessons learned, the challenges, and—most importantly—the people that have impacted her illustrious career. She also shares advice on why soft skills are key to acquisitions and integrations, the importance of transparency, and determining the difference between a CEO who isn’t the right fit versus a CEO who has room to grow. 

Medtech Talk Links: 
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Gilde Healthcare 
Corza Medical 
Lightstone Ventures 

 

 

Episode Transcript

Geoff Pardo (00:00):
Welcome to the MedTech Talk Podcast.
This is your host, Geoff Pardo,and it's my pleasure to welcome
Stacy Enxing Seng to thisepisode.
Stacy has had a fascinatingcareer in MedTech with
leadership roles in some of themost well-known and innovative
companies.
She was pivotal from theearliest days of ev3 and has

(00:20):
played a significant role in thedevelopment of countless early
stage companies.
On this episode, we're going totap into her insights around
innovation, leadership, and thekey challenges we face at the
medtech industry.
Stacy, welcome to the podcast.

Stacy Enxing Seng (00:36):
Hey, thanks so much, Geoff.
It's really great to be withyou.

Geoff Pardo (00:40):
Yeah, I'm really excited to do this.
You and I had a chance to worktogether on the Vesper board,
and I got to know you a littlebit then, but of course not as
much as I would have liked to.
So this is a great, a greatchance for me.
And I think as you know, I liketo start these episodes with
learning a little bit more aboutthe background of people like

(01:00):
you in our industry, and inparticular, what uh started to
motivate them or move themtowards uh medtech.
So if you don't mind, I wonderif you could start with some of
your background and you knowwhere you grew up, what were
your early interests?
And I know for you inparticular, you faced an early
encounter with the healthcaresystem as um as a child growing

(01:21):
up, and and maybe you could talkabout that and the impact it
had on you.

Stacy Enxing Seng (01:25):
Sure.
So I grew up in ArlingtonHeights, Illinois, which is
outside of Chicago, and uh feelvery blessed.
I had a very happy childhood,and my interests really were
horses.
So I absolutely thought Iwanted to be a vet from a very
young age.

(01:45):
Um I started working at theArlington Park racetrack in the
backstretch in the mornings whenI was 13.

Geoff Pardo (01:53):
Oh wow.

Stacy Enxing Seng (01:54):
With race horses, as well as in the
concession stands in theafternoon.
And the backstretch was sevendays a week, um, with work

beginning at 5 (02:03):
45.
So it was pretty grueling work,but I loved it.
And uh I really spent mysummers there.
And ultimately, that wasactually quite a formative
experience for me.
Um, from uh, you know, medicineperspective, um, I ended up
having a health issue when I wasin high school.

(02:25):
I had an appendix that wasleaking that created an abscess,
and I ended up getting quitesick and had to spend quite a
bit of time in high schooldealing with the after effects
of a ruptured appendix andperitonitis.
And I actually loved being inthe hospital, even though I was

(02:45):
a patient.
Uh, I was just fascinated bythe physicians and the nurses,
and it just created a real sparkand kind of curiosity in me for
just being in the you knowmedical environment.
And so I don't know that thatever formed me to want to go

(03:07):
into healthcare, but ultimatelywhen I started working with
American Hospital Supply, Imean, it reconnected with me how
much I enjoyed being in thehospital.

Geoff Pardo (03:18):
Yeah.
Well, that makes a lot ofsense.
And I think as you and I talkedahead of this episode, I mean,
if you can intellectualize youryour own your own healthcare
challenges, it is prettyfascinating to you know to
understand uh you knoweverything that's being done.
Uh I'm curious though, what uhyou uh the desire to become a
vet, um what what happened withthat uh interest?

Stacy Enxing Seng (03:42):
Well, I you know, I loved animals and
specifically horses.
And I, as I mentioned, youknow, worked at the racetrack.
But when I was coming out ofMichigan State, um really going
into the real world, I realizedthat, you know, I couldn't keep
working at the racetrack.

(04:04):
And so I amazingly was able toland a job, an internship, my
freshman year out of MichiganState uh at IBM.
And I worked there my freshmansummer through all of the
holidays and consecutive summersuntil I graduated from Michigan

(04:24):
State.
And while working there, Iguess I so loved working with
the people at IBM that it mademe, you know, lose my interest
in wanting to be a vet.
And it really formed myinterest in wanting to go into
business.
And, you know, my father hadalways been in sales and he was

(04:50):
quite an entrepreneur of sorts.
He started his own company at50.
And just growing up, heinstilled so much in me.
Both my parents did.
But between working at IBM andthen, you know, seeing my father
in action, I really startedjust connecting with the
construct of going intobusiness.

(05:10):
And um, I never changed mypublic policy degree at Michigan
State.
I mean, I kept focused onpublic policy, but the actual
work outside of Michigan Statein the internships at IBM really
gave me a taste for sales andmarketing.

Geoff Pardo (05:26):
Yeah.
And I love that.
I love I love the public policybackground.
I mean, I I myself was ahistory major and I didn't have
any science, but but I'm curiouswhat it was about American
hospital supply that, you know,that that really caught your
attention.

Stacy Enxing Seng (05:41):
Yes.
Well, so American HospitalSupply, joining them out of
college, um, you know, I wasprobably like most college
students, I was just looking fora job.
And as I mentioned, was apublic policy major.
I was very fortunate that theindividual that I worked with at
IBM was very supportive of mein kind of presenting to the

(06:05):
school, presenting to MichiganState, why I should be able to
interview as a business student,even though my degree was in
public policy.
And Michigan State actuallysupported that.
So I had the opportunity tointerview with a lot of
companies.
And what really attracted me toAmerican Hospital Supply and

(06:28):
sparked my interest there, youknow, I would almost say it was
less about the fact that theywere working in medical
products, but really more aboutthe fact that they were going to
give me an opportunity to gointo sales.
And specifically, I just superconnected with the people that I

(06:48):
met at American Hospital Supplyduring the interview process.
And I remember distinctlythinking there was one
individual in particular, JimDerleith.
And I just remember thinking,wow, you know, if there's
someone as great as this guyreally loving what he's doing at
American Hospital Supply, youknow, I really think I could

(07:09):
love it there too.
And so I would say that isreally what formed my decision
was the people and trulyconnecting, you know, with the
people at American HospitalSupply.

