Fireside Chat: Realizing Asia-Pacific’s Promise Through Talent | LSI Asia '25

David Uffer  0:06  
Well, thank you, Scott. And I want to say I known Scott when LSI was an idea in his head, and when he had his first three people operating with him. And what a pleasure to see on that stage. Just a moment ago, 16 people and so many thanks to Scott and those 16 people and the others that aren't here with LSI for putting this together. It is by far the finest Investor Summit across the globe, and now to see it in three different regions is more than exciting. On that, I think we're going to be the last panel and take it home. I'll give a little bit about my background, and then introduce our esteemed panelist and fireside chatter here with me. Dave Uffer, today, my role is to lead a strategy consulting firm, Trinity life sciences. I lead the med tech practice. I've been myself in the industry about 35 years. My first 25 years was on large corporate strategy and business development. I moved over to advisory, consulting and investment banking, investing, so I have a lot of the big corporate experience. But in the last few years, I've had taken on about four board and four advisory roles with early stage companies. As business development. I've screened over 15,000 companies, so you get to see a lot of early stage companies as an investor, my first starting point, and if you talk to any of the venture capital firms here, is about the team. We always talk about the team that we're investing I'm writing a check, who's going to spend it, and who's going to do it wisely, and who's going to lead the company, not just the technology, but the company. What we're going to talk here about is talent development within this region. Super team, I'd like you to introduce yourself and with your many years of background. Think perfect choice Scott to lead this discussion. Thanks a lot. Dave,

Supratim Bose  2:15  
so I am basically the dinosaur of the Medtech industry in Asia Pacific. I've spent 47 years in this business, and I have seen many different companies in different phases. So I started small. So I started with one of the startups in India, which is today the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in India, Lupin labs. Then I landed up with the largest healthcare company in the world, Johnson and Johnson. I spent nearly 30 years with Johnson and Johnson in different positions around the world. Then I moved to Boston Scientific with my friend and colleague, Mr. Mike Mahoney. I spent seven years in Boston Scientific, and then I moved to convert tech again with a colleague of mine, Mr. Rick Anderson, who was then the chairman of the company. And then I have moved to CMR as the CEO. And then recently, I moved to become vice chairman, after a succession there. So the whole career has been in Medtech, more or less. And one thing for sure, I believe this is a people's business, and probably most of the time in life has been spent in developing talent around the world. So even in this region as we speak, there are over 90 managing directors or presidents or GMs or country heads, as you call them, people who may have actually recruited trained and developed. There are over 35 regional executives of Asia Pacific Amir or even general global emerging markets. Again, people recruited, trained and developed. And there were, there are 11 global presidents and a few chairman and CEO who were developed out of Asia. So the one thing always is this belief that talent can be grown and exporting talent from the region around the world. For many may sound very common today, or may not be that even today, but in those days, was not even thought of. So it's almost growing people from within the region to become global leaders required a completely different change in mindset within the source companies and the people around building a process of development for the talent, whether it was small companies or big companies. So I moved from the biggest to the medium size Boston to. The next convert tech smaller, and then CMR, the smallest, literally moved across businesses and across companies. So I think this discussion on talent is very, very important for the Medtech business, because it's a people business. A person develops the product. A person develops the strategy. A person creates the need and meets the customer, which is the most important? Finally, so more than anything else, I believe, whether you are a startup company or you are a large company, this focus on people would be so important.

David Uffer  5:40  
Thanks for setting the stage. When I was with Abbott laboratory, 25 years ago, I had us responsibility, as well as regional responsibility for Asia Pacific, outside of Japan, it was a pretty small market, but it was high potential. It was very high growth rate, but off of a very small base, today, this region is the second largest med tech region in the world. Tell us about the change that you've seen in the transformation and how that has grown in the last decade or so. Super team,

