Episode 264 | Will Kaigler & Megan Shaw | From Innovation to Impact: Crafting Medtech Culture and Success in Pittsburgh

In this episode, Megan Shaw, CEO of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Alliance, and Will Kaigler, co-founder and CEO of SovaSage, join the Project Medtech podcast to unpack what it really takes to build, scale, and ultimately create optionality in health tech startups. Megan shares her journey from being the first employee at HemoSonics to launching PLSA in 2024 to accelerate Pittsburgh’s life sciences ecosystem. Will reflects on his experience with multiple startups, and explains how sovaSage is reimagining sleep apnea management to improve outcomes and lower costs. Together, they discuss why customer value—not fixation on an exit—drives success, how to hire the right early team without over-hiring, and why systems and rigorous user discovery can make or break a company. They close with a deep dive into Pittsburgh’s unique strengths and upcoming opportunities to plug into the region’s innovation community.

• Will Kaigler LinkedIn

• Megan Shaw LinkedIn

• sovaSage Website

• Pittsburgh Life Science Alliance Website

• Duane Mancini LinkedIn

• Project Medtech Website

• Project Medtech LinkedIn

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