Discover a cross-section of content from industry leaders and experts shaping the future of our innovation economy.
Discover a cross-section of content from industry leaders and experts shaping the future of our innovation economy.
CIBC Innovation Banking Videos
From actionable lessons to must-ask questions, our #CIBCInnovationEconomy video series showcases how founders have navigated the growth of their company.
How does a startup build momentum?
[Lab technician working in a lab. Shots of medical equipment]
>> Michael Hainsworth (voiceover): Profound Medical has beaten the odds over the past 7 years by developing a groundbreaking technology for treating prostate diseases.
[How does a startup build momentum?]
But how does a startup build momentum with future customers as it builds out its product?
[CIBC logo. Innovation Banking. #innovationeconomy]
I'm Michael Hainsworth, discovering the secrets to success in the innovation economy.
[Profound Medical office]
[0:24]>> Arun Menawat: My name is Arun Menawat. I'm the CEO of Profound Medical.
[Menawat and Hainsworth walking through factory]
>> Hainsworth (voiceover): Menawat could have easily called the company Precision Medical.
Prostate ablation is when the prostate tissue is attacked, often with heat or cold. But it can be very difficult to control and broad areas may be damaged.
[A technician demonstrating the use of TULSA-PRO medical device with rod and translucent torso]
Profound's TULSA technology uniquely avoids such a blind hit-or-miss approach by targeting with a transurethral applicator because hitting the right spot is critical. Hitting the wrong spot is catastrophic.
[Profound Medical office]
>> Arun Menawat: Because of real-time images and sophisticated software, we have the precision to ablate within 1.3 millimetres of where the surgeon defines.
[TULSA-PRO medical device]
>> Hainsworth (voiceover): That precision is key. Another 2 millimetres and the surgeon would damage nearby neurovascular bundles and the patient's functional abilities. Profound believes a patient's life should not have to change because they've had surgery.
[Hainsworth and Menawat in the Profound Medical laboratory]
>> Arun Menawat: We shift this whole concept of surgery to an entirely new level. And… and to us, it's very exciting.
[Technician assembling a medical device in the lab]
[1:20]>> Hainsworth (voiceover): But no matter how exciting your product is, while you're burning cash to build it, you've got to build momentum with future paying customers. Menawat says the secret is credibility.
[Hainsworth and Menawat in the Profound Medical laboratory]
>> Arun Menawat: We sought opinion leaders who were kindred spirits in the sense that they understood that when we come to them, whatever we're saying is vetted with good data, good analysis. And that allowed a number of other users to say, "You know what? They're working with people that I can trust. And they're developing the data. They're doing it the right way." And I think that credibility is helping us create that momentum.
[Press release that says “The TULSA-PRO Provides Safe and Effective Prostate Tissue Ablation”]
Over the last 7 years, Profound has made tremendous progress. It recently received FDA 510 clearance to market its TULSA-PRO technology.
[Lab technician in white clean room building medical device]
>> Arun Menawat: If everything we're working on is working, then we're either not moving fast enough or being aggressive enough in our field.
>> Hainsworth (voiceover): Menawat recommends aggressive entrepreneurs stay strong in the face of failure. You never know where you'll find success. He says the office coffee machine has played host to many eureka moments.
[Coffee machine making espresso]
>> Arun Menawat: Most of the time, um, people will go home and they will say, “Okay, I've absorbed all the data.” And… believe me, at the coffee in the morning, people are jumping up and down saying, “At 6:00 in this morning, I figured this out.” It happens all the time.
[Hainsworth and Menawat in laboratory]
>>Hainsworth: Nothin' like a good night's rest.
[Arun Menawat laughs]
>> Arun Menawat: That's right.
[Menawat and Hainsworth touring factory]
[2:38]>> Hainsworth (voiceover): If there's anything keeping this serial entrepreneur up at night, it's ensuring Profound Medical has the financial staying power while trying to solve expensive, complicated, life and death problems.
[Menawat in office]
>> Arun Menawat: Sometimes, valuations of companies are not necessarily in line with where the public markets see the value. Quite frankly, we choose our investors carefully.
[Analysts reviewing financial information screens]
>> Hainsworth (voiceover): Before going public in 2015, Profound Medical chose cash infusions from several venture capital firms. But there comes a time when using stock as currency isn't the most effective financing option. To help get Profound's life-saving technology to the next level, Menawat chose a twelve and a half million dollar debt deal with CIBC Innovation Banking.
[Menawat in office]
>> Arun Menawat: You know, CIBC is a very credible group. So the fact that CIBC did a thorough diligence, understood our technology, understood the gap in valuations, we actually use that as a way when we're describing to future equity investors that we actually have pristine partners who are supporting the [inaudible] the company through this process. So I think that CIBC brand means a lot.
[3:45]>> Michael Hainsworth: If you could rewind the clock, what lesson would you teach yourself on day 1?
>> Arun Menawat: You know, life is not a controlled, scientific experiment. So I'll never know if how many decisions I made were right or how many were wrong. But what I really try to look at is, in the end, are we making progress quarter over quarter? And if we are, we're happy.
[Presented by CIBC. CIBC logo. The CIBC logo is a trademark of CIBC]
