Episode 255 | Brent Lavin, Founder at Ironwood Medtech Partners | Innovation Dynamics: Engineering Meets Marketing & Customer Discovery

In this episode, Brent Lavin shares how two decades in product and portfolio management at GE Healthcare, C.R. Bard, and BD shaped his mission to help Series A and B medtech startups build commercial logic into every stage of innovation. Brent breaks down what surprised him most moving from strategics to early-stage teams and why large companies often operate like startups when resources must be earned through influence, not authority. The conversation dives into how his engineering training powers a structured, “marketing-as-a-science” approach to product management, the most-missed elements of customer discovery, and a concrete example of winning by simplifying a “Cadillac” product into a segmented solution. Brent also unpacks what strategics look for in acquisitions plus lessons from LSI, leadership, and the discipline of endurance running.

• Brent Lavin LinkedIn

• Ironwood Medtech Partners LinkedIn

• Duane Mancini LinkedIn

• Project Medtech Website

• Project Medtech LinkedIn

Thank you to our sponsors: Ward Law and JumpStart Inc.