Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
I hail from a lineage of German immigrants who set foot in the vibrant city of Miami just a couple of years before my entrance into the world in 1969 where I was born many months prematurely. Hence, I always joked and told people I was raised in a fish tank with only a mere heat lamp for comfort. Of course, what this really meant was that I was secured in a warm incubator in the NICU. But that sense of loneliness and abandon does seem like a trend that gave me a real entrepreneurial sense of resolve that ended up being my driving force for healthcare innovation going forward. Growing up as the third of four children, my childhood was steeped in the discipline of hardworking parents who, amidst the challenges, instilled in me a sense of strict resilience and determination.
Later, moving to the bustling landscape of New Jersey, our family operated a full board service horse stable, where my days were consumed by rigorous labor six days a week. Despite being somewhat overlooked due to my birth order, I thrived on the diversity of my experiences. Fluent in both German and English, I discovered a natural athleticism within myself. However, my parents, disdainful of sports, never cared much for my athletic pursuits, assuming victory was inevitable anyway. Their absence during my moments of triumph in Track and Field, Soccer, and Gymnastics remained a constant theme that created a sense of loneliness and independence.
Amidst the hay and horseback rides, our family engaged in near daily spirited discussions about business and global affairs, akin to daytime TV dramas. Little did I know that these heated nightly dinner table-based debates would serve as the backdrop for my early exposure to the realms of business, executive management, strategy, and technology. At age 18, I found myself working in my father’s medical technology company, laboring in the manufacturing and machine shop and at times creating much havoc and accidental destruction there as I learned how to work a lathe machine, build tooling, and dies and read a simple mechanical blueprint, which at first looked like Greek to me. Learning that was one of my first real moments of Eureka where I finally felt I may not be as dumb as some suggested, even my parents.
During nights of community college, where my grades flirted with mediocrity, I immersed myself in advanced medical literature quietly and without anyone knowing. Every third medical word required a dictionary lookup, yet this relentless pursuit of medical knowledge paved the way for a surprising turn of events. At a mere 19 years old, I emerged as a MedTech inventor, introducing groundbreaking medical devices to the global marketplace. The shock and disbelief among my family and colleagues (and myself) was palpable, but also unstoppable now.
This unexpected journey sparked a cascade of innovation in endoscopic and gastrointestinal technologies, resulting in numerous patents and revolutionary healthcare systems that now are used all over the globe. I played a pivotal role in navigating these innovations through the FDA approval process, ushering them into markets worldwide. My humble beginnings molded me into an entrepreneurial spirit, driven by the pursuit of excellence and a thirst for knowledge that transcends conventional expectations.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of the most profoundly impactful chapters in my life’s journey unfolded when the very medical devices I had invented and introduced to the market with the intention of saving lives in intensive care units became intimately entwined with the struggle of my beloved sister. In her very early 20s she faced a devastating head injury stemming from her involvement with horses and the equestrian community, setting off a decade-long battle for survival that ultimately concluded with her acquiring a tragic and preventable infection.
This deeply personal experience, still etched in my heart decades later, has irreversibly shifted my moral compass concerning healthcare and the essence of life itself. My sister, merely three years my senior, stood as my closest sibling and protector — a guiding force that believed in me, lifting my spirits and nurturing thoughtfulness wherever possible. In her, I found unwavering support and a visionary companion who recognized the potential within us to effect positive and meaningful change in the world.
A volunteer first responder for many years, my sister embodied compassion and courage, rushing to aid others even in the darkest, coldest hours of the night. She saved lives and touched souls, extending her benevolence to me as well. Her heart and sweet soul became a wellspring of inspiration, prompting me to channel grief into purpose. In her honor, both companies I founded bear the name “Zassi,” a phonetic homage to her given name, Saskia. Her legacy lives on quietly within these brands, signifying a tribute not just to her, but to the millions of beautiful humans who, one day, unexpectedly found themselves in intensive care units, facing profound pain and suffering.