Geoff Pardo (07:23):
Yeah.
And I think this is like aconsistent theme, it struck me
throughout your career, isreally the people element, which
we all know is so reallyimportant in any business, but
but just given how collegial ourindustry is, you know,
particularly important in our inour business.
And one of the stories you toldme, I wonder if you could, you

(07:44):
know, recount it, is you go toyou know you go to Baxter, then
you go to Harvard BusinessSchool, and coming out of maybe
tell a story of coming out ofHBS and and uh thinking you're
gonna go to one company and sortof the events that took place
uh after that.

Stacy Enxing Seng (08:01):
So, in terms of now going out of HBS into
SciMed?

Geoff Pardo (08:06):
Exactly.
So going from HBS into SciMedand and maybe the story of how
you actually landed at SciMed.

Stacy Enxing Seng (08:13):
Yeah.
So, you know, I had this greatexperience of being a sales rep
for American Hospital Supply.
And then I went into marketingfor American Hospital Supply,
who was now acquired by Baxter.
And while I was working in, youknow, the corporate offices in
marketing, this was in MagawPark up in northern Illinois,

(08:37):
um, I did in fact notice thatall of the executives at Baxter
and Hospital Supply, theybasically had most of them their
MBAs.
And I started to get thisrealization that, you know, I
really wanted to be a CEO.
If you talked to my then, youknow, 25, 27-year-old self,

(09:01):
that's what I would say I hadwanted to do.
And so because I was a publicpolicy major, I thought, you
know, I really need to get adegree in business that is an
academic degree in business.
So I was planning to go tobusiness school at night.
You know, I never evenconsidered giving up the work
that I was doing at Baxterbecause I really enjoyed it so

(09:25):
much.
But there was a gentleman bythe name of Tony Kessman, and he
was really kind enough to pointout to me, you know, Stacy,
you're so young in your careerand you're so motivated.
Why don't you just go full-timeto business school and why
don't you go to Harvard?
And I was from the Midwest, andI mean I had heard of Harvard,

(09:46):
but I really never gave it anyconsideration.
And I visited the school, wasvery impressed with the program,
decided to apply to it, andapplied and had a fabulous
two-year experience there.
While I was there, I stayedextremely focused on healthcare.
And um, you know, fortunately,there was um a professor at

(10:12):
Harvard, and she was extremelyfocused on healthcare as well.
So I joined like the healthcareclub, and there were a number
of other individuals at theschool that were very focused
on, you know, healthcare, medtech, biotech, pharma.
And through that process,started realizing what I really
wanted to look for was call it amore high technology um medical

(10:39):
technology experience than whatI had had at American Hospital
Supplied Baxter, which was alittle bit more kind of
supplies-based.
So that was became my focus.
And so, of course, I was quiteinterested in a lot of the names
that we now know.
And I was actually quiteinterested in Medtronic and

(11:01):
actually had an offer to jointhem.
But in the process, I ran intoa guy, and so to your point, the
theme of people kind ofcreating interesting
opportunities for me.
I ran into a guy in the airportafter my interviews with
Medtronic when I was headingback to Harvard Business School.
His name is Mark Stoutberg.

(11:21):
He had been at SciMed.
He had also been at HospitalSupply.
We had worked together there.
And he told me about whatSciMed was doing and he got me
an interview there.
And so I researched the company,and I thought this whole
emerging field of interventionalcardiology was just fascinating
to me.
And so at the end of the day, Ifelt that Medtronic, while it

(11:45):
was an absolutely incrediblecompany, and actually the
financial offer from Medtronicwas better than SciMed's, um,
but somehow I really connectedwith kind of the intensity and
the competitive nature ofSciMed.
Um, it was kind of a greatcombination of work hard, play
hard.
And in some ways, I really feltit would challenge me, um,

(12:07):
maybe take me much more out ofmy comfort zone.
And and I also think I feltlike I had something to prove
there because there was agentleman everybody knows, Mike
Berman.
Uh, he was the VP of NewModality Marketing, which was
the group that I was going tojoin at SciMed.
And uh, you know, he kind ofsaid, you can check that Harvard

(12:28):
degree at the door.
It doesn't really mean anythinghere, just performance does.
And I kind of liked that.
That, you know, that soundedlike a strong challenge to me.
And then when I actually had theoffer from SciMed and I was
trying to decide between SciMedMedtronic, Dale Spencer, who was
the CEO at the time, he calledme personally and said, you

(12:51):
know, what would it take for youto say yes to us?
And I did not want to go aroundmy direct manager or Mike
Berman and change the offer.
Um, but I did say, well, Ithink your offer is very fair,
but I would certainly appreciateif you took care of my business
school loans and covered those.
And Dale, without hesitation,said, Done, what else?

(13:16):
And I said, you know, that thatis more than enough.
And I will have a decision foryou tomorrow.
But I think the important pointis that when I hung up that
phone between kind of Mike'schallenge to me about the impact
that he expected me to make atthe company, um, and it wasn't
about degree, it was aboutperformance.

(13:36):
And then when I hung up thephone with Dale, I mean, they
really made me feel like I wasgoing to make a difference
there.
And, you know, that's one thingI think great leaders do.
And uh so I said yes.

Geoff Pardo (13:50):
And that's a great segue.
I mean, it's um, you know,coming myself coming into this
business, one of my earlymentors was Dan Cole, who was at
SciMed and who you know.
Um and it just, you know, it'sI heard a lot about Dale Spencer
and Mike Berman, and justthere's tremendous number of
leaders, you know, coming out ofSciMed.

(14:10):
And I'm I'm curious kind of thethe impact or some of the key
things you learned in that inthat SciMed experience.

Stacy Enxing Seng (14:18):
Oh, yeah, for sure.
Well, definitely focusing in onthe fact that the common link a
lot of times is the people thatyou're surrounded by.
And, you know, I think in allthose companies, they were
people of character.
Um, I mean, they were verypositive, can do people,
competitive people, people wholike to win.

