Think Big, Start Small, and Prioritize Ruthlessly: Interview with InterShunt CEO Harlee Sorkin

Medsider: Learn from Medtech and Healthtech Founders and CEOs

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Harlee Sorkin, CEO of InterShunt Technologies, a startup developing a minimally invasive catheter designed to treat heart failure. By improving blood flow and lessening the heart's workload via a shunt, the company's technology holds promise for easing heart failure symptoms.

Harlee is a co-founder of Common Place Holdings, a venture studio that has spun out eight medtech startups, including InterShunt. Before Common Place, Harlee led Traco Labs, a health and nutrition ingredient manufacturer, to a successful exit. He also served as the Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he focused on translating research ideas into commercially viable applications.

In this interview, Harlee delves into the nuances of leading an early-stage medtech company and covers essential topics such as development prioritization and capital fundraising. He also shares what it’s like to navigate clinical and regulatory challenges as a first-time medtech entrepreneur and how to effectively engage with stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem.

Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things:

First, if you’re into learning from medical device and health technology founders and CEOs, and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter.

Second, if you want to peek behind the curtain of the world's most successful startups, you should consider a Medsider premium membership. You’ll learn the strategies and tactics that founders and CEOs use to build and grow companies like Silk Road Medical, AliveCor, Shockwave Medical, and hundreds more!

We recently introduced some fantastic additions exclusively for Medsider premium members, including playbooks, which are curated collections of our top Medsider interviews on key topics like capital fundraising and risk mitigation, and a curated investor database to help you discover your next medical device or health technology investor!

In addition to the entire back catalog of Medsider interviews over the past decade, premium members also get a copy of every volume of Medsider Mentors at no additional cost, including the latest Medsider Mentors Volume IV. If you’re interested, go to medsider.com/subscribe to learn more.

Lastly, if you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Harlee Sorkin.