Originally Published MDDI June 2004

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Close-Up: Industry Entrepreneurs

Arthur A. Bertolero
Estech Inc.

What made you decide to start your own business? 

My brother (who was with Cobe Labs at the time) and I were watching Heartport and CTS and decided there was room for one more company with products to do less invasive cardiac surgery. 

What was the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as an entrepreneur? 

Raising money during the dot-com era. 

What is the most important thing you’ve done to ensure the survival of your business? 

The most important thing to ensure our survival is maintaining our focus on our original mission of helping surgeons perform various procedures (CABG, valve replacement) in the least invasive methods, while expanding our products lines to cover treatments for afib and CHF. 


Peter Von Dyck
Zassi Medical Evolutions Inc.

What made you decide to start your own business?
I wanted to create a more patient-centric company that focused on new breakthroughs in large markets. It was clear that the ostomy and bowel management markets were underserved and had not evolved away from the basics.

What was the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as an entrepreneur?
Gaining access to capital to develop the technologies and the company. Having dropped out of college early to pursue my dream and being under 30 when starting the company made it especially difficult to attract capital. 

What is the most important thing you’ve done to ensure the survival of your business?
To attract a multidisciplinary team of talented healthcare and technology professionals, and to get angel investors who are entrepreneurs themselves.

Walter Mosher Jr.
Precision Dynamics Corp.

What made you decide to start your own business?

I started the business with a friend of mine who was working for American Hospital Supply Corp. and identified the need for patient identification products.

What was the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as an entrepreneur?

The most difficult challenge is a lack of money. Since this was a bootstrap operation from the beginning, the challenge was to get it going, get the product to a state of manufacturability, and then develop the marketing. I undertook full-time activity with the company in 1983, brought in a competent management team, and began a growth program with the goal to be in the forefront of the technology my company was providing.

What is the most important thing you’ve done to ensure the survival of your business?

To develop an environment where the employees were respected and appreciated. In order to stay ahead of the crowd, we have developed technology, making all of our products obsolete. This process is still under way today. Developing strong intellectual property ensures the survival of our company.


Roger Stern
Stellartech Research Corp.

What made you decide to start your own business?

One of my professors had started a medical device company in New York. I worked with him one summer on Holter monitors and ECG analysis, and this gave me the bug to one day start my own company.

What was the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as an entrepreneur?

Funding our company by the bootstrap method and taking no outside investment capital. Getting others to believe is very difficult. Many device businesses survive by undertaking only incremental improvements to known technologies. We made the decision to fund it ourselves.

What is the most important thing you’ve done to ensure the survival of your business?

The most important thing has been to ensure that we are operating under a sustainable business model. Some start-up companies are only developing one product, then looking to be acquired by one of the larger medical device companies. By developing many new technologies simultaneously, we maintain a pipeline of new products to sustain our growth.

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