(14:39):
They like to win as part of ateam.
Of course, there's always someegos, but um, I think at the end
of the day, what I got out ofSciMed in particular, I would
say that, you know, it was acombination of things.
You mentioned Dale Spencer, DanCole.
I mean, the two of them werecut from the same cloth in terms
of, you know, eye on the prize,focus on the mission, a really

(15:04):
demanding environment, butexceedingly fair, great
questions.
And they were at the top.
So, you know, I came in as aproduct manager.
So my immediate world wasreally much more Mike Berman.
And I think he was a magicianat demanding being exceedingly
well prepared.
I mean, he was just so darnsmart.

(15:25):
And every two weeks, uh, as aproduct manager in his group,
you would have to be in a Mondaymorning update review meeting
with him.
And I mean, I would get sostressed out, you know, every
other week preparing for thatmeeting, which was going to be a
no-stone unturned meeting,because I knew without question

(15:48):
he would find that stone.
So, I mean, one of thesimilarities that I think
connected the people at SciMed,and specifically I would give
Mike credit for this, uh, wasbringing out skills that
ultimately I think formed someof my tendencies personally as a
leader to demand a lot from myteams and ensure that they were

(16:09):
exceedingly well prepared.
But I also had the benefit inmy immediate world, you know, as
a product manager and workingmy way up of working with Paul
Buckman.
And I think he really knew howto make people feel good about
themselves and their work.
Um, you know, he created a realpositivity with his teens and

(16:31):
with our customers.
And I think I gained a lot ofmy likability as a leader from
watching and working with Paul.
And I also think he opened somany doors to me with connecting
me with our sales reps and ourcustomers because he was so well
liked.
And when I think about, again,the people that I worked with

(16:53):
there, and I would, I guess,credit him in my career as I've
always really valued the voiceof the customer and equally
important the voice of the salesteam, um, as they are really
the eyes and ears of thecompany.
And so, you know, it justseemed like whether it was at
the very top of the house withum Dale and Dan, or it was my

(17:15):
immediately, my immediate world,you know, it was just this
combination of incredibleintensity, but high character.
I mean, I always feltpersonally very supported.
Um, and that, you know, thepeople made the difference.
And that was our responsibilityto make the difference for our
customers.

(17:35):
So it was just a reallypositive experience.

Geoff Pardo (17:39):
And so, you know, it makes a lot of sense.
And and and so SciMed getsacquired by Boston Scientific.
Um, and and maybe talk a littlebit about that, but but in
particular, you you know, youmake the decision uh at some
point post-acquisition to go toa very, you know, a much earlier

(18:00):
stage company.
So maybe walk us through uhthat transition to what would
become ev3.

Stacy Enxing Seng (18:06):
Sure.
Yeah, that was a seminalexperience for me, no doubt.
Um so SciMed was acquired byBoston in 1995.
And uh, you know, I proceededto work with Boston Scientific
out of the cardiovascular groupfor the next five years.
And so I loved working atBoston Scientific.

(18:29):
Again, it was just kind of acontinuation of the people
story.
They just attracted and hadsuch great people.
And at the time I was the VP ofcardiovascular marketing in
this 2000, you know, 1997 to2000 time frame.
And I, as I said earlier, knewI really wanted full PL uh

(18:51):
general management experiencebecause my career goal at that
time remained that I wanted tobe a CEO.
And so I realized, and this isnot intending to sound as if it
was a narrow job, but I realizedthat the president roles at
Boston Scientific were whilecritically important, they were

(19:13):
really just sales and marketingresponsibility because Boston
Scientific had establishedfunctional executives, you know,
across the RD, clinicalmanufacturing, regulatory, et
cetera, that reported up to thethen CEO, who was Jim Tobin.
And so because of this, I mean,I came to the realization that

(19:35):
while I absolutely loved theculture and the people of Boston
Scientific, that I was likelygoing to need to leave to find
that right next opportunity forme that was gonna allow me to
have full PL responsibility.
And so at this same time, I hadhad a conversation with Dale

(19:57):
Spencer, who, as I mentioned,had been the CEO of SciMed, and
he had stayed a mentor of mine.
I mean, one of the great giftshe gave me was after he left,
the two of us would meet, youknow, usually two, three times a
year, and we had our own littlekind of book club.
We were both avid readers, andwe would like to share, you

(20:18):
know, life stories throughbooks, business stories through
books, and we would always cometo breakfast with a book for
each other.
And so we were having one ofthese breakfasts, and I shared
with him uh what I hadconcluded, and that I likely
felt like I was in my last jobwith BSC, even though I didn't

(20:41):
want to be because I love thecompany.
And he said, Well, can I tellyou about an idea that I have?
And so he told me about thestrategy for EB3 at that
breakfast.
And he explained that he hadalready lined up investment, and
the investment was from someoneI did not know, Bess Weatherman
at Warburg Pincus, and DickEmmett, who I did know because

(21:03):
he had been on the board ofSciMed at the vertical group.
And the strategy totallyresonated with me at that
breakfast because ev3 wasintending to innovate and serve
customers across peripheralneuro and the emerging
structural heart areas.
And as Dale was explaining thisto me, he was suggesting that,

(21:27):
you know, there was not enoughinnovation in that area.
As I was a VP of cardiovascularmarketing at Boston Scientific,
at least at Boston Scientific,I could see that this was the
case.
And I felt like this was alsothe case at the other strategics
because the time frame of this,kind of these late 90s into the

(21:48):
early 2000s, the stent businesswas so crucial.
I mean, it was such an excitingbusiness.
It was doing so much forpatient care, but there was the
elephant in the room, and it wasthe emergence of a lot of the
drug-alluding stent work.
And I mean, these were huge,massive financial undertakings,

(22:09):
and the market space was socompetitive that it really was
as if the large strategics,while they had a portfolio of
companies or technologies andthey were doing work in the
other areas, they were reallypredominantly focused on, you
know, the stent wars.
And so I think Dale rightlyassessed that this was to the

(22:32):
detriment of innovation inperipheral and neuro.
And while there were somestandouts there, like target
therapeutics as an example, youknow, they were very focused on
neuro and microtherapeutics.
By and large, Dale's assessmentwas accurate.
So, you know, while I was notsmart enough to come up with
that idea of ev3, I think I wassmart enough to listen to them

