By Dr. Nick van Terheyden aka Dr. Nick
Twitter: @drnic1
Host of Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist – #TheIncrementalist
On this episode I am talking to Amy Baxter, MD, FAAP, FACEP, the CEO and Founder of BuzzyHelps (@BuzzyHelps) and MMJLabs (now renamed Pain Care Labs) and creator of Vibracool.
It takes hard work and persistence and there are no shortcuts. Amy had her Eureka moment (driving home from an Emergency Room shift and feeling her steering wheel vibrate as a warning) which offered the insight but it was some time later after developing the idea, building prototypes, setting up a company before things started to come together. But even an appearance on Shark Tank that helped boost awareness and sales.
One lesson I’ve learned is there is no big moment. So many people expect to hit a tipping point, one big TV appearance, or some other milestone after which the business gets easy.
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But that was not a permanent change and there is no big moment but rather ongoing incremental refinement, changes, updates and sometimes elements of timing when it comes to availability of technology, in their case the new capabilities of small devices to create vibrations on the surface of the skin as part of the 2 step pain gate effect. That along with flying under the radar for a period of time that allowed them to develop more detailed solutions before others attempted to reproduce their solution has provided a solid foundation.
Amy’s story reminds me a lot of this graphic:
There was so much more I wanted to cover including talking about her relationship with Robert A. Heinlein (yes that Robert Heinlein, author of Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers and Amy’s favorite and a family read Citizen of the Galaxy) but we ran out of time.
Listen in to hear the path to the adjacent possible, the incredible statistic of needle phobia’s that has increased dramatically since we started multiple needle sticks in children and the history fo the technology that dates back as far as 1896. You’ll want to hear her views on “Dumb Tech” designed to treat the majority, not the minority.
About the Show
For years Dr. Nick van Terheyden aka Dr. Nick, has served as a voice on the impact of new technologies on healthcare, earning a reputation as a leading authority on where the future of medicine is going. Combining powers of observation and real world experience, Dr. Nick has seen many predictions come true and makes the case that innovations in healthcare can be accomplished incrementally, not just by moonshot events. Tune in to hear Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist and his guests discuss what the future of healthcare looks like, how we will get there, and what it will take to improve healthcare for all.
This article was originally published on the Dr. Nick – The Incrementalist blog and is republished here with permission.