Executive Insights Series – Medtech Commercialization Strategy: Insights for Early and Mid-Stage Ventures to Consider

Carla Pagotto is a commercialization advisor with deep expertise in market access, product strategy, investor readiness, and go-to-market strategy. She advises growth-stage and multinational medical technology companies, helping leaders identify unmet market needs, define product and evidence strategies, develop reimbursement and pricing approaches, build demand, and scale market adoption through sustainable business models.

Carla brings global experience across Medical Devices, Life Sciences/IVD, and Digital Health, with leadership roles and trusted advisor roles with key industry organizations, as well as academic positions that inform her consulting practice. She is active in the healthcare innovation ecosystem as a mentor to emerging companies.

Carla holds an MBA from Rice University and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Ben Casavant is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tasso. With expertise spanning biomedical engineering, product design, and clinical research, Ben has focused his career on creating innovative technologies to improve human health. As CEO, Ben is responsible for leading Tasso and directing the company’s strategy. Under his leadership the company has grown from a lean startup into a leader in the patient-centric healthcare field, with coverage by Forbes, Fierce Medtech, Inc. Magazine, and more.

Ben holds an undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of over 27 publications and 25 patent applications.

Christopher Kiple is an innovative leader who has developed and launched disruptive medical technology, delivered explosive sales growth, and massively scaled operations. Chris Kiple is the Chief Executive Officer at Solius Labs, Chair of the Board of Directors at Lungpacer Medical, and member of the Campaign Committee at the National Geographic Society. Formally, Chris was the Chief Executive Officer at Ventec Life Systems where he led the company’s transformation from R&D to more than $800M in global sales and 1,000+ team members.

At Solius, Chris is part of the team pioneering the future of personalized light medicine. His team developed the first FDA cleared, over-the-counter UVB light therapy. Solius uses an advanced skin-sensing technology to deliver a personalized dose of precision UVB light therapy specific to your skin tone.

Mr. Richard Fabian has an accomplished history of sales, marketing, operations, general and executive management success within the global healthcare industry, specifically in the medical imaging and medical device spaces. In a career spanning more than 29 years, he most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc., an innovator and leader in point-of-care ultrasound. Before joining Sonosite in 2017, Mr. Fabian served in a variety of roles with Philips Healthcare, the primary healthcare and medical technology business segment and division of NYSE/AEX-listed Royal Philips. Starting in 2002 as a Senior Director in the Cardiovascular X-ray Business Unit, North America, he progressed to lead in several executive roles in sales, marketing, and global general management. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fabian was VP, Sales at Noetix Corporation (now Magnitude Angles) and VP, Operations at STERIS Corporation. Mr. Fabian received a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Michigan, where he was a two-time letterman on the varsity swim team, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.

Greg Bullington is a medtech founder, inventor, and board director based in Seattle. He co-founded Magnolia Medical Technologies and led it as CEO from inception through national adoption of a new standard of care for sepsis diagnostic accuracy.

At Magnolia, Greg invented the core technology and created the $4B+ ISDD® category, now in use at 1,000+ hospitals nationwide and used to improve the accuracy of more than 10 million sepsis blood tests. He raised $170M+, built a team of nearly 100, secured five FDA clearances, and built the commercial engine across field sales, GPO contracting, and health economics. He also created Magnolia Analytics, EHR-enabled software that measures the clinical and financial outcomes of improved diagnostic accuracy at the patient, hospital, and system levels. Greg is first-named inventor on 200+ patents, prevailed as chief witness in a 2025 federal patent jury trial, and originated the Diagnostic Accuracy in Sepsis Act, which earned bipartisan support in Congress.

Earlier, he co-founded Plurata Technologies (sold to SanDisk) and worked with 50+ companies through Forum Ventures and Lake Partners. Today he advises companies and investment firms on capital, strategy, and IP. He serves on the boards of Elliott Cove Capital Management and Wunderground, chairs YPO Seattle, leads a new TIGER 21 group, and mentors at CDL-UW.