# 185: Building a Successful Hardware Startup Multiple Times

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2023-07-21
- Length: 16m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-07-21-185-building-a-successful-hardware-startup-multiple-times
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Rich Walsh, CEO of CorVent Medical and a serial hardware entrepreneur with eight exits, discusses how startups can outmaneuver large corporations through speed and vision. He details the rapid development of CorVent's medical ventilators during the pandemic, achieving FDA approval in under a year, and contrasts this with the slower processes of established medical device companies. Walsh emphasizes the importance of company culture, product quality, and early execution in driving sales, fundraising, and eventual acquisition or IPO.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-07-21-185-building-a-successful-hardware-startup-multiple-times#t=0) Introduction: Rich Walsh and CorVent Medical
- [1:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-07-21-185-building-a-successful-hardware-startup-multiple-times#t=118) Rich Walsh's Background in Medical Devices
- [5:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-07-21-185-building-a-successful-hardware-startup-multiple-times#t=337) Rapid Development of CorVent Ventilators
- [7:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-07-21-185-building-a-successful-hardware-startup-multiple-times#t=467) Startup Speed vs. Corporate Bureaucracy
- [10:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-07-21-185-building-a-successful-hardware-startup-multiple-times#t=644) The Exit Process and M&A Opportunities
- [13:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2023-07-21-185-building-a-successful-hardware-startup-multiple-times#t=806) Starting Early and Building a Legacy

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- CorVent Medical (company)
- Johnson & Johnson (company)
- Abbott (company)
- Teleflex (company)
- U.S. Surgical (company)
- Intuitive (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#010: From Pebble to Intel: can hardware startups beat the big players?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/coredump-sessions/2025-06-11-010-from-pebble-to-intel-can-hardware-startups-beat-the-big-players) (Coredump Sessions)
- [#066 - How to apply lean startup principles to hardware, with Ash Maurya of Leanstack, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2019-01-16-066-how-to-apply-lean-startup-principles-to-hardware-with-ash-maurya-of-leanstac) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [#025 - How to benefit for your startup from the one and only hardware accelerator of Southern California, with Shaun Arora of Make in LA, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-05-10-025-how-to-benefit-for-your-startup-from-the-one-and-only-hardware-accelerator-o) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [#455: MedTech Founder 101: Shifting from Corporate to Startup with John Schindler](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2026-04-13-455-medtech-founder-101-shifting-from-corporate-to-startup-with-john-schindler) (Global Medical Device Podcast)
- [Why Hardware Startups Are Finally Investable Again](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2026-02-10-why-hardware-startups-are-finally-investable-again) (OnTrack)

## Citing this page

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