Essential Tips for Building Your Medtech MVP
In medtech, a good Minimum Viable Product (MVP), no matter how rudimentary — holds immense power. It can help you convince stakeholders, validate your concept, and provide the crucial momentum that your startup needs.
Clearly define your MVP: Your MVP should nail its main purpose, even if it’s not perfect yet. Use existing components in your prototype instead of custom-designing everything from zero—it’ll save you time, cut costs, and might even simplify the safety testing.
Be demonstrative: Nothing beats showing something tangible. Use demonstrative tools—videos, animations, gifs—or whatever works to get your point across. It’ll help you convey your vision, how your product works, as well as what it might look like in future development phases beyond the MVP.
Ground your decisions in data: Ensure your product is backed by real-world evidence like user feedback, market research, and competitor analysis to avoid bias and stay grounded. Stay curious, ask questions, and make sure your innovation solves real problems.
Seek feedback from the toughest crowd: Stick to your product's core value and do not compromise quality for market pressures. Pick the right investors who understand your vision and give you room for iterative improvements, and target the toughest crowd for the most helpful feedback.
Collaborate with early adopters: Early adopter feedback is a goldmine for course-correcting during the early days. Communicate your vision to them with crystal clarity. Use tools like 3D animations or bench models to make your product as vivid in their minds as it is in yours.
Use Off-The-Shelf Solutions
Angus McLachlan is a mechanical engineer whose work in electrical muscle stimulation for spinal cord injuries catapulted him into healthcare innovation. Today, as the co-founder of Liberate Medical, Angus is developing a non-invasive neuromuscular electrical stimulation device aimed at strengthening the lung muscles of patients on mechanical ventilation. By synchronizing pulses with each breath, the device mimics natural breathing, keeping the lung muscles from weakening.
Angus’s journey with Liberate Medical is a lesson in inventive problem-solving. “In the early versions of the prototype, it's very important to work out the core, unique functionality with your technology,” he says. For Liberate, this was the synchronization of electrical stimulation with breathing. The team built an MVP focusing on this essential functionality and left the secondary aspects, like user interface design, for later stages. The same approach applies to user-friendliness: getting it to work reliably should be your only focus when creating the MVP. Don’t worry about it being perfect from a user’s perspective right away.
To build the first MVP, the team repurposed commercially available stimulators, integrating them with a custom-designed breathing sensor and timing algorithm. Angus shares, “We bought a bunch of stimulators that were already commercially available and developed a separate device that essentially had the breathing sensor and algorithm that conveyed the timing for the stimulation.” Repurposing existing products not only significantly reduced development costs and timelines but also helped them circumvent the red tape around safety certifications.
In Angus’s experience, DIY proved better than outsourcing during product development—partly because he’s the conceptual founder and an engineer who thoroughly understands what the device meant to do and how. Doing the work in-house helped the team iterate quickly and allowed them to better understand their technology.
The Liberate team even used an inexpensive 3D printer to create the user interface and the button pad for its first MVP, and although it didn’t look particularly polished, it enabled Liberate to commence its earliest clinical studies.
In sum, narrow your focus to the core problem your product solves. Perfect that before getting caught up in additional features or aesthetics. Don’t reinvent the wheel—leverage existing products or technologies. In the early stages, do as much as you can in-house, especially for key features. This gives you greater control, faster iteration, and a deeper understanding of your product.
The Right Audience Can Make Your Idea Go Viral
Dr. David Albert, an Oklahoma native, is a physician, inventor, and serial entrepreneur who has developed life-saving technologies and products over the last 30 years. AliveCor, founded by Dr. Albert, has become synonymous with personal ECG devices. Its product line includes a pocket-sized, AI-enabled, machine learning-powered ECG sensor that delivers real-time medical-grade heart data, allowing patients to manage and share data, as well as to connect with cardiologists for comprehensive cardiovascular care.
Dr. Albert knows how to be capital-efficient—with just $200,000, his team at AliveCor built fully functional prototypes and developed an app, too.
A good prototype has the power to sell. “You can talk till you’re blue in the face, but there are a lot of people who have no vision. So until you show them something physical, demonstrate it to them in reality, they won’t get it,” says Dr. Albert, and it’s a lesson he learned firsthand. When he was preparing for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), he made an unscripted four-minute video of a prototype on a whim. “I just happened to click the box that said, ‘Send the link to my LinkedIn connections,’” he shares, “I had three or four hundred.” His video became a viral sensation. It hit 300,000 views in just two days and drew attention from national media. ”I had ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘Fox and Friends’ and all these people calling me to come to CES,” Dr. Albert shares.
This was far from a lucky break. Dr. Albert shared the right content with the right audience. The professional network he had cultivated up to that point was obviously a substantial asset in making the video a viral sensation. But that’s not all—it highlighted another key principle for succeeding in medtech: taking advantage of opportunities. “Be opportunistic. Have your eyes and ears open at all times looking for opportunities to advance your idea and your innovation.” Dr. Albert advises.
Being capital-efficient is paramount. You don’t need to raise millions to develop your MVP. A solid MVP does the heavy lifting in convincing stakeholders that your vision is feasible—proving profitability is another matter. Stay resourceful, seize opportunities, and always be ready to showcase your innovation.
Build It on Evidence, Not Assumptions
Parag Gad, a biomedical engineer from UCLA, founded SpineX with the mission to translate cutting-edge scientific research into healthcare. Today, SpineX is developing devices that improve the lives of adults with neurogenic bladder conditions and children with cerebral palsy.
"The motivation for us to really transition it out of academia was that we had a gold mine in front of us, a technology that actually was benefiting people,” Parag shares.
He has two major pieces of advice for building a successful MVP in the medtech startup space.