My sister’s name, pronounced Zaskia in German, continues to resonate as a beacon of remembrance, underscoring the essence of resilience, compassion, and the enduring spirit of those who have faced the challenges of intensive care units. Needless to say, when you invent lifesaving technologies for your professional work and business and ultimately with “other” people and patients in mind, and they end up in your sister’s body, you just never see the healthcare business” the same way ever again. Perhaps I can see it now in the most moral, dignified, and thoughtful way, which is perhaps her most powerful gift she bestowed upon me before she left this world. Healthcare technology is so much more than a business sector, health is the most precious gift we have and hope to sustain. She made me even more proud to serve in this arena.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Without a doubt, there are individuals to whom I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude for propelling me to the juncture I find myself in today. In the realm of entrepreneurship, the term “angel investor” takes on a significance that resonates deeply within me — an appreciation born out of the unwavering support bestowed upon a fledgling entrepreneur, much like me at the time.
The realm of healthcare technology, inherently entrenched in matters of life and death, subject to rigorous FDA scrutiny, typically demands a pedigree that I lacked. Yet, these exceptional individuals, these angels, chose to invest not just their money but their time, credibility, and, most significantly, their belief in me. Their willingness to take a chance on a 24-year-old unproven innovator in a field of seasoned professionals and scientists was nothing short of extraordinary.
For me, these angels were not just putting in money; they were betting on me, my ideas, and my potential. In an industry that usually wants a solid and scientific background, these people took a risk on a young innovator. I can’t thank them enough. Their belief in me changed the game and is something I’ll always remember. They’re the unsung heroes in my journey, and their trust means the world to me. They are truly angels.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
For me, in my late teens, it was the powerful mantra “knowledge is power.” While Sir Francis Bacon is often credited with this wisdom, I had no idea about that back then. Those three words, however, sparked a magical confidence in me the moment I heard them. It became my personal slogan and even served as an early password code to my internet things (a bit cheesy, I admit). But it remains the most profound truth I’ve ever come across. It was what made me ingest so many advanced medical books and magazines in my early career, I just seemed like I was acquiring knowledge that was not only expected and necessary but self-empowering and it ultimately led me to being able to envision a pathway to new innovations that would someday matter and help save millions of lives.
Especially considering my academic struggles and being a college dropout, the journey of self-education and my subsequent role in transforming the complex world of medical technology over the past three decades have validated this sentiment. Regardless of my academic setbacks or confidence issues, the pursuit of knowledge in any field has the potential to be transformative and lead to extraordinary accomplishments beyond one’s imagination. Knowledge really is power.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The keys to my success boil down to three crucial traits: vision, ingenuity, and the ability to build winning teams. Let me illustrate each with a quick story.
- Vision: Having a clear vision has always been pivotal for me. When I could vividly picture an idea or invention as a global, 30-degree reality, nothing could deter me. Take, for instance, the challenge of feeding intensive care unit patients safely into the gut as I previously discussed. The conventional approach of intravenous nutrition, while seemingly logical and safe, had drawbacks. It ignored the gut’s immunological capabilities and posed risks. My vision was to find a way to feed ICU patients into the gut safely while preserving its flora and immunological capabilities while minimizing the risk of aspiration. This vision and clinical and technical approach became clear as day to me and fueled many of my early inventions an my conviction to lecture around the globe about it and get it adopted as a new standard of care.
- Ingenuity: This brings us to ingenuity. To tackle the ICU feeding challenge, I blended my own creativity with insights from renowned physicians worldwide. This collaborative and combined ingenuity led to the development of a novel suite of products that revolutionized how ICU patients are fed, favoring intestinal tracks over intravenous nutrition.
- Building Winning Teams: Lastly, building winning teams is about more than just assembling talent. It’s about being able to paint a 30-degree mosaic of your idea and plan and being able to clearly articulate that vision to others so well that it inspires and attracts the very best folks in the world. In the ICU feeding project, I gathered a team of the most capable technical, clinical, and business minds globally. Their collective expertise, which far exceeded my own, fueled by a shared vision, brought my innovations to life. The ability to inspire, attract, and empower such teams has remained one of my key cornerstones in life.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the technology or medical devices that you are helping to create that can make a positive impact on our wellness. To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?