Supratim Bose  6:17  
excellent. Dave, so in some ways, the people then say, J and J and Boston, you work for these companies, to be honest, they were all startups when we started. And I think it again, began with the same concept of understanding that most companies, I would say that all companies have this higher purpose of serving patients and trying to make that happen is the key difference between where you succeed and you don't, and That is talent. And the reason, therefore, is so important to realize and understand these businesses to have grown required people to understand that Asia Pacific should not ever be talked about in terms of talent development as a region. You can create an organization chart, put a vice president, executive vice president, CEO, in charge of Asia Pacific. But the first thing you must remember is growing these businesses is that Japan is a region. China is a region. China actually is a region with 50 different countries in that one region, X, Y and Z. Every one must understand that. And to answer your question, therefore, we probably were the number one company in most of these markets in the in terms of Medtech, by the way, so 75 years in the region, the only company we started then with ethic on in those days. So we have seen it from the start, and thanks to the great leaders of J and J, when decentralization was not even understood by most companies, that's what Robert Wood Johnson created. I'm talking 75 years ago. Now you have to understand, therefore, there was a principle understanding that the person in charge of the country is responsible for that. And when you develop those talent from within, you have to start believing in that talent. Yeah. So what we have seen evolving in each of these markets is through these five steps that you have to undertake when you grow this talent. Number one, you'll have to create awareness, because these are emerging markets. Penetration rates are minuscule compared to the US and developed markets. Yeah, other than maybe interventional cardiology and some businesses, then you have to create the adoption. So education, training, the physician, training, the support staff. Again, you require talent who will understand how to do that. Third is access and market access, so many of the people, including all startups, the first thing when they come to me, I said, What is the goal going to be? In terms of product registration, where do you want to go? And that itself is something that you have to understand. If you are in Asia, obviously, usfd has a different thing. Everybody wants to get there. You'll have to first find the talent to be able to do that, even if you are a startup, then next comes the understanding and the ability to say is, am I providing solutions that are affordable to the market? And many miss that point. The whole issue with China today is. People are saying, China problem. China problem. Most people have to understand it is because that market has been created at prices which I think are number one, number two in the world, higher than even Japan, some even than the US. So when that country is looking at it, they are saying, Why am I paying this high end prices I'm talking Yeah, and therefore the ability to think about each time, what is affordable model, and therefore, how do I create business models each time, which are different, whether you are a startup or no, you have to keep this in mind, what do I need to succeed in that particular market? And last, but not the least, is alignment, and that, I think is probably more required here in Asia, in some of those markets, is getting in touch with every stakeholders who will make business. Yeah. So what has happened and evolved is companies have learned over the years this is needed. So people have learned to understand what is required for Japan is different. What is required for China is different. What is required for India is different. And therefore saying you have a global strategy won't help. That means you have to have a global thinking, a global mindset, but you must have a local way of executing, and that will come from local talent. Yeah. So what exactly has happened is companies has understood, some have adopted, some still not. And that is the difference one has to make. Is trust. There is talent. Trust. There are people who can build the market there. And therefore you have to segment the talent requirement. Sorry, I'm Dave going into this detail. Is a talent needed in China? Why? The question each time to ask is, why am I doing what I am doing? Am I creating the organization to serve China? Am I creating the level of people to be serving China forever? Am I creating a level of person who will be serving China and Asia Pacific, who, among this can become global leaders? And that has happened in many companies. So there have been a global movement. There have been regional movement, but the acceptance of technology has increased because of professional education, thanks to globalization. So if you see that trigger point, it was when physicians started moving around the world. It's so simple, when doctors were allowed to travel to the US, doctors were allowed to travel to the developed market. Immediately the market started picking up. So if you look at mid 90s to obviously, even today, it continues. It is huge. It's the same with this. You know, as you move into markets, they will learn what this can be learned, so every company can take credit. But I think the globalization of the physician's mind is more important than anything to have driven the businesses in Asia, Pacific region,

David Uffer  13:01  
so that drives procedural adoption, that drives the demand for technologies in advancing delivery of care. But the markets in the revenues don't grow themselves. They're grown by the industry leaders and the people who are participating in there with this now the second largest market, aside from how you build, how it was built, how do you develop and continue to develop this talent here a and what are some of the gaps that you're still seeing in talent development?