(22:52):
and immediately get it.
And um, at breakfast, at thatbreakfast, I said, I am in.
I want to do this.
And uh all I really wanted orrequired was to meet the
investors.
And so, you know, I knew Dick,as I mentioned, and I met Bess.
And like I was incredibly wowedby Bess Weatherman uh

(23:16):
instantaneously.
Um, for me, this was really thefirst time that I had met a
female executive, a female inthe power role.
I mean, she was our investor,she was our lead investor.
And uh it just made such apositive impression on me from
the perspective of a woman inbusiness meeting this just, you

(23:37):
know, incredibly talentedperson.
And then the other requirementwas I also wanted to give Boston
Scientific two months' notice.
And while that was kind of along notice period, I did not
want to pull the rug out fromunder them.
I felt so grateful for theexperience that they had given
me.
But I mean, I was just all inon the idea of ev3 the moment

(24:01):
that I heard about it.
I was kind of thunderstruck andI just knew I had to do it.

Geoff Pardo (24:06):
Well, that's awesome.
And and what were those earlydays like?
I mean, following thattransition, what what was it
like uh at ev3 in those mostformative days?

Stacy Enxing Seng (24:16):
Well, it was exhilarating, right?
Um, it was exhilaratingbecause, you know, we just, I
felt, had an amazing group ofpeople.
We had um extremely supportiveinvestors.
I mean, they were verydemanding, but very supportive.
We did not have to spend timeraising money like a lot of, you

(24:36):
know, early stage companiesneed to do.
Um, we obviously had to earnthe right to the money that
Warburg and Vertical wereputting in, but we didn't have
to go out there and raise.
And I think that was a bigvalue driver for us.
Um, and it allowed us to focuson our mission.
And, you know, I just explainedthe strategy.

(24:57):
I mean, we really felt like wewere this new breed of company
in the spaces where thestrategics were not.
And we had a powerfulcheckbook.
So we spent a tremendous amountof time with customers and
really trying to find, I wouldsay, undervalued assets that we

(25:20):
felt in our hands.
You know, some people referredto EB3 in the early days as a
roll-up.
And on some level, I canunderstand why it can be
articulated as that, because,you know, we kind of bought our
way initially into platformsthat we felt were meaningful,
but then our goal and ourobjective was to really take

(25:41):
those platforms and tore-engineer, re-innovate, really
spend time with the customer,understand what the customer
needed and want, wanted.
And through our early businessdevelopment efforts, I think we
left no company underundiscovered that could
potentially be an acquisitiontarget for us.

(26:03):
And so, I mean, it was a veryhigh-pace environment, um, a lot
of intensity, but I think wewere all very united in this
mission uh to really create andbring innovation to the
peripheral neuro and structuralheart spaces.
Although, you know, we kind ofgot out of structural heart a

(26:26):
couple years into the journeybecause we just appreciated that
it was going to take so muchcapital to develop those
markets.
So we really focused on some ofthe, you know, call it more 5,
10K technologies that you couldget across the bow quicker
because we had an establishedsales organization in the US and

(26:48):
outside the US.
Uh, so we kind of became ev2,um, you know, peripheral and
neuro the first couple of yearsinto the journey, but we kept
the name ev3.

Geoff Pardo (27:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
ev3 rolls up the tongue alittle better.

Stacy Enxing Seng (27:03):
But yeah, a little better.

Geoff Pardo (27:05):
Yeah.
How hard was, you know, as asventure investors, you know, we
often preach uh sort of laserfocus uh with our companies um
on sort of specifictechnologies, knowing how hard
it is even to just get onetechnology across the goal line
into the market.
Now, here at ev3 you havemultiple technologies, multiple,

(27:27):
multiple franchises.
How how hard was that at ev3 tokind of maintain focus when
you're actually, you know,dealing with so many
technologies?

Stacy Enxing Seng (27:38):
Yeah, I mean, I think you're really drilling
into one of the big areas ofdifficulty we had in the first,
you know, I'm even gonna say thefirst three to five years.
Um, you know, we had to be ableto work well in a very
high-change environment.
So I think it was a tribute toa lot of the leaders and their

(27:59):
capabilities that we had at boththe neurovascular and the
peripheral vascular businessgroups.
Uh, we had to learn companyintegration because, of course,
we were acquiring so manycompanies along that journey.
I think we had to learn how tobuild teams.
But to your question, I thinkwe were a little long in

(28:24):
learning the importance of thevital few versus the useful
many.
Because, you know, at our earlyyears at ED3, we had such a big
appetite and we had so manyirons in the fire that to your
question, you know, at times wecould, I think, lose sight of a
disciplined decision making andresource allocation process.

(28:45):
And so we had to get good atdespite the broad portfolio, you
know, now in today's jargon, Ico-allocation and really
understanding the vital fewthings that were really going to
move the valuation needle.
So, you know, as an example,when it came to acquisitions and

(29:06):
bringing new technology intothe company, uh, we had a
neurovascular and aperipherovascular business
group.
And with our balance sheet andour PL, we really only had the
ability to do kind of oneacquisition at a time.
We were very serial acquirers.
And a lot of times, you know,PV would have to bow down for

(29:28):
envy because that was going tobe the bigger value driver for
the totality of the company.
Um, and so I think as aleadership and management team,
at the end of the day, that'swhat we had to get quite good at
was, you know, recognizing,call it the greater good for the
good of the company and lessabout maybe your own PL and

(29:52):
really be crystal clear on thestrategy as a team as to what
was going to move the Evaluationneedle and ensuring that we
were really feeding that and umyou know doing first things
first.
And it started creating kind ofa flywheel environment.

(30:13):
I mean, we it seemed almost thebetter we got at the vital few,
the more everything started togo well.
And so, you know, even today,you know, 20 years later, I
mean, this is something I tryand constantly ask myself, both
in my personal and myprofessional life, you know,

(30:34):
trying to be crystal clear onthose things that are vital and
ensuring that those are wellresourced, well funded, well
focused on.
Because it really does create,I think, effective alignment at
the top of the house and all theway down through the employees.

