This Book Isn’t For You:

Nobody plans on Hitting Zero… and they definitely don’t plan on Hitting Zero in a foreign country with four kids.

Our family navigated 12 relocations over the course of one year to get to Japan… a 13th relocation to continue life in Japan following a messy exit from a decade-long career in Surgical Robotics at Johnson & Johnson.

And after only 7 months of all-in entrepreneurship, we faced an impossible 14th relocation when our revenue failed to exceed our high expat burn rate.

I still admire the courage of my wife [Felicia], who stood against me… helping me face the reality of either going bankrupt in Tokyo or navigating a scorched-earth transition back to our hometown in Chicago.

At a total loss, I remember asking Felicia, “Show me how the hell we do that… with no jobs… no cash flow… and no corporate relocation support…?”

… and in just 20 days…

She showed me…

We pulled our kids from international school midterm which was brutal… said goodbye to some of the most meaningful friendships we had ever build… packed out our entire life into a shipping container sailing across the Pacific Ocean… and on Halloween Eve 2024____ I found myself on a failure plane to Chicago surrounded by my family ____ wondering ____ “What. Comes. Next?”

🍵 Sunday Sips is Caffeinated By:

Moonlight Medical, Kinetic Vision, Nerdian Inc., Skool MedTech & The Big Brain Club

Learn more about what the team and I are building towards at Moonlight Medical -> HERE​

Learn more about Kinetic Vision’s capabilities and my personal experiences partnering with them -> HERE​

Learn more about Nerdian Inc.’s Founder Ian McEachern -> HERE​

Explore my Communities on Skool:

Skool MedTech -> HERE​

The Big Brain Club -> HERE​

A Word of Caution [continued]
​
I want to establish that this book isn’t about me… it’s not even about you…

It’s about a female colorectal surgeon in Osaka who struggles to safely articulate and fire a powered surgical stapler… because it wasn’t designed with her small hand size in mind.

It’s about an 82-year-old Obāchan [or grandmother] in Kyoto… coughing up blood on the table during an interventional bronchoscopy biopsy… as she navigates late-stage thoracic cancer and multiple comorbidities.

It’s about a veteran surgeon in Okayama, who’s failed to convert to a robotic approach in his liver resections… because the steep learning curve and unfamiliar instrumentation give him concerns about excessive blood loss.

It’s about a 52-year-old husband and father in Nagano, who hoped to wake up from anesthesia free from colorectal cancer… but after an eleven-hour procedure plagued with complications… discovered a stoma bag protruding from his abdomen… forever altering the way he’ll use the restroom for the remainder of his life.

It’s about how far we’re willing to go… to hear the voice of marginalized clinicians and the patients they’re so desperate to serve…

It’s about the risks we’re willing to take to challenge the status que and progress meaningful product innovation on their behalf.

So No…

This book isn’t about me, and it’s definitely not about you…

It’s about what Drives us to the brink of Insanity to Build on Behalf of Others.

To Risk it all… Again… and Again … and Again… … … … and Again.

To Fail publicly multiple times and still have the gall to keep moving forward when any other sane person would have stopped.

If you’re holding this book in your hands…

… you’re holding a dream…

… a Belief that keeps you up at Night…

I doubt that you’re scaling a Global team that helps Stealth MedTech Startups launch surgical robotic solutions that see the light of day…

That’s my World… that’s my Dream.

But maybe you’re a Mompreneur like Krysti [USA], who grew tired of the Rate Race… Left the City… and is learning how to run her business while homeschooling 4 kiddos in the country.

Or maybe you’re like Stephen [USA-> Japan], an engineer and VR Game Developer who left his 9-5, packed up his life, and took the jump to Japan via an education Visa for Language school… hoping to continue life in Japan through his passions in VR down the road.

Or maybe, like Barnabus [UK], you’ve recently navigated a layoff and rather than desperately hunting for jobs, you bet on yourself and start doing content creation to build a service-based business in Ai.

These are all individuals in my community “The Big Brain Club” who… just like me, share a Dream that we can actually:

Live Where We Want. Love What We Do. & Be Paid Well for it

They’ve all taken real risks to make that happen… and nothing worthwhile in life comes for free.

It has a Cost.

A Sacrifice.

