Doubling Down on Your Mission by Diversifying Your Medtech Portfolio

A couple of years after his stint as COO of laparoscopic weight loss startup Inamed — and its $3.5 billion acquisition by Allergan in 2006 — Bart Bandy took a break from corporate life.

He and his wife followed some of their interests and pursued the restaurant business, but it didn’t stick. Bart missed the world of medical devices too much and wanted to get back in the industry.

He worked in wellness and ophthalmology before he was recruited to another laparoscopic weight loss startup: ReShape Lifesciences. One element that drew Bart to the company was its recent acquisition of the Lap-Band, a once-popular surgical weight loss device previously owned by Inamed.

Bart believed that the Lap-Band’s decline in popularity came down to neglect of the brand, not a failure of the technology. He readily accepted the challenge of introducing the product to a new market, and extending ReShape Lifesciences’ portfolio with 21st-century additions. Notably, physician-prescribed weight loss support platform ReShapeCare, and weight loss product e-commerce site ReShape Marketplace.

“I got the chance to bring back something I'm fully committed to and fully passionate for,” Bart says. “If you have the opportunity to participate in the weight loss market, you can see the impact you have on people's lives. It's the biggest thrill in the world.”

In this episode of Medsider, Bart explains how he writes and tests his presentations for maximum impact, the challenges and solutions of moving manufacturing from Costa Rica to the U.S., and why he wanted to add telemedicine to ReShape Lifesciences without moving away from the brand’s core mission.