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Geoff Pardo (31:09):
Now you you mentioned, you know, the
acquisitions that uh ev3 wasmaking, and one of those in
particular was really, I think,a uh pivotal acquisition, and
that was Fox Hollow.
And uh I wonder if you couldtalk a little bit about that,
because that was not the easiestof uh integration, uh, I
gather.

Stacy Enxing Seng (31:27):
No, for sure not.
Um, you know, ultimately, Ithink it's one of the things I'm
most proud of, but it was verydifficult and it created a lot
of challenge.
And I think that is where maybeI best learned the importance
of culture and respecting how tointegrate when it comes to, you

(31:52):
know, two competitive companiesnow coming together.
Um, we really felt like theatherectomy technology would be
a really critical value driverto ev3 peripheral.
And we were both reallysimilar-sized companies with
similar-sized sales forces.

(32:12):
At that time, we made a change,and it was one that candidly I
was frustrated over, which wasthat we were gonna split sales
from the rest of the company.
So I was gonna manage the restof the peripheral vascular
business, kind of all thebackroom operations, and one of

(32:33):
my colleagues was going to bethe president effectively of the
sales and marketingorganizations.
And we went into the dealbasically saying that one plus
one would equal three.
You know, we would take thistechnology, you know, we would
take this technology, we wouldbring it into the company, and
the incredible momentum that FoxHollow was having, we would

(32:56):
automatically get that.
And we kind of planned that togo forward positively.
What really started happeningwas one plus one was starting to
equal 1.5.
I mean, it was a bit of afalling knife on the revenue.
We slammed the two sellingorganizations together.
We didn't really spend a lot oftime with the customers.
Interestingly, as kind of inconflict as the Fox Hollow and

(33:21):
the ev3 sales team were, becausethe ev3 sales team was selling
stents, the Fox Hollow team wasselling uh atherectomy, there
was actually the same conflictgoing on even with customers.
You know, there were customersthat were hawkers, and there
were customers that werestenters.
And I just think weunderclubbed that.
And so without going throughall the messy detail, I think at

(33:45):
the end of the day, when wereally stepped back, we really
spent a lot of time withcustomers understanding what
they wanted.
So, what did call it thestenters need in order to be
able to utilize atherectomy?
And what did the high volumeatherectomy users want, as well

(34:06):
as starting to listen to thesales reps and get them to
understand, you know, how wouldwe position this whole portfolio
complementary?
When we kind of put the ego outof the deal and really listened
to the culture of it, I thinkwe started learning some
important lessons.
And what we heard from thecustomers was they wanted data,

(34:29):
you know, they wanted clinicalstudies, significant clinical
studies.
And I can recall in a boardmeeting unleashing the spending
that was going to be necessaryfor what we called the
definitive trials, which was aseries of three trials that were
massive undertaking.
Um, they wanted to know whatreally the answer was going to

(34:50):
be.
You know, was this going to besuccessful?
And honestly, I didn't thinkthat we really knew which was
the risk, but what we knew forsure was that's what the
customers were going to demandin order to be able to use the
device, you know, broadlyspeaking.
And then from the salesperspective, we created, you

(35:11):
know, it was almost like a teamof rivals concept.
We created some of the topperforming reps that had been
top performance from Box Hollowand the same with ev3.
We got them together.
And at the end of the day, itwas really one of the sales
leaders um that came up withthis concept of preserving

(35:33):
treatment options.
And that if you led withatherectomy, um, you could
preserve options and you couldfollow that on with other
technology, including Astent.
And um, you know, RobWilliamson, who I think some
people know had an extremelysuccessful contribution at
Shockwave, um, Rob was the onethat said, let's, you know,

(35:56):
basically call it the continuumof care.
And, you know, this came upfrom the groundswell.
And so by this point, I wasrunning, again, all of sales and
marketing and the wholeperipheral vascular group.
And I just, you know, dug intothat, those two things.
Like what's always the guidinglight?
It's what do the customers needto best treat their patients?

(36:17):
And what do sales reps need tobe able to support and sell the
technologies in their portfolio?
And so we ended up, I think,doing a really good job with it.
And when you really fastforward to the Covidien
acquisition of ev3, atherectomywas without question the
technology that built fencesthat prevented the other

(36:40):
competitors from coming in.
We started learning that everytime our customers would use
atherectomy, they would alsotend to use all the other ev3
products.
Um, and, you know, it wasreally an revenue accelerator
for us going into Covidians.
So, you know, Dr.
Simpson's vision of removingthe material and preserving

(37:04):
treatment options came to pass,but it wasn't um despite a
number of bumps along the way.

Geoff Pardo (37:12):
Yeah, that's fascinating.
And it's something that, youknow, I think integration in
general is just one of the mostchallenging things in our
business.
You know, it's so exciting toget the deal done, but then to
have that combination have oneplus one equal three, as you
say.
I mean, that that is reallytough.

(37:33):
And I wonder, I mean, I'mcurious, as you've seen that now
a number of times in yourcareer, you've been the
acquirer, you've been theacquiry.
What any sort of key things?
I mean, you've mentioned someof them in terms of making sure
the customer is always theguiding light, but when you've
seen it done badly or you'veseen it done well, like what how

(37:55):
would you counsel a companytoday if you were either doing a
big acquisition or beingacquired in terms of that
successful integration?

Stacy Enxing Seng (38:04):
Yeah.
Well, you know, it's kind oflike we all instinctively know,
but they sound like the softskills.
A lot of times you want tospend your energy on, you know,
the IQ of the deal and the mathof the deal and all those types
of things.
And there's no question, likewhen I think about the ev3 Fox
Hollow deal, we had put a lot ofsynergies into the deal.

(38:25):
So, I mean, right out of thegates, we had to be beholden to
significant reductions in coststructure.
And sometimes that's arequirement, but I think it's
tough to go into deals when youreally have to drive a lot of
cost savings and you base thevalue, part of the value of the
deal on those cost savings.

(38:47):
Because to me, that immediatelystarts to disrupt what I'm going
to call, you know, the valuesof running the business and the
culture of running the businessand recognizing that when you're
the acquirer, you're acquiringsomething because it works
really well and it's verypromising.

