# S5E15 Derek Harper | The Benefits of Working At A Small Company, & How to Motivate Your Engineering Team

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2024-04-12
- Length: 43m
- Episode: 15
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo
- Listen: https://teampipeline.us/derek-harper-small-company/

## Summary

Derek Harper, a biomedical engineering leader, discusses the career advantages of starting at small startups, such as gaining broad exposure to design, manufacturing, and quality processes, compared to the narrow roles at large medical device corporations. He recounts a specific product failure where a device designed with input from only three lead surgeons was rejected by a larger, high-volume community of users, highlighting the critical need to validate products with diverse customer segments before launch. Harper also details his leadership philosophy of treating teams with respect and sharing the 'why' behind decisions, contrasting it with fear-based management, and highlights emerging trends in biomedical engineering, including biomimetic scaffolds for rotator cuff repairs and brain-implanted chips for ALS patients.

## Chapters

- [0:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=5) Introduction and PDX Expo Sponsor Read
- [2:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=149) Derek Harper's Early Inspiration and Career Path
- [6:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=385) Benefits of Small Startups vs. Large Corporations
- [12:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=759) Product Failure: Ignoring High-Volume Community Feedback
- [18:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=1096) Managing Relationships with Lead Surgeons
- [20:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=1205) Leadership Strategies: Respect vs. Fear
- [27:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=1647) Emerging Trends: Biologics and Brain Chips
- [30:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=1814) Rotator Cuff Biomimetic Scaffold Project
- [35:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo#t=2123) Advice for Young Engineers and AI in Design

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Medical & health devices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/medical-devices)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Pipeline Design & Engineering (company)
- PDX Expo (other)
- FDA 510 K (other)
- PLGA (material)
- Gore Tex (product)
- Elon Musk (other)
- ChatGPT (tool)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [How to Improve Your Medical Device Design Reviews Bonus Episode](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2019-11-07-how-to-improve-your-medical-device-design-reviews-bonus-episode) (Global Medical Device Podcast)
- [#408: What MedTech Startups Miss: Design Mistakes, Risk Testing & the Myth of the Quick Exit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2025-05-26-408-what-medtech-startups-miss-design-mistakes-risk-testing-the-myth-of-the-quic) (Global Medical Device Podcast)
- [005 - “Compassionate Product Development” with Cameron Jones](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/lets-combinate/2021-11-03-005-compassionate-product-development-with-cameron-jones) (Let's Combinate)
- [126 - Combination Products Collaboration, Turnover on MedTech/Pharma Project Teams, and Lessons from working with Intel's CEO with Mat Stratton, Founder of Coalition Ltd](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/lets-combinate/2024-03-06-126-combination-products-collaboration-turnover-on-medtech-pharma-project-teams) (Let's Combinate)
- [009 - “Cutting Through the Noise” with Charles Ventura](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/lets-combinate/2021-12-01-009-cutting-through-the-noise-with-charles-ventura) (Let's Combinate)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-04-12-s5e15-derek-harper-the-benefits-of-working-at-a-small-company-how-to-motivate-yo. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Being an Engineer.