Supratim Bose  13:35  
Again? Dave, a great question, I think, for first and foremost is to understand the why we are in the country and why we operate there. And I would say 90% of the answer is that you want to make a commercial success. You want to make a successful business. And when you look at it in that manner, the first thing therefore, you are looking for is people who will help you succeed in that business, in that market. Yeah. So the first process of the talent and talent development is, I must create a winning team in India, winning team in Japan, winning team in China. What does it take? If you go with the global mindset and you are sending people from globe to interview people in China, you'll end up with an English speaking person who may not be the most important talent. And I say this in great seriousness, by the way, so the first head of China in J and J hardly spoke English. When I said, I'm appointing him the corporate people, we can't understand him. What does he speak? I said, you want to run the business or not? I'm giving you real lamb examples, by the way, even today, I won't make that mistake in China and Japan. So it is as. Simple as that. So now I want to make China successful. Now within that group that I'm trying to make successful, how many people will continue to remain in those roles and continue in that market forever? So you have to create the entire process to recruit that person, knowing that this person in this group, mostly the areas of functional areas you will need them remain and stay. So that's the second thing that you are trying to think of. And then you are trying to think and say, which of these people do I need to have a China experience and grow them also for the region and though them globally. So those of people here who had war in Wang, we recruited people from mainland China, India, Japan, out of the best business school sense education centers around the world. So the 90 MDS I'm spoken all of them come from the top 10 business schools in the US. There are 274 MBAs coming out of the irdp program of J and J and coming out of the global management program. They are running all this company. So what was the thing? I need somebody who's there, whom I can groom to be grown at the same time, I have to say that I cannot create a mental mindset. The others are not important. So created a reverse program. So the good talent out of Japan, China and all sent to the US for up to two years on an actual job, some work even three years before coming back to June. So Tom Miro now runs McDonald and now Disneyland in Japan came out of a program like that. Yeah. So that's the second strategy. Now you're looking at who will manage this business, and so everything, of course, this for startups will be a different discussion, which we can but for everything you're trying to say that this is a succession pipeline I'm creating for the long term. So the critical difference why some companies have not done well is they are filling boxes. Pardon the head hunters in the room. They are not spending because each of those people recruited from the business school in the first year itself, cost about $160,000 which would not even be the salary of the country ahead of that time, people used to laugh. Now many of them are running pharma companies and things. That's okay, but they did they want to do. And then you have to understand and say, out of this, I have to find people who can become global leaders, because it has never happened before. So what do we know that to succeed in the US or succeed in Europe, that is a different development process required, which is experiential. You have to have that. There is a huge difference in east and west leadership style. It is a very big difference, yeah, starting from the command of control here, empowerment in the US market, starting from always trying to look at teams together, individual performance, high performance, individuals growing. Starting from trying to say, I am more worried about keeping my people for life rather than performance. You have to go and train people again. I'm trying to say, if I understand the difference between a smaller but the mental philosophy cannot be different. Yeah. So now I am going to train these people. They have to be network. The reason I learned why people are sending people from source companies into the region was mainly because of trust. I know Marc. I know Steve. I know so he has worked with me for 11 years. So I'm sending him to Japan. The answer is not that he is experienced. There are enough experience people here. The answer is I trust this guy more, and the only way out is networking there. So you cannot do it from here, because every time people from there come, they're meeting them across presentations and meeting them across meetings, and the ability, therefore, to create this program, which we did. So, you have to realize that a global chairman and CEOs who gone out of Asia, it never happened before, even in a company 120 years company in J and J, I was the first company Group Chairman coming out of Asia in 120 years. So the question to ask the chairman was, why is it so? What should I be doing? I got the steps of what is required. Why are they not getting people from here? And so the entire program developers based on what they said is needed. And one of the big things there was this networking. The second big thing. Was the lack of trust of, sorry to say this, I am proud of being from Asia, is compliance and ethics. And therefore to create that again, sending people to the US, sending people to Australia, saying, everybody of this manager war, and everybody has spent years in these markets, yeah. Yeah. So does it cost money? Yes. But if you are in an organization where you're building talent to be long term talent for the company as as this, we have to go through these steps. Yeah. So sorry, I'm expanding, but it is very important to understand it can be done. So the next question was, therefore, it's not that. It's only this way movement. So literally understanding j and j, if you want to promote anybody as business unit president, same with Boston, you're not butcher and etc. They must come here and work and people listen, because they have seen the talent and how they can grow. So each of those people need to come here on an assignment in the region, work in Japan, work in China. Then you go back in the US, and then you do that. Learning should be there. You cannot fly in and out. It cannot happen, yeah, because even today, when people say, I say, I don't know China, I don't know Japan. Warren Wang knows China. Yoshiki San knows Japan. I'm just there to provide support and guidance. That's what it is. Yeah. So I think that is required a very thoughtful process, what is for the country, what is for the region? Who will become global?

