ACV30: How To Bring A Medtech Product To Market (Abel Ang, CEO of Advanced Medtech)

Mr Abel Ang is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Advanced MedTech Holdings, a US$200M global player in Urology devices and services. Previously, Abel has also served as the Senior Advisor to the CEO of Greatbatch Inc (NYSE: ITGR), as well as President, Asia/Pacific for Hill-Rom Inc. a US$3B revenue medical devices company (NYSE: HRC) where he was responsible for leading, developing and implementing the strategy to expand Hill-Rom’s presence in the Asia/Pacific markets.

In addition to his role as CEO of Advanced MedTech, Abel is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Nanyang Business School in Singapore and Waseda University in Japan, where he teaches in their respective MBA programs. He also contributes a monthly newspaper column to The Straits Times, Singapore’s largest newspaper.

Abel has vast experience and a wealth of knowledge in developing and commercializing medical device technologies built up over years of work in this field.

On this podcast, I talk to Abel Ang about what it means to be the CEO of a company, as well as things to think about once you have a viable product and are ready to bring it to market.

1. What’s most important for both companies and employees is to just get the job done. Think about what problems need solving and just go about solving them – no matter your title. Often the job that needs to get done centres around improving your product on offer to serve your customers better.
2. Abel / Advanced Medtech has a very simple formula for everything it does: CEC – MIS. Everything you touch needs to be Compelling, Engaging and Convincing. And then it needs to translate into Massive Impact and Scale. First refine your product to make it compelling, engaging and convincing (CEC) and then pursue the impact and scale.
3. Every business should follow its own path. Think carefully and clearly about your strengths and weaknesses. If you’re thinking of bringing a product to market yourself, consider if you have the capability to do so. If you’re thinking of partnering with an existing firm, think about whether you are a good cultural fit with them.

Companies and Organizations:

• Advanced MedTech: Medical device company based in Singapore https://www.advanced-medtech.com/
• Hill Rom: https://www.hillrom.com/
• GreatBatch (Now renamed Integer): A medical device company https://www.integer.net/home/default.aspx
• Economic Development Board, Singapore (EDB) https://www.edb.gov.sg/
• NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration https://www.nasa.gov/
• PetSmart- https://www.petsmart.com/
• MedTronic: A medical device company: https://www.medtronic.com/in-en/index.html
• Teladoc: A healthcare company focused on telehealth https://www.teladoc.com/
• Livongo: A data-based health coaching company https://www2.livongo.com/
• The Straits Times: A newspaper owned by Singapore Press Holdings https://www.straitstimes.com/global
• Stanford: https://www.stanford.edu/

People/Places:

• Mr. Philip Yeo: Chairman of Economic Development Innovations, Singapore
• John F. Kennedy: 35th President Of The United States
• Bill George: An American businessman and academic
• Omar Ishrak: Bangladeshi-American business executive

• Cape Canaveral: A cape in Florida
• Buckin: A city in Kansas, United States

Terms

• InfoComms – The combination of telecommunications and information processing

• HSA Approval – The Health Sciences Authority regulates health products and safeguards the health of people in Singapore.
• FDA – The Food And Drug Administration Of The United States is responsible for ensuring the safety of drugs, medical devices and biological products.
• Drinking their own Kool-Aid (expression) – This expression is used to refer to an individual who engages in something risky as he/she perceives that he/she will receive a high reward. To know more, refer to this website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceweinstein/2018/03/29/two-great-reasons-to-stop-saying-i-drank-the-kool-aid/#65f84a3634e3
• Medical Technologies (MedTech): http://www.healthcarebusinesstech.com/medical-technology/#:~:text=Medical%20technology%20is%20a%20broad,people%20all%20around%20the%20world.
• Pacemaker: a device that helps the heart beat at the right speed:  https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pacemaker

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