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OT: My other company just sold. This changes a bunch of things for me.

Techguy

Hot Rolled
Joined
Oct 26, 2007
Location
Hamburg, MN
I was one of four founders of a small medical device company about 13 years ago and it finally just sold!!

It was a device for closing traumatic wounds, diabetic ulcers and an alternative to skin grafts for skin Cancer patients.

Here it is: DermaClose | A Great Alternative To A Skin Graft

It has been used on over 17,000 patients and I can proudly say has helped them heal faster and also avoid amputations while significantly lowering treatment costs. I have 4 patents from this product line.

Take a look at the site and you will likely be impressed at the before and after photos. It isn't for the squeamish though.

I am so happy about this I had to share. The product isn't very complex but it's simplicity is where the elegance is.

I will be upgrading some of my equipment here and some new cash will take away a lot of stress. No More Debt! I can now continue to subsidize crappy poorly paying work. I can also afford to turn down crappy poor paying work!

I am looking forward to the future for the first time in a long time.

I just wanted to share.

Dan
 
pretty clever system. Just got home from a nip replacement, so the surgery issue is close to home. Fortunately I didn't need any extraordinary measures like this...
 
The ratchet strap of the stitching world. Simple idea, but bet that took some serious costs - efforts to get approved?
 
The ratchet strap of the stitching world. Simple idea, but bet that took some serious costs - efforts to get approved?

It actually sailed through the FDA because it was simple to use and had minimal risk. The Patent office went well too because there had never been a continuous force device like that that didn't have to be adjusted. This is what happens when you have designers that know nothing about wound closure work on a solution. The product worked way better than we ever thought it would and was used for a bunch of applications we never intended.

The first tests were done on the founders of the company to see if it was barbaric or hurt to use. I had one stapled to my arm and leg while one of my partners tried it on his chest and top of his head. He looked ten years younger with his forehead pulled up and his 3" bald spot pulled to nearly nothing. It was nearly painless but the Dr. that was there forgot the staple remover so we had to pull the staples with a needle nose pliers. Fortunately there was Tequila involved for the staple removal.
 
Good god! More GRAPHIC warnings needed!! :vomit:

@wheels17, I assume you mean Hip replacement and not Nip (nipple?!?!) replacement?? :D
 
Good god! More GRAPHIC warnings needed!! :vomit:

@wheels17, I assume you mean Hip replacement and not Nip (nipple?!?!) replacement?? :D

Graphic yes but you have to admit the before/after pics are pretty amazing.

I am very proud of what we have accomplished and with a new distributor I expect many more people to benefit from it.

Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval hospital have used it with great success for wounded soldiers. For that we are all proud.
 
My wife who is retired RN knew about it and when I mentioned that your company sold her eyes opened like saucers. She had seen it many years ago when she was working. Amazing things are done with wound management over the years. Some people do great things that make them famous and some people really do GREAT things.
 
Great product and nice to see years of work come together and pan out, hopefully you can enjoy many more years of new adventures.




Many politicians should come with that feature, over their mouth :)
 
I was one of four founders of a small medical device company about 13 years ago and it finally just sold!!

It was a device for closing traumatic wounds, diabetic ulcers and an alternative to skin grafts for skin Cancer patients.

Here it is: DermaClose | A Great Alternative To A Skin Graft

It has been used on over 17,000 patients and I can proudly say has helped them heal faster and also avoid amputations while significantly lowering treatment costs. I have 4 patents from this product line.

Take a look at the site and you will likely be impressed at the before and after photos. It isn't for the squeamish though.

I am so happy about this I had to share. The product isn't very complex but it's simplicity is where the elegance is.

I will be upgrading some of my equipment here and some new cash will take away a lot of stress. No More Debt! I can now continue to subsidize crappy poorly paying work. I can also afford to turn down crappy poor paying work!

I am looking forward to the future for the first time in a long time.

I just wanted to share.

Dan

That's great, Hopefully it brought you many many pounds of 100's
 
Impressive healing, especially the NF one. It's amazing what the body can recover from in a few weeks with a little outside help
 
pretty clever system. Just got home from a nip replacement, so the surgery issue is close to home. Fortunately I didn't need any extraordinary measures like this...

OT here but... I had abdominal hernia surgery a lifetime ago. AREGHE... anyone ever have that on this forum? I used to be able to "push it in"... but one day I couldn't and I was in so much pain I nearly passed out. Finally went to the Dr (truthfully, I noticed it years earlier, but doc said it was an infection that cauued my belly button to protrude out :rolleyes5:).. anywho, had surgery, felt great afterwards... decided to climb stairs in my current home.... OUCH!! the day after!! :angry:
 
Congratulations.....It's great to see one of our own being rewarded for his efforts. Take it slow and be good to yourself don't jump right into the deep end and get busy and stressed. Enjoy your success.

Make Chips Boys !!

Ron
 
I should disclose that I haven't been involved in the company for the last ten years. I designed the product and saw it through production and testing then served on the board for 3 years. Then I had a stroke and resigned from the board since I couldn't handle the stress and was dumb as a stump for 6 months, I still might be stupid but I like to think not. I put up about half the capital to get it through the early phases then they raised millions from angel investors. It is expensive and difficult to launch a new medical device that is unlike anything else available. Mayo clinic was an early adopter and still uses a ton of them throughout their system.

This is my third company sold that I have started. The second one was a system for handling and dispensing radioactive seeds for prostate cancer. Our team was completely unqualified to develop a system that loaded needles in the operating room in real time. One We had the first solid state measurement sensor for measuring radioactive source strength ever approved by FDA. We also had to deal with sterilization of the seed cartridge. Because of radiation decay we had to be able to sterilize the product the day it was loaded and ship it the next day. This was the first product of it's kind that FDA cleared for parametric release, in other words next day shipment of sterilized product.

We were the most unqualified group of guys to pull this off. We had 4 machinists, two software guys, a lawyer (my partner in this) and a couple electronics guys. None of us had ever worked in the medical field or had gone through FDA clearance before. We sold the company 18 months after we started and had 6 companies bidding based only based on the patent submissions. All of the staff made 1-2 years salary from their options. The product is still in wide use 15 years after development. I have 8 patents from that product line.

It has been great to have the opportunity to develop products that genuinely have helped people. I really hope I never need any of the stuff I developed.

And after all this I am still loading and deburring parts on a Sunday evening. I am the poster child for what happens when you don't go to college. Don't be like me.

Dan
 
Good to have friends eh. Bet it was a nice payday. Bet the military scoops them up ASAP.

The payday didn't suck but could have been better. In the last few years I have accumulated $100K in debt that would have been hard to pay off so this is awesome. I can replace some linear guides and ball screws in machines and turn down shitty work. I can also afford to find some better customers. We all know it costs $$$ for a while getting new customers. I now don't feel like a failure and can approach new customers with confidence. The future looks good. If it was a little more I would have just shut the lights off and went to work somewhere else. I am not a fan of the race to the bottom machining. But this doesn't suck one bit. My wife gets a new truck and I actually have some retirement $$$. Best of all, I am debt free!
 
Congratulations! What a wonderful invention--it must feel good knowing your product has helped so many people. A reward well earned.

I am on year 14 with my company and in theory a sale could finance an excellent early retirement but probably still a few years from celebrating. I know it can be a long and lonely road so am happy to see it work out for you, especially years after your involvement.
 








 
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