This is not a self-help book, and it is definitely not a blueprint you should follow…

well… not a blueprint… unless you want to hit borderline bankruptcy in a foreign country with four kids… crash out in your in-laws basement with rats scurrying above your head at night… pull your entire 401k [life’s savings] and run that to zero… work 3rd shift at Amazon for a year… and average less than 4 hours of sleep per night as you dig out your own poor judgement.

Rather…

…this book is Nitro Fuel… Explosive Energy so you can:

Act with Urgency “Now” vs waiting for perfect starting conditions. Have the Resolve to Keep Going where others would quit. Feel surrounded by a Community that knows you will win if you stay the course

The first step is learning how to Fail Publicly:

… to overcome your fear of “Zero” Moments…

… to pursue them faster than your peers…

… to share these failures in the light…

… when most would hide them in the dark…

The only way to build an exceptional life is to traverse a path few are willing to navigate… for the cost is far too high.

This story… these Failures… hurt every time I share them…

… but you [and your dreams] are worth the cost to me.

So let’s Go!

Ikimashou [行きましょう]!

Arigato Gozaimasu

This Book is Dedicated to Three Contexts…

The incredible 3rd Shift crew at Amazon’s DL8 Fulfillment Center. I learned more from you in a year than I did from folks at Johnson & Johnson Surgical who I worked with for over a Decade of Surgical Robotics. Thank you for you kindness during an unexpected setback in my life. Mitesh. Charles. David. Andy. Josh. Kevin. James. TJ. Bobby. Anshan. Robbie. Vanessa…. and the countless Drivers who’s truck’s I’ve loaded without even knowing their names. Y’all are some of the hardest working friends I’ve ever seen. Good People too.

Every medTech Guest of 🍵 Sunday Sips who entrusted me to carry their story. Steve Bell. JP (Juthika) Pal. Shelina Ramnarine PhD. Sydney Robinson. Harel Shachar. Liam J. Burns. Santosh Iyer. Omar M. Khateeb. Ian McEachern. Eran Shlomovitz. Kashif Ikram. Tetsuya Nakanishi. Candice Otrembiak. John A. Mitchell III. Tom Salemi … you all reminded me that I still belonged in medTech after multiple rejections from JNJ. In many ways you helped me find my voice… and the confidence to share it while wearing an Amazon vest.

My Family… Felicia who faithfully stood by my side through every Failure and each new level of calamity… Hezekiah. Akari. Emiko. Akio for their resilience as they weathered 16 relocations in 4 years… more than any kiddo should ever have to navigate. Big George. Kitty. Grandpa for hosting our crew in your home for a year and never condemning us for it… they gave and gave and gave … buying us precious time to recover. My parents for instilling a grit, self-reliance, and work ethic that is probably not good for my mental health… but it empowered me to push through the impossible and provide for my family in our most uncertain days.

Roadmap

• 100% their loss - Link TBC
• Hitting zero - Link TBC
• Executive as f*** - Link TBC
• Help - Link TBC
• Dirty laundry - Link TBC
• Liabilities - Link TBC
• Starting conditions - Link TBC
• 10 weeks to change your life - Link TBC
• The frog in the pot - Link TBC
• How to say goodbye - Link TBC
• Jethro - Link TBC
• Too many rabbits - Link TBC
• Spark - Link TBC
• Amazon Chipotle - Link TBC
• Double down - Link TBC
• Triple down - Link TBC
• Show must Go on - Link TBC
• Costco salmon - Link TBC
• Burn rate [curtains] - Link TBC
• Grandpa - Link TBC
• Halloween - Link TBC
• Tokyo legacy Marathon - Link TBC
• Papa - Link TBC
• 12 moves - Link TBC
• Tadaima - Link TBC
• Todoroki - Link TBC
• Lift (health.tech and launchpad) - Link TBC
• Constraints - Link TBC
• 16. Relocations - Link TBC

These writings come from the heart, my experience and are 100% my own words.

I don’t use ChatGPT or any SEO optimization in Sunday Sips, because I think capturing my authentic voice is more meaningful than catering to LinkedIn's almighty algorithm.

That said, if you find my writing helpful, please consider subscribing below so as well as forwarding this newsletter along to your friends, colleagues... heck, maybe even your grandma.