David Uffer  21:31  
So let's talk a little bit more about the earlier stage companies. We're here at an innovator and investor conference. The investor is looking to put money into these innovative, but early stage companies. I just spent a week each meeting with maybe 40 to 50 different companies in region and in a couple of countries, I saw amazing innovation, r, d, capabilities punching above the weight of what I see in many other regions, the biomedical engineering, the thought process to develop technologies, but I saw quite a bit of business immaturity. How do we how do we deal with the development of that talent to be able to lead early stage companies, not to make a product, but to build a business?

Supratim Bose  22:21  
Fantastic. So I think again, the simple basic question, it starts from any company in short, but somehow there is a difference between an inventor thinking of an idea, looking at it and saying it is great, versus what can it actually happen when it is finally given to a strategic or whatever, even if you want to run it? So what are the capabilities needed in the startups and the first one, which is a big gap, because I'm mentoring people even here, they have no idea of the market opportunity and market assessment. Many have started because, oh, I was working with this surgeon. He's It's okay. It may be the most differentiated product in the world, but nobody may want to buy it, because you may not get reimbursement for it. For all I know number one. So the first thing is, for startups, is, before you go step into it, try and understand the market, yeah, at least in Asia, in the US and all that. Because data is available, information is available, etc. Here, almost none. Because if you try to get from outside, it will maybe half of their cash burn. Okay, I'm just giving numbers of my head. So that is the first one. So the first thing is to understand, what is this product, what is the opportunity? The next thing to understand is, will this opportunity be realizable, and what the competition? The second thing they don't really know is, who's operating the market. There are three projects I can tell of was stopped because they had no understanding those products in China. So somebody was going to sell something for $1.20 and they were not aware that it was already selling in that China for 2023, cents. I'm giving you live example because I'm very practical. I'm not a conceptual guy. This is the second one. So working with people in the ecosystem who have this information and knowledge is very important. Before you step into the world of spending money on creation. Where can they get it? That's research, available materials, talking to people who are willing to help, etc. Yeah. So I think that should be very clearly understood that this is really the next part of it, which, again, looks like an admin one before that. If you have this product idea, you better make sure it's not conflicting with somebody's IP somewhere. People are gone seven steps down. I'm giving you example of. One robotic company, and they are explaining, and I said, Man, even before you launch, you will have cases filed by the biggest company in this business, because nobody has gone to that. So now you have gone steps ahead as a startup, and you have really no understanding of IP, because nobody even is talking to anybody. They don't have that. They don't have that thinking that when a strategic goes into it or somebody, the first thing we look for is whether this conflicts with something. Yeah. The third part of it is be very clear on what capability comes when, and how do you invest and resource those capabilities, so many of these people, first thing they describe to is commercial people, which is not bad, but a commercial person who has not gone through the stages of development spends ahead of the curve all the time. So spending ahead of the curve is a cause of many of the failures in this region, because the first thing they think of is, I must have this person in this country, that country, to do what they set up, even teams. Yeah, I have live example of this. I can't name the company where people have put in 1300 people around the world, 60% of whom are commercial people. Product not yet approved, but this is real life practical example here. So I think that comes very important. So they must understand, what is the product? What will be the investment required for R and D to take it from concept to wherever it is, while building the commercial capabilities to understand how this will be, if needed in the early stage, what will be. But the regulatory pathway and the R and D pathway would be the most important things for many, many reasons. Even putting in the clinical to get to the surgeons is not done. So I think it appears common sense. But why does not happen is very difficult. People are spending more in aspects which are not necessary at that time and that phase. So in most where I am mentoring, some ways, many in India, actually, the cash burn is crazy. It's simply crazy because it's somebody's idea, and somebody because, pardon me again, I'm pretty blunt in this race, because I'm from India, I wouldn't say everything is good there. So somebody are doing trial somewhere, not knowing whether the output of the trial will be even accepted in the US, FDA, I'm just giving example so simple things like that. So how to reach out to people who have already done it? Not very simple. Again, because, again, that ecosystem does not exist everywhere. Okay, so when somebody is looking for engineering inputs, somebody is looking for prototyping input. Somebody is looking for financial or even investors. One has to clearly understand, can I do everything myself, or whom do I reach out to? And it may sound again very this, many people have added people because they want to do everything themselves with this pure understanding. It may cost more to do, but you are not going to pay it unless you are doing something with a project in mind. So I think it is again related to people and capabilities. All the talent is there, but how many of that you need? In which phase of your company development becomes very important in Asia because, again, it's a leadership style. People will tend to get people they know. And if they come from larger organizations, their cash burn is already twice of what you would get if you went outside. So if you take 50 companies, I can say 50% of them are people who who have come from organization, because somebody has that working relationship. And so this concept to understand what capability is needed, when, what talent is available. What can I look at outsource, or where can I go around the region? Need not only be in your country. You can source anywhere. Look at software. You go to India, right? You look at data and other things. You go to Taiwan. If you look at engineering talent, go to China. You can get it anywhere. Yeah, so I think that's what the young startups here should understand money. It's not the investors money. You have to run it like if it was your family business. And I tell that even in CMR, I told the same thing, it is not soft bank money or light rock money. How would you run CMR if it was your own father's business? And I think that is the problem with the startups. Even here, to some extent,