(39:08):
And so, therefore, the peopleand the strategy and the culture
with which they're running thatbusiness, you have to respect
that.
You have to embrace that, youhave to listen to that.
And I just think you can't takea sledgehammer to it.
And so, you know, when I thinkabout the transition to

(39:29):
Covidien, I mean, were thecultures of ev3 and Covidien
different?
Well, of course they were.
But I think that the Covidienleadership team, I mean, major
props to Joe Almeida, who reallysponsored the deal, but Rich
Melia, their CFO, ChuckDockendorff, Amy Wendell, Brian

(39:51):
Hanson, Joe Woody.
I mean, first of all, they didnot drive a lot of synergies
into the deal.
They really looked at we areacquiring this whole portfolio
and this is going to be new forus.
But so, you know, it was atuck-in in effect.
But what they did really well,which I think is easy to say and

(40:13):
hard to do, is they reallylistened to us.
I mean, I think they made theev3 teams feel like we were in
control of making this a successat Covidien, and they were
there now to support us to makeit a great success.

(40:34):
And I am really proud of thefact that, you know, inside of
Covidien, I mean, I think ourturnover rate was less than 5%,
which is kind of amazing.
We kept all of our salespeople.
Um, you know, lots of credit tothe Kevin Cordell, Tim Lanier,
John Zarens of the world.
I mean, they kept their teamsvery, very well motivated.

(40:55):
They gave us tremendousresource to go after additional
acquisitions.
They gave us tremendousresource to continue to innovate
outside of our RD groups.
And so, you know, they justreally listened to us along the
way.
And I think that that is adifficult thing for an acquirer

(41:15):
to do because of course yourbusiness is running well too.
That's why you can do the deal.
Um, so it's, you know, prettyeasy to kind of fall in love of
with your own playbook.
But I think if you allow youracquisitions, if you keep the
right people, if you respect theculture, if you listen and you
don't take a sledgehammer, andyou allow for the changes to

(41:38):
happen over time, um, I thinkthat that is what creates, you
know, a success in combination,of course, with just the clarity
of why we're doing this, thestrategy of what we're trying to
accomplish.
Um, and I think Covidien justdid that exceedingly well with
ev3.
And I think we at ev3 did areally good job of pushing back

(42:03):
on Covidien when we felt thatthey were gonna go in the
penalty box with you know theiracquisition.
Um, it was a very transparent,very communicative process, and
I would say, you know, veryinvested leaders at the top uh
to ensure it succeeded.

Geoff Pardo (42:20):
You mentioned um Bess Weatherman uh, you know,
early on and um and and alsoDick Emmett, but just and this
is always interesting for me,you know, as a as a venture
capitalist, is learn one of thegreat things is learning from
you know your peers and peopleyou work on the board with.
And by now you've worked withcountless venture capitalists,

(42:41):
but you know, beyond of coursethe financial wherewithal of
Warburg, you know, Bess is apretty special investor.
I wonder what you know whatwhat things you saw that made
her so good and and uh and justin, you know, maybe transcending
beyond that is you know, whatmakes a good investor like Bess,
do you think?

Stacy Enxing Seng (43:01):
Mm-hmm.
Um, well, you know, from myfirst meeting with Bess all the
way through to working with her,and actually just as a quick
aside, you know, she achievedthe Lifetime Achievement Award
at the recent Phoenix CEOconference, and it was so well
deserved, and it was reallyspecial for me to be there and

(43:22):
see that.
Um, Bess is Bess.
You know, she is so authentic,she's very transparent.
She was always well balanced inher comments.
She always would supportthrough a well-vetted process
what management really wanted todo.
And, you know, ultimately, ofcourse, there were CEO changes.

(43:43):
Um, I think there were timeswhere, you know, she had to be
the decision maker in that.
But, you know, you never feltlike you didn't know where you
stood.
You never felt like you didn'tunderstand where she stood on
her investment in the company.
And I just think that createsfor a great investor.

(44:04):
I mean, obviously they have towear their investor hat and get
out of it what they're lookingto get out of it, but they also,
you know, are so fundamental toensuring that the company feels
like they can succeed and thatthey are in the boardroom, which
was really my primary interfacewith her, that the questions

(44:28):
were well and balanced andseeking to understand and then
also giving back input and, youknow, expecting progress on that
input.
So for me, um, I just am a hugebeliever in communication and
transparency.
And I think to her core, youknow, Bess is an exceedingly

(44:49):
transparent person.
And uh sometimes the news wasdifficult.
Most of the time the news washelpful, but it was always
honest and transparent.
And I think that's what I wasin impressed by.
Um, you know, and then I wasjust for me personally as a
female leader, I just loved thatcombination that she brought to

(45:11):
the table.
You know, she was just clearlya um thoughtful, demanding,
stylish, you know, excellentcommunicator.
I was just kind of wowed byher, you know, all the way
around.

Geoff Pardo (45:25):
And it's a, you know, it's a nice segue,
actually, and be and uh not to,you know, uh cut off kind of the
the next phase of your career,but I want to jump actually to
your role on the boards of youknow, many uh really interesting
and and emerging companies.
And I have a couple ofquestions.

(45:45):
One is, you know, how hard isit to transition from being kind
of the the doer, the operator,the leader to a role where
you're you're reallyinfluencing.
Um how hard a transition wasthat for you?

Stacy Enxing Seng (46:00):
Well, you know, I think it was clearly a
transition.
And I think for me, the biggestchallenge was transitioning
from, you know, fingers oneverything to the phrase that I
heard very early on.
I think Hank Kucheman, uhformer CEO of Boston, was one of
the first people to say it tome.

(46:21):
But, you know, working on uhnose in, fingers out.
And I'm sure you've heard thatphrase before.
And so I had to learn to filterthat.
Um, but I think it's a naturaltransition that people go
through.
And, you know, hopefully itwasn't too painful for the CEOs
that I worked with.
But I would say that was thetransition for me.

Geoff Pardo (46:42):
Yeah, yeah.
And and uh what, you know, whatwas what are some of the
lessons you learned as anoperator?
Uh I mean, maybe that was thelesson, kind of nose in, fingers
out, but uh but what do youthink you brought from your
years as an operator to nowbeing a board member?
What are the key qualities youtry to bring to that role?