She's old, so I bet she still loves emails, especially from a young, Pretentious Engineer such as myself.

I would rather see this Newsletter grow by word of mouth through the power of community and subscribing HERE helps me remain connected via email vs being dependent on when LinkedIn wants us to cross paths again.

🍵Sunday Sips Episodes Still Percolating:

New Release: A Century of MedTech Commercialization Wisdom with Kashif Ikram [MicroPort], Tetsuya Nakanishi [Medicaroid] & Steve Bell [ex-CMR Surgical ] -> HERE​

Empathetic Innovation | Candice Otrembiak | [Coming Soon]

Clinical Partnership for Surgical Robotics Adoption | John A. Mitchell III | [Coming Soon]

SRS Recap [The Future of Surgical Robotics] | Steve Bell. Omar M. Khateeb. Tom Salemi | Coming Soon

Legacy Episodes of 🍵 Sunday Sips [Season 1]:

A Century of Surgical Robotics Commercial Wisdom | Steve Bell. Tetsuya Nakanishi. Kashif Ikram | EP12 https://youtu.be/GebXYiosfoY​

From Surgeon to Founder | Eran Shlomovitz | Qaelon Medical | EP11 https://youtu.be/HlkIVHhuNMw​

A Reverence for the Craft | Ian McEachern | EP10 https://youtu.be/pOtq6FmA8Eo​

Crafting Billion Dollar Markets in MedTech | Omar M. Khateeb | EP9 https://youtu.be/J1qnBt2Jzdw​

The Future of Physical Ai in MedTech | Santosh Iyer | EP8 https://youtu.be/GeYmITdJrU0​

Disrupting a Century Old Standard of Care | Liam J. Burns | EP7 https://youtu.be/w2IOfDbpG3A​

Commercializing Solutions that Heal | Harel Shachar | EP6 https://youtu.be/xCRblF0pw24​

Surgical Robotics Build to Buys | Steve Bell | EP5 https://youtu.be/-aYK2w299d4​

Adaptable Prosthetics That Move With You | Sydney Robinson | EP4 https://youtu.be/WA6eIJ_E9yw​

Unapologetically Me | Shelina Ramnarine PhD | EP3 https://youtu.be/ZkZR8Dh0RDs​

Mumbai Roots. Global MedTech. Aligned Leadership | JP (Juthika) Pal | EP2 https://youtu.be/GMWvKQim6-0​

How to Startup in Surgical Robotics 2025 | Steve Bell | EP1 https://youtu.be/lqgBDDq6l1Q​

Legacy Episodes of 🍵🍵 Second Sips [Breakdowns]:

A Century of Surgical Robotics Deep Dive | Steve Bell. Tetsuya Nakanishi. Kashif Ikram | https://youtu.be/3esuYw8xAP0​

Reimagining a Century old Standard of Care | Eran Shlomovitz | https://youtu.be/y6MNjN6DGng​

JNJ's OTTAVA + Moon Surgical's Maesto + Abbott's HeartMate II & III | Ian McEachern | https://youtu.be/p6yAk2YLte4​

Untold Learnings in Entrepreneurship at MarketCraft | Omar M. Khateeb | https://youtu.be/JUTgQNIhfDw​

​Zimmer Biomet + Monogram Technologies + PeritasAI | Santosh Iyer | https://youtu.be/NVKhI8DZpC4​

The Future of Air Leaks Digitalization at Qaelon Medical | Liam J. Burns | https://youtu.be/fPcloY0Cgyg​

Breaking down Dialysis Treatment at Fresenius Medical Care | Harel Shachar | https://youtu.be/J_rCKOF7H6U​

Everything I Know About Surgical Robotics | Steve Bell | https://youtu.be/sczUYInqMxI​

Stanford Bio Design Masterclass with Vessl Prosthetics | Sydney Robinson | https://youtu.be/W0gInwUAV7g​

Living Life on Your Own Terms | Shelina Ramnarine PhD | https://youtu.be/x0gvXeuWxIE​

Global Strategic Marketing at it's Best | JP (Juthika) Pal | https://youtu.be/QQqRs2258lM​

​CMR Surgical Breakdown | Steve Bell | https://youtu.be/sczUYInqMxI​

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