ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Given his track record as head of some of the most promising medtech ventures, Andrew Cleeland was, perhaps, the most logical choice to follow in the footsteps of legendary serial entrepreneur Tom Fogarty to take Fogarty Innovation forward. Now, with a distinguished team of allies and advisors, Cleeland is building an innovation powerhouse. In part 1 of this 2-part article, we focus on the first of Fogarty Innovation’s three strategic pillars: Incubation/Accleration.
For thousands of years, dating back to Ancient Greece, the notion of genius was inseparable from individual inspiration and accomplishment. But what happens to genius when the individual is no longer around? Is there a way to institutionalize genius? Can you take that spark of inspiration and inventiveness and make it something replicable and shareable, able to be taught and repeated time and time again? That’s the challenge long faced by Fogarty Innovation, the incubator/accelerator launched three decades ago by Tom Fogarty, MD, one of, if not the most prolific, creative forces in medtech.Andrew Cleeland, Fogarty Innovation’s CEO, is no slouch himself as a medtech company creator. Six years ago, having brought companies like Ardian and Twelve to near billion-dollar exits, Cleeland faced the challenge of what to do next in his career. Given his track record, he could have had his pick of individual companies to take through the often-lengthy process from inspiration to execution, resulting in what would likely have been another two or three career successes. Or he could try to find a way to step back from a singular focus and use his expertise to do more to improve healthcare by creating a vehicle that would allow for greater company creation, repeatable and also scalable—a vehicle able to turn out not two or three innovative companies over what could be a 15-20 year span, but more like four or five companies simultaneously and at any given time.
