Reflections from Bernstein Private Wealth Management’s Medical Devices Study Group

We spend a lot of time with teams who are building the future of medtech. They are solving real problems, making high-stakes decisions and trying to create momentum with limited time and resources. That work can feel lonely at times. It doesn’t have to be.

That is why Bernstein Private Wealth Management’s recent Medical Devices Study Group felt so meaningful. The day brought together people who care deeply about this industry and who are willing to share what they are learning, where they see opportunity and what it will take to keep moving forward.

Frank Jaskulke, our VP of Sales & Business Development, and founder Morgan Evans each had the opportunity to moderate a panel at the event, hosted by Bernstein and Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. We are grateful to the organizers, panelists and attendees for making room for thoughtful conversation and honest perspective.

Two themes stayed with us long after the event ended: the strength of a true medical device ecosystem and the opportunity that comes from designing more intentionally for women’s health. They may sound like separate topics. In practice, they point to the same truth: durable advantage is built early, deliberately and together.

A strong ecosystem helps ideas take flight

When founders think about competitive advantage, they often start with the obvious places: intellectual property, a promising regulatory pathway, a key clinical champion or a breakthrough technology. Those things matter. They can help get a company off the ground.

But the advantage that lasts is often bigger than any single asset. It is the network around the company: the talent it can access, the manufacturing and regulatory expertise it can draw on, the relationships that help it learn faster and the community that helps good evidence turn into real-world adoption.

That was a central message in the panel Frank moderated with leaders from Medical Alley, Greater MSP and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Minnesota’s leadership in medical devices was not created by one company and it will not be sustained by one company. It is built through shared investment in people, partnerships and the infrastructure that helps innovators move forward.

For an early-stage company, that can be easy to overlook. Building relationships, participating in the regional community and investing in the ecosystem may not feel as urgent as the next prototype, the next funding conversation or the next submission milestone. Yet those connections can become the support system that helps a team solve problems faster and avoid having to build every capability from scratch.

A patent can help a company get off the ground. A strong ecosystem can help it stay in the air.

For founders, this does not mean networking for networking’s sake. It means being intentional about the people and resources around you.

Ask:

• Who can help us pressure-test a critical assumption?
• Where will we find the specialized talent we need as we grow?
• Which partners can help us navigate the next stage with more clarity and less risk?
• How can we contribute to the community that is helping us build?

The strongest medtech communities make it easier for good ideas to become real solutions. That is good for individual companies and it is good for patients.

Designing for more people is smart business

Morgan’s panel turned the conversation toward women’s health, a space with enormous opportunity and a long history of unmet need. The discussion challenged the narrow way women’s health has often been framed. It is not just a category tied to reproduction. It is a longevity category that spans a woman’s entire life.

That distinction matters because design assumptions matter. Every device company makes early choices about its intended user. Those choices influence usability studies, ergonomics, dosing assumptions, clinical evidence plans and even how a market is defined. If the assumed user is too narrow, the impact does not disappear. It often shows up later as a design retrofit, a labeling challenge or a group of people who do not adopt the product as expected.

The panelists shared examples of how devices and research have too often been built around a limited default user. One audience example described an endoscope designed around the hand size and grip of a left-handed man. It is a simple illustration of a much bigger issue: when teams do not ask who they may be leaving out, the answer can become embedded in the product itself.

Women’s health is one of the clearest places to see this opportunity today. But the lesson reaches farther. It applies to pediatric patients, older adults, people outside a narrow size range and users navigating technology in a language or context the original design did not consider.

For a medtech startup, inclusive design is not an add-on. It is an opportunity to understand the true problem more deeply and serve more people more effectively. The earlier teams ask who they are designing for, the more choices they have to build the right solution.

The decisions that matter most are made early

The conversations about ecosystem strength and inclusive design were different, but they shared an important through line. Both are investments that are easier to make early and harder to correct later.

Relationships take time to build. Trust takes time to earn. A user assumption that shapes an early prototype can become costly to revisit after development is underway. No founder can eliminate every unknown, but founders can choose to surface the right questions while there is still room to change course.

That is where the right team and the right community matter.

We believe startups should not have to navigate the medtech journey alone. We work alongside innovators as a flexible, hands-on extension of their team, helping them connect strategy, regulatory, quality, R&D and commercialization decisions around the milestones that matter most.

The Medical Devices Study Group was a reminder of what is possible when the industry comes together: stronger ideas, better questions and more pathways for innovators to make a meaningful impact.

We left the event energized by the conversations and optimistic about what is ahead. The next generation of medtech advantage will not be inherited. It will be built by teams that stay curious, build strong connections and design with more people in mind.

If your team is thinking through its next milestone, its place in the medtech ecosystem or the population it is designing for, we would welcome the conversation.

Reach out to talk through how Avio can help your team take flight.

FAQ

What gives a medtech startup durable competitive advantage?

Technology, intellectual property and a strong regulatory plan all matter. Durable advantage also comes from the ecosystem around a company: specialized talent, trusted partners, practical expertise and relationships that help teams turn evidence into real-world adoption.

Why does a regional ecosystem matter for a medical device startup?

A strong ecosystem can give startups access to expertise, manufacturing capacity, talent and trusted relationships they may not be able to build alone. It creates a stronger foundation for solving problems, learning quickly and moving through critical milestones with greater confidence.

What does designing for a default user mean in medical device development?

It means recognizing that early assumptions about the intended user shape product decisions, from ergonomics and usability testing to clinical evidence and market sizing. When those assumptions are too narrow, teams may create adoption barriers or leave meaningful needs unaddressed.

Why is women’s health an important opportunity in medtech?

Women’s health represents needs across the full lifespan, not only reproductive health. A more intentional approach to research, usability and product design can help innovators address meaningful gaps and create solutions that better serve a broad population.

When should startups consider ecosystem and inclusive-design decisions?

As early as possible. Relationships take time to build, and design choices become more difficult and expensive to change as development progresses. Asking the right questions at the concept stage gives teams m