David Uffer  29:57  
a lot of this insight comes from did. Decades of operating in a med tech environment, but again, the younger talent in the development opportunities to offer programs. I used to run a case competition across Europe, we would have MBA students that were specifically in healthcare tracks. I see a lot of that across Europe. We had one school, actually that did exceptionally well through that we would accept from university to Singapore, but nothing else regionally here. So is it through formal education on the business side, through MBAs with specific health care tracks? Is it more accelerators, like we saw yesterday's program talk about, is it other programs? Does LSI go start a boot camp and export that globally? What programs do we need? Or could we offer to develop that side of the talent?

Supratim Bose  30:57  
Absolutely, you have to find talent again, like I said, depending on what capability you're building. So many of the people I recruited in those early days in China were all operation manufacturing, etc. Background created then, as you were looking into how to build it, then you come to the commercial capabilities, then many of the MBAs with that background came in. So if you are looking at a incubator, accelerator, you have to find the engineering talent from the best engineering schools, yeah, even if it is not the best, I'm using that word somehow, in some way, so that you can at least try and get good people. It is important to do that, yeah. So those programs have to be created for a startup, you cannot create a program, but that mindset cannot be different. I need somebody in electrical engineering. Where do I go? If the government allows some countries, you may not be allowed to import talent, so you are stuck with local but where do I go? There to find that person? Yeah, and that is important to understand. And so if I were to compromise on the spending, and if I find the engineering talent who has done robotics before, and I am in Taiwan, I can't import talent because the demand, I know they allow, but I'm just giving I better get that diet may cost me more, but that's how I have to frame my mindset. Is that capability needed to take the project forward for a startup, I must get it and I must find a way to accept it, because otherwise your timeline for execution of the project will increase dramatically. So when people are trying to look and say, Okay, I got somebody for 10 cents instead of $1 the project will go to two years instead of six months. I'm just giving numbers out of my head, yeah. So yes, you must create that type of a thinking for even younger and smaller companies that a talent effectiveness has to be understood. You cannot spend or over spend. Like I said, I use the word spend ahead of the curve, but at the same time, if you put somebody whom you have to train, whom you have to develop, you will go on forever. And the worst thing that happens is in the regulatory process, people get people who don't even understand what happens in China, RA or Japan, ra, and they are thinking of plans to launch commercially. You're dead. Basically, yeah, I

