Morgenthaler Ventures and the Foundry

Course Description

Lectures

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   Lecture 1 - Morgenthaler Ventures

   Robin Bellas, partner at Morgenthaler Ventures, explains the structure of the venture capital firm.

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   Lecture 2 - Advances in Medicine: Surgery Without Knives

   Bellas talks about the growing medical trend of surgery without knives and some of the benefits this has.

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   Lecture 3 - The Foundry: Background

   Hanson Gifford, president and CEO of The Foundry, talks about why the company was founded and what they do to help fledgling companies get off the ground and become successful. The incubation process that The Foundry goes through with each new venture helps these companies increase their chances of receiving funding, he says.

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   Lecture 4 - Why Does The Foundry Work as an Incubator?

   Gifford has found that having The Foundry act as an incubator was the best method possible to help new ventures get started. Over the cycles of incubation, The Foundry becomes familiar with procedures such as the FDA approval process and clinical trial details.

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   Lecture 5 - Choosing the Right Medical Devices to Fund

   The Foundry can only fund a certain number of ventures. Hanson talks about the different factors that go into choosing the companies, including market opportunity, and patient and physician opportunity.

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   Lecture 6 - The Unique Relationship Between Morgenthaler and The Foundry

   While Morgenthaler funds The Foundry, they are also, in essence, funding each new venture that The Foundry incubates. Bellas and Gifford describe the details of this relationship, including the reasons behind establishing it and how they successfully maintain it.

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   Lecture 7 - Where Does Innovation Occur?

   Bellas talks about where innovation is currently happening in biotech and medical device companies. The large pharmaceutical companies aren't covering the same innovative ground as the smaller companies, which is a trend seeing in every tech field.

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   Lecture 8 - Insight Into the Changing Valuations of Companies Since the Dot Com Era

   The dot com bubble has changed the way companies are now valued, and their valuations over time. Bellas discusses how valuations are currently determined, and typical financing and return amounts.

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   Lecture 9 - Examples of Groundbreaking Achievements in Medicine (Part 1)

   Bellas talks about two Foundry companies which utilize new surgical procedures. The first is Thermage, which uses a procedure that stimulates new collagen growth. The second is Xstent, which works with stent implants.

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    Lecture 10 - Examples of Groundbreaking Achievements in Medicine (Part 2)

    Gifford discusses some Foundry companies that are showing great success rates, including: Concentric, which treats acute ischemic strokes; Emphasis, with a procedure replacing open-heart surgery with an outpatient procedure, First to File, a non-medical project focusing on intellectual property management; and Satiety, which treats morbid obesity.