NASS Innovation Summit & Spine Startups with Eric Muehlbauer
Aired On: May 6, 2025
Eric Muehlbauer, CEO of the North American Spine Society (NASS), joins hosts Michael Roberts and Scott Zeitzer to discuss the current environment of startups in the spine space, industry success stories from recent year, and the upcoming NASS Innovation Summit.
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In this Episode
- 02:50 Challenges and Opportunities for Startups
- 05:54 The Role of NASS in Supporting Innovation
- 08:51 Learning from Failures: Fail Tales and Cocktails
- 11:50 Success Stories in Spine Innovation
- 14:59 Navigating the Changing Landscape of Orthopedics
- 18:07 The Future of Healthcare and Innovation
Quotes From This Episode
The way that reimbursement system is now, it’s tough for new products to get into the market unless they’re iterative products that are being put forth by companies that already have a big portfolio. With the consolidation of hospitals, with health systems, with doctors becoming employees instead of having private practices more, it’s tough for innovation to thrive.
Eric Muehlbauer
You can tell people what an exit strategy is, right? But how do you actually do it? Well, you’ve gotta go out and market your company. You can’t just wait for somebody to say, ‘Hey, I wanna, I wanna buy your company.’ No, you’ve gotta package that up too, just like when you’re trying for funding, right? It just doesn’t happen organically. Or maybe it does in a rare instance, but you’ve gotta make concerted efforts to get things done.
Eric Muehlbauer
How do you make the right strategic choice as a physician? So if you want independence and potentially a high revenue stream, you might be interested in a PE environment or private practice. If you are more about stability and quality of life, a hospital system might be better for you. If you’re more interested in research, then looking for an academic institution. So those are the strategic choices that our members are wrestling to make.
Eric Muehlbauer