Stacy Enxing Seng (47:04):
Yeah, sure.
Well, um, you know, certainlybecause I do have a lot of
operating experience, um, Ireally try and be someone who is
a partner to the CEO, uhsounding board, um, somebody
that, you know, channeling theleaders I've had in my career

(47:26):
and observing some of the other,you know, gray lion investors
that I've worked with, um, isthis aspect of transparency and
really trying to stay focused onthis vital few concept, you
know, having it very clear in mymind so that when I work with
the CEOs, it's really about arethese decisions going to drive

(47:50):
value and spend less energy onsome of the execution details
and more energy around thestrategy of what's going to
drive that value and the peoplethat are part of driving that.
You know, do we have the rightplayers?
Does the CEO have the rightteam, the right resources?

(48:12):
And so it can be an art form,but I think that's you know,
where I try and drive value as aboard member or a chair of the
board.

Geoff Pardo (48:23):
And as chair, I wanted to ask you about that as
well, because the chairpersonhas kind of a special, you know,
responsibility on the board.
And that is, you know, that'sdifferent from the the the board
member.
And I'm I'm curious how you'vehandled that.
I mean, when you know, I'd becurious what you think uh is the
role of the chairperson versusthe board member, maybe to start

(48:46):
with.

Stacy Enxing Seng (48:46):
Yeah, well, you know, certainly I try and
use my executive leadershipexperiences when it comes to
what I'm going to call kind ofcreating a respectful
environment, transparency,communication.
I mean, I think one of myroles, even though the board
members are all showing up asindependents and they have their

(49:10):
own independent independentinvestor or fiduciary
responsibilities, you know, Ilike to ensure that as a board,
we are generally aligned aroundwhat the value drivers are, what
we're trying to accomplish,listening to all board members,
ensuring that feedback isshared, not operating with
hidden agendas.

(49:31):
And so that is spending timewith the various different board
members and creating anenvironment, especially in the
closed session, where I'mconstantly asking everyone for
their feedback.
And, you know, by and large,all of my experiences have been
pretty positive.
And then I translate that intomy partnership with the CEO.

(49:53):
You know, I kind of look at myrole as chair as being the
person that is going to spendthe time with the CEO, you know,
help be a thought partner tothem, many times be the bearer
of difficult topics andfeedback, but try not to shy
away though to those, do thattransparently and letting them

(50:16):
know that I'm here to supportthem and let's think together
about how to address the gaps,but that this is a gap that
needs to be addressed.
So we're not going to shy awayfrom that.
And, you know, so to thispoint, I would say that my
experience is some of those teamdynamics are really important

(50:36):
to lead in the boardroom for theboard members.
And then the other reallyimportant constituent is to
partner with the CEO.
And, you know, that is where Itry and ensure that all board
members are reasonably alignedand where there is disagreement
among board members, that wespend the time to ensure a

(50:58):
transparent process andoftentimes a well-governed and
documented process.
You know, I want to make surethat, you know, there's no, as I
said, hidden agendas.
It's a respectful environment.
And that we retain a strongrelationship with the CEO unless
and until we decide that weneed a different CEO.

Geoff Pardo (51:17):
Yeah.

Stacy Enxing Seng (51:17):
And that we handle that in a very, you know,
above board, respectful way.

Geoff Pardo (51:23):
Yeah. And actually, I want to I want to address
that because I think it's sointeresting, you know, an adage
that, you know, I'm sure, youknow, in kind of our side of the
business is when, you know,we've real when we on the kind
of board and investor side haverealize maybe we have the wrong
CEO, that too often we stick toolong with that CEO.

(51:45):
We and kind of you look backand you realize that should have
made the change earlier.
And I think that is often thecase.
However, sometimes people, it'syou know, that people don't
give enough, I guess, um, enoughto sort of the ability for
people to develop and change andgrow in their role.
Um, and I wonder how you'vebalanced that in your in your

(52:08):
role today as far as how do youmake the decision that you
actually don't have the rightperson versus someone that
simply needs the room to grow.

Stacy Enxing Seng (52:17):
That is such a tough one.
I mean, honestly, I would liketo listen to all your podcasts
on that, because I'm not sure Ihave any kind of a silver bullet
answer, but I will kind ofprovide maybe a couple of
categories.
One is to me, every time in mygut, I think it's not the right
person.
It typically is not the rightperson, and it typically also

(52:40):
takes me too long to come tothat decision.
Um, so I do think, you know,when you get a preponderance of
feedback, and so that meansyou're spending your time really
understanding the feedback fromall the board members, and
you're ensuring that you'respending enough time with that

(53:01):
CEO or even their managementteam that if you just can't get
that feeling out of your gut, itit's probably the right
decision, as uncomfortablesometimes as it can be.
Now, on the flip side, when mygut tells me this is somebody
with DNA, I mean that they havethe right DNA.

(53:21):
Um, they handle themselves withvalues, they focus on the vital
few things.
Maybe it's a style issue, maybethey are suffering from needing
to wear the cape, you know, andnot really leverage their team
or they haven't hired a strongenough team.

(53:42):
That's where I will spend time.
I mean, to me, that's worthspending the time because, you
know, everybody, I mean, I thinkI was a reasonable executive,
but there was certainly early inmy career times where I would
like feel like I was the onethat had to make every decision
and really didn't understand howto work through my team.

(54:03):
Um, and, you know, sometimes,especially in smaller companies,
that's the case.
Um, because, you know, the buckstops with the CEO.
So they are responsible.
But I kind of look at it andit's perhaps not too beneficial
as a guiding answer.
You know, on the one hand, ifyou really feel that way, it's

(54:25):
it's likely the move isnecessary.
On the other hand, you know, ifthey have some core instincts,
if they create the rightfollowership, if you really
understand that they understandwhat the market needs and the
customers need, um, you know,then I think yes, it's a
learning process and you shouldspend the energy and the time

(54:48):
there.
Um, and I think also you haveto see the true, call it
interest, passion, and intensityof the CEO, you know, the
willingness to take feedback.
I mean, I think whenever I'veworked with people that, you
know, don't quite have a rhinohide, I mean, they are defensive

(55:11):
over feedback.
Um, that's always a warninglight for me.