One could argue that healthcare is the most important business in the world. Interactions between you and your family with health providers creates detailed health records that become claims for payment.
Yet governments and private insurance try to manage health decision authorizations (affecting you and your family) based on balancing medical necessity and controlling claims costs. Despite their massive resources allocated to healthcare data and claims, patient-centric data remains fragmented across a vast ecosystem of “proprietary” data siloes. As patients move across the continuum of care, often that data stays within each billing entity and there lacks a shared platform at-scale. Similarly, people move to different places, different plans, and seek care for various issues from many different health entities throughout their lives. The Unmet Need is to link the essential data for analytics across silos and leverage the opportunity derived from larger cohorts at-scale to deliver better analysis for improved care and better outcomes. Disparate data siloes is a real problem and stifles more holistic thinking and better care.
How do you think your technology can address this?
Our Solution we’ve been building an easy to integrate software interface designed to link disparate health data coupled with other relevant sources, anonymize, and normalize the data, then to embed world class Analytics and AI at global scale for intelligent health insights to support improved patient care. Our software will interface and link historical and live patient-centric data to feed our partners Analytics and deliver enhanced insights, predictive trends, and alerts to aid in the best 24/7 awareness for you and your family.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
My passion for this cause is twofold. The first aspect lies in my inherent disdain for siloed data, siloed thinking, and my preference for a comprehensive, 360-degree approach to ideas, planning, and goals. This perspective aligns with my journey of self-education and a commitment to breaking down barriers that hinder revolutionary thinking.
The second element that drew me to this cause is the company’s initial focus on addressing one of the deadliest and costliest issues in healthcare -Sepsis. Sepsis is a preventable yet often lethal infection, originating either in the hospital or across different healthcare realms, making it challenging to understand. Having tragically lost my sister Saskia to a bloodstream infection, the noble mission of detecting and preventing Sepsis resonates deeply with my moral compass. The personal impact of such infections emphasizes the critical need for advancements in this area, making it more than just a cause; it’s a mission aligned with my values and driven by a commitment to me continuing to help in saving lives.
How do you think this might change the world?
The world could experience significant positive changes by addressing the current lack of data sharing between health systems and health plans. Presently, Inpatient Data and Outpatient Data remain isolated in disparate silos. Health plans primarily rely on delayed claims data, often lagging 6 months to 2 years, to identify opportunities for reducing healthcare costs. Clinical data is seldom shared, resulting in missed chances to enhance care and adequately reward providers for recognizing and improving opportunities in management, outcomes, and the total cost of care.
Similarly, health systems have been cautious about sharing data, with minimal information originating from outpatient settings (such as primary care providers, remote patient monitoring, and skilled nursing facilities) reaching the hospital upon admission. Conversely, critical data from hospitalizations is rarely shared and integrated with outpatient providers unless they are part of an integrated system. This hesitancy to share data leads to missed opportunities in addressing patient needs across the care continuum, hindering improvements in management, outcomes, and the total cost of care. Addressing these data-sharing gaps could revolutionize healthcare by fostering more comprehensive and integrated approaches to patient care especially when factoring in the growing power of AI to discover new trends that mankind has never seen before using global data sets that are just too vast and continually updated for humans to scour and process in real time.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Certainly, while the integration of AI, including Generative AI, into healthcare data presents immense possibilities, there are potential drawbacks that warrant thoughtful consideration. One primary concern revolves around data privacy and security. The utilization of AI involves the processing of vast amounts of sensitive healthcare information, requiring us all to stay vigilant about how this data is stored, accessed, and protected from unauthorized use.
Another consideration is the potential for biases within AI algorithms. If the training data used to develop these algorithms is not diverse, trusted and representative, there is a risk of perpetuating existing biases in healthcare, potentially leading to disparate outcomes for different demographic groups. We prioritize the use of trustworthy data sets to ensure the integrity of the data output. This approach aims to minimize biases and enhance the reliability of AI-driven insights.
