MassDevice is liveblogging the MassMEDIC 11th Annual Medtech Investors Conference. We’re talking to the officers and executives of some of the hottest under-the-radar medical device firms around, finding out how and why their technologies will separate them from the pack.
The conference’s morning panel, slated to be geared towards regional differences between Israel, California and Boston, turned instead toward a temperature check on the venture capital market.
Dan Cole, a general partner at Spray Venture Partners, told the group that the funds flowing into VC firms were dramatically restricted over the past 18 months and the shift away from the exuberance of the mid-oughts resulted in a glut of companies fighting over the same turf.
“One of the residues of that unreasonably euphoric environment was that too many companies were funded,” Cole said. “I think there are 14 or 15 mitral valve repair companies out there. There’s no way all of those are going to be successful.”
The new rules for entrepreneurs, Cole said, should involve stricter vetting of business plans so that they’re airtight; a better understanding of the competitive landscape; and targeting VC firms that are better fits. In short, no more “spray and pray.”
Despite the shifting focus of the panel, there was still some time to re-hash the perennial about East Coast vs. West Coast argument. David Milne, a managing partner at Boston’s SV Life Science Ventures, said that environmental differences between the Golden State and the Commonwealth aren’t so much a question of infrastructure but of collaboration.
Milne said trailblazers on the Left Coast are more willing to mentor entrepreneurs and he encouraged East Coast founders to seek mentors outside of New England.
But, he warned, companies seeking funding shouldn’t look for a silver bullet in California.
“California doesn’t export anything,” he said. “Including venture dollars.”