Geoff Pardo (55:15):
Yeah.

Stacy Enxing Seng (55:15):
And especially when it's a CEO, you
know, I really feel like themost successful people that I
have worked with are those thatare a bit unflappable in the
face of difficulty, and they areabsolutely willing to take
feedback and and really try andunderstand it.
And when I see that, that kindof flips me into let's see if we

(55:38):
can make this work.

Geoff Pardo (55:39):
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Now we're nearing the end ofour time.
Uh I want to go kind of rapidfire through a few remaining uh
questions that I'm reallycurious about your answers to.
Um, so if you'll allow me to dothat, uh what are some of the
innovations?
Maybe pick uh a couple or threethat you're most proud to have

(56:02):
been a part of.

Stacy Enxing Seng (56:02):
Oh my gosh, that is hard because I have
really been part of many things,but I I I can't help it.
I love the dispatch drugdelivery catheter, which was in
1993 to 95.
And, you know, that was mybaptism into interventional
cardiology.
You know, it just really gaveme access to the luminaries of

(56:24):
the world at that time, PatrickSaroyce, Marty Leon, Eritople,
Steve Ellis, Paul Tirstein.
I mean, I was spending so muchtime with those guys because it
was really the early precursorto what ultimately became drug
delivery balloons, drug deliverystents, you know, all the
venous technologies.

(56:44):
I mean, this concept ofdelivering drugs, you know, site
specifically.
So I'm I'm very proud of thatone.
I'm I'm proud of what we didwith Fox Hollow.
I think the Forect system andthe innovation work that ev3 did
on the, you know, clinicaltrials and the product
development was impressive.

(57:05):
And obviously it leveraged theplatform that Fox Hollow
provided to us.
Um, in my current world, it'skind of back to the future
because I think I'm really proudof Contigo, which is a
limestone investment that's acarotid artery stent system.
I mean, we had carotid arterystents, you know, the protege

(57:26):
back in the early days of ev3,but there wasn't the
reimbursement environment forit.
And, you know, Dr.
Ravish Satcher was really theone that first envisioned this
three-in-one system.
Um, so it feels a bit fullcircle to now see the clinical
data out of this transformativetechnology, not just in CAS but

(57:50):
carotid artery stenting, butwhat they're also pursuing in
TCAR.
And, you know, I also thinkit's pretty cool that we're
collaborating with Medtronic onthat.
And collaborations a lot oftimes don't work great.
Medtronic has been anoutstanding partner.
And it's really fun to work withDave Muller and the PV team
because, of course, they're nowthe owners of the old school ev3

(58:12):
portfolio.
So, you know, that just feelslike a bow around it for me
right now.
And and then I have to call outimperative care because I'm
working with them right now.
And having had neurovascular inmy past, um, you know, I've
always been kind of a fangroupie of Fred Kashrabi's.
And I think what Fred is doing,his vision that uh started with

(58:35):
Dr.
Nick Hopkins, who of course hasleft us, but his impact has
remained.
And uh they were both, I mean,Nick was such a special person.
Fred is a special personinnovator and leader.
And so I really love the ideasthat are happening at imperative
care.
I think they are very muchaligned to making the world a

(58:58):
better place.
And it's kind of just reallyfun to be part of that.

Geoff Pardo (59:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
And maybe to end and not to endon such a big question, but
what what do you what is thebiggest issue we face in med
tech and and what are you mostin what are you most concerned
about?

Stacy Enxing Seng (59:14):
Oh my gosh, that is a big question.
I would say, you know, I mean,there's there's like always,
honestly, there's always choppywaters.
So I am more positive than I amnegative.
And I think that, you know, meddevices is coming out.
Everybody had difficulty duringthe COVID years.

(59:35):
Um, but I think we're startingto come out, and innovation and
technology trends are exciting,and you know, there certainly is
more investment, but I thinkthe investment is far more
selective than it used to be,and it takes more to get to the
return profiles, and you know,that can create some investor

(59:58):
stress and come.
Company innovation or companypipeline stress.
I mean, honestly, in the worldtoday, to me, it's always about
those things that you can'tcontrol.
And, you know, we've had anumber of those.
I mean, whether it's ageopolitical environment or the
tariffs or, you know, thegovernment shutdown that we're
currently in, I mean, those arethe things that I find very

(01:00:22):
distressing.
Um, you know, because they feellike they're shooting yourself
in the foot.
Um but relative to ourindustry, I mean, there's
certainly some things that arechallenging, but by and large, I
think if you get the rightleaders and the right character
um and the right innovationsfocused on what customers really

(01:00:46):
need, um, I think ultimatelysuccess prevails.
And I also think, and I am notan expert in this, but I try and
listen quite a bit, you know,it's pretty exciting to think
about what is now available tous with so much of, you know,
robotics and brain computerinterface and uh, you know, um,

(01:01:10):
just all the AI ML devices anddigital healthcare and
wearables.
Um, you know, we're in acompany, Cala, that's a wearable
but uh with the medical deviceum rigor.
And it just feels verytransformative.
So, you know, I think we're ina bit of chock, but to me, uh
there's a lot of success on thehorizon.

(01:01:32):
So I am much more positive.

Geoff Pardo (01:01:34):
Well, I agree.
And uh, I mean, I feel likethere's a crisis thrown in our
industry like every year, itseems, and and it's incredible
how resilient our entrepreneursare.
And uh it's really, really funto be a part of.
And uh I can't thank youenough.
This is really a thrill for me,and uh really appreciate all
the time and and perspective youshared.

Stacy Enxing Seng (01:01:56):
Well, it was my pleasure, and uh really
you've done just an amazing jobwith your podcast.
So I am gonna go back and takea listen to all a hundred of
them or whatever it is.
I can I can better answer thatquestion of when to move on CEOs
and when to keep.

Geoff Pardo (01:02:14):
Thank you, Stacey.

Stacy Enxing Seng (01:02:16):
All right, have a great afternoon.

Geoff Pardo (01:02:18):
Thanks.