David Uffer  33:38  
think the resources are so precious, and it's usually time and money for the early stage companies. You can develop people through their process, but you have such great immediate needs. You can't do on the job training with those companies. You have to be able to produce they will grow into new roles and new capabilities. So again, I think we have to be able to share resources coming from corporate that operate in that mindset, down into and share back up. I watched this happen quite a bit in I'm always in Ireland, for instance, that started as manufacturing. I was with Abbott when we were opening, playing Boston sai half my engineers are playing Hurley in the parking lot in the afternoon, and then it grew into this innovation hub because the engineers were running the plants and coming up with better ideas. And what a business community now. But it has to happen at the local basis. We can talk region, but that has to happen per country, per region, last insights in how we continue to drive at the country level?

Supratim Bose  34:47  
Yeah, I think all the startups also must keep this in mind. Some of the engineers feel their engineering and clinical, feel their clinical, etc, yeah. So even two of the local ones, completely changed investors came in, put money. I can't name companies, but I think both were here. The simple suggestion I gave is, nobody will work in your business till you send them for three months out in the field. To meet the surgeons, they must go out at least twice a week. They should meet surgeons. They should see what happens in that process. You're talking of this unique product. I'm no expert technically, I said, but what does a customer feel? Have you ever gone so now what is happening is somebody else is talking they're small companies. I'm talking big companies, of course, upstream marketing and all that different discussion. And somebody is coming back and explaining, if the engineer stood there along with the clinician, along with the commercial, etc, in the same time speaking, it would be a different thing. Yeah, so it's very important to understand that we are all talking of a patient, and we are all talking of a surgeon or a physician, whatever, who's going to treat that patient, and unless the gut or the people in that team all interact on a regular basis, it is not going to happen. And therefore you have to be very humble. Many of them are professors, very dominant, etc, and especially in Asia, a very different environment, you may have to wait outside for two hours. I waited seven hours for a surgeon in Japan. But you have to do it because, you know, if he gives you a suggestion, and if you are able to incorporate it during product development, yeah. So can I develop any total occlusion product in the world anytime without talking to a Japanese No, no chance, because when you launch, you'll come to know what is the problem with your product, right? It's same with certain procedures and certain this. So I think that for the startup company is very interesting to understand who creates that connect with the physician at the end, and how do you build from there, and in the same way the regulatory so there are certain things which they have to be prepared with, and they must be moving out to be connecting with those stakeholders and honestly, be very humble. Show the extreme humility in Asia Pacific. You may get insulted, you may get thrown out, but, man, you are trying to create a company. You have to be able to be patient, listen, understand, get them to be involved, and you can even many of them will even support you without taking physician fees or contractual fees, etc. They will be very open. If you tell them you are important, your suggestion will make a difference to this product. Yeah, so I think that's where it must start from.

David Uffer  37:57  
Well, I want to thank you so much for sharing decades of insights. And I know you not only thought about these topics for quite a long time, and that's kind of your nature, but you lived it. Because I've seen what you've trained. Many of my colleagues from different organizations, of the people that we participate with, even back in the US have been trained here under your tutelage. So thank you for that. Thank you for the audience and for LSI for affording this opportunity. I think this gives a wrap to the programming, but certainly not the program.

Supratim Bose  38:33  
I'll just end with one saying, because people always ask me what this saying is from 700 BC, and it surprisingly, comes from Asia, and I was trained in that when I was in school. And it says in single language, you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. You need. You want 10 years of prosperity, grow orchards. You need 100 years of prosperity grow people. Okay, I'm talking now 700 BC. It's a region which is on there. It's a Chinese philosopher of that time. It's the same thing in the India, Rig Veda. The Rig Veda says your body and your mind is your temple. The best way to do that is nourish it. If you nourish the body and the soul in the right way, and you grow yourself. That is prosperity, not the money you accumulate. Yeah, so you're in Asia, you keep this mindset, you're bound to succeed. Yeah. 

David Uffer  39:38  
Thank you.