Firstly, he cites Peter Thiel's concept from the book Zero to One, regarding focusing on defining the MVP, or more precisely, stripping it down to its bare essentials.
"What does the MVP need to embody? It may not be perfect or ideal and might lack some desired features, but it must fulfill its core function," he says. By asking the right questions, you refine your MVP to its necessary minimum. Reflecting on SpineX's initial alpha device, Parag admits that, though it seems rudimentary in hindsight, it was effective and served its intended purpose.
Second, as a founder coming from academia, Parag champions data as the ultimate decision-maker. "Continuously ask yourself, 'What is the data telling me?'" he suggests. The data could be clinical in nature, user feedback, or engineering-related. One’s own biases can cloud judgment, so basing decisions on cold, hard evidence and real-world insights is paramount. He shares, “We’re not basing our device on a hunch or an idea that we’ve had and coming up with a product overnight. This is based on solid clinical evidence, peer-reviewed publications, expert opinions from KOLs that this technology is valid and there is a need for this in the market."
To follow in Parag’s footsteps, strip your MVP down to its core functionality—focus on what’s essential and avoid getting bogged down by unnecessary features. As Parag noted, your initial product doesn’t need to be perfect, just effective. Then, let data drive your decisions. Pursue evidence and information and be unabashed in asking questions. Whether it’s clinical feedback or engineering insights, relying on solid evidence helps avoid personal bias and ensures that your product addresses real-world needs.
Don't Fear Feedback, Seek It Out
Kevin Goodwin, with his 30-year journey in ultrasound technology, is changing the way ultrasound devices are used in hospitals. During his time at ATL Technology, Kevin founded Sonosite and developed the first point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) device in 1999. Unlike traditional, stationary ultrasound machines confined to radiology departments, Senosite stood out for its portability. After Sonosite's acquisition by Fujifilm in 2012, Kevin co-founded EchoNous in 2015. Today, with the brand line Kosmos, EchoNous is combining machine learning and artificial intelligence in ultrasound to provide more accurate and detailed results in heart, lung, and abdomen assessments.
Kevin learned that sticking to your product’s core value is crucial, especially when building an MVP. Investors might push for lower prices or direct competition, but Kevin advises against compromising on quality or pricing. This is essential when defining an MVP's place in the market, ensuring it delivers high value rather than becoming just another low-cost alternative.
Kevin’s experience raising both public and private funding taught him that, for an MVP, private investment can offer the flexibility needed to focus on product development without the pressure of quarterly revenue targets. It’s also paramount that you find investors who understand your product and give you room to refine it over time. And Kevin is tall in his saddle on that matter: “My team is very deep in this field. We really know what we're doing, and the key variables,” he says. “We don't have to do this. We could do other stuff, and we'd be cruising. But we’re doing it because we see the business opportunity. Investors should take note of that.”
Once you establish such confidence, it’s easier to withstand harsh criticism. For Kevin, it’s important to engage with discerning, more critical customers right from the start. The more stern judges they are, the better. “Don’t look for ‘soft’ focus groups that will go easy on you,” he advises. “Instead, find customers who are tough graders but open to innovation.”
In his case, Kevin targeted cardiologists to get feedback on Kosmos. It was a group that had previously been overlooked in this space and presented the perfect challenge, as these professionals traditionally rely on basic, non-diagnostic equipment. He found willing participants for Kosmos among approximately 30 physicians across multiple disciplines in the U.S. and in a major hospital in Greece. The skepticism from the Greek doctors, particularly about the hardware's performance, provided invaluable insights into the future development of the product.
Today, the same Greek doctors who were initially skeptical, use Kosmos to confirm their diagnoses. “In some cases, it's been found to be more accurate than a doctor,” Kevin shares.
Show the Future, Don’t Just Foretell It
Dr. Alberto Rodriguez-Navarro, founder, president, and CEO of Levita Magnetics, is not just a skilled general surgeon with over a decade of clinical experience—he's an inventor with multiple patents and a clinical researcher with publications in peer-reviewed journals. Now leading Levita, he’s using magnetic technology to make surgery less invasive. Their platform minimizes incisions, meaning no visible scars, less pain, and quicker recovery for patients.
As an innovator, Dr. Rodriguez-Navarro knows that you have to start with the scientific method to build an MVP. The algorithm is simple: “Begin with an MVP, gather real-world feedback, and then improve it in the most capital-efficient way,” he advises. That’s why he validates in real surgical settings—rather than relying solely on lab results. By placing the MVP in the hands of surgeons early on, Levita was able to collect meaningful feedback to guide further development.
To have your device actually used in a clinical setting, you need early adopters. "We work with early adopters, with people who understand that this is how it looks now, and it will look different in the future." These forward-thinking users, particularly physicians experienced with startups, are critical in collecting feedback that goes beyond surface-level impressions. Their input helps refine the product and steer development in the right direction.
Equally important is showing, not just telling, or educating the stakeholders. An MVP is essentially a tool for communicating what the product is and how it works. If you can find a good way to communicate your vision, it can endorse your prototype. "We create detailed and polished 3D animations that show not just the present but also a glimpse of the future," he explains. This leads the end users and other stakeholders to say, “Okay, it might look ugly now, but it will look like that in the future.” This visual tool helps the audience understand that the first prototype is just the start. It illustrates the future potential of the product and sets expectations for the evolution of the technology.
To take a leaf from Dr. Rodriguez-Navarro’s book, view your MVP through the lens of the scientific method: build it, test it in the real world, gather feedback, and iterate. Work closely with early adopters and ensure you clearly communicate your vision. Use tools like 3D animations, illustrations, or whatever it takes to make it as visible in your early adopters’ mind’s eye as it is in yours.