Tim Balz | CEO, Kalogon | Wheelchair Innovation, Advanced Seating Technology, & Staying Sharp as a Leader

Tim Balz, a former SpaceX engineer turned CEO of Kalogon, shares that his passion for MedTech began in high school when he founded a wheelchair refurbishment charity, Freedom Chairs. From creating the Intel connected wheelchair, endorsed by Stephen Hawking, to running a company developing innovative seating technologies, Tim's story is one of relentless innovation and profound impact. His mission? To enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities and beyond. This episode is a testament to the power of engineering and empathy in creating a better world.

Guest link: https://www.kalogon.com/

Charity supported: Save the Children

Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at podcast@velentium.com.

PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editing: Marketing Wise Producer: Velentium

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Episode 031 - Tim Balz

[00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world.

[00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them.

[00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives.

[00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives.

[00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives.

[00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference.

[00:00:50] Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am so excited to introduce you to my guest today, Tim Balz. Tim is a former SpaceX engineer with over a decade in the wheelchair seating space. He has 12 years of firsthand wheelchair experience. He founded a wheelchair refurbishment charity at the age of 15 and has donated over 150 wheelchairs, including orchestrating an international expansion into Moldova. He created the Intel connected wheelchair endorsed by Stephen Hawking, and has been invited to design a custom wheelchair for Hawking himself, which has been named the number one IoT device of the year by Intel. Currently Tim serves as the CEO of Kalogon.

[00:01:37] Well, Tim, thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited to talk to you and hear more of your story.

[00:01:44] Tim Balz: Yeah, I'm excited to be here. Thanks so much for having me.

[00:01:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course. Well, I would love if you don't mind starting off by sharing a little bit about yourself and your background and maybe what led you to MedTech.

[00:01:56] Tim Balz: Yeah, absolutely. So, so I'm Tim Balz. I'm founder and CEO of Kalogon. So I've been working in and around the wheelchair space specifically for well over a decade now, starting with a nonprofit in high school now leading up to Kalogon where we make the world's most innovative seating for people, such as people use wheelchairs and really anyone who has to sit for long periods.

[00:02:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's incredible. Would you mind starting a little bit at the beginning and sharing, how did you even come up with the idea to start the nonprofit, and you were so young and that's such a wonderful thing. How was that even received? Just what led to that whole part of your journey so far.

[00:02:33]

[00:02:33] Tim Balz: That's, yeah, it's actually kind of an interesting story, 'cause I was a part of a robotics team in high school, and so I kind of started learning to, to build things with my hands. I didn't really have any plans to go to college or anything like that, and my grades weren't the highest, but I had a neighbor that actually found a wheelchair in a dumpster, and he gave it to me to mess around with the robotics team, but I noticed there was this student in the school, Steven, and he would pull the recycling behind his manual wheelchair, and he'd go from classroom to classroom, and they would dump the recycling in it.

[00:03:01] But after a while it would get so full that he would just be stuck there waiting for someone to come wheel him back. And so I asked his teacher, why didn't he have an electric wheelchair? And he actually his teacher actually said that the insurance company denied it, because he could move something like a hundred yards under his own strength. And apparently there's this, like, in the home rule and because of some unnecessary red tape he wasn't given the equipment that he very clearly needed.

[00:03:24] So that first wheelchair was unfixable. So I traded my moped for a wheelchair on Craigslist. I tricked it out. I added like a sound system to it, added leg rest, added a hitch so he could pull his recycling, put his name on it, and really made it custom for him. And it totally changed his life. And then from there, I just had a bunch of people start coming to me in need. And, I was always raised to not necessarily have to wait for someone to ask for help in order to offer it. And I was raised that if there's something you can do to solve a problem for someone else, you should do that. And that's how I started out my nonprofit Freedom Chairs.

[00:03:58] Lindsey Dinneen: That's incredible. What an amazing story too. Thank you for just sharing about that. And being willing, like you said, I love your emphasis on, you don't necessarily even have to be asked. You saw a need, you saw a way that you could help, and then you just took it and ran. And I love that. Yeah. So since then, you know, since that was sort of the inspiration, but then since then you have done so much with this organization. Do you mind sharing a little bit more about the work that you all do now, even with that?

[00:04:28] Tim Balz: Yeah. Yeah, so Freedom Chairs would refurbish and we give away primarily power wheelchairs, but also some like manual wheelchairs and scooters. So we still run that. It's not at the same scale, you know back when I was in high school and college I a lot more free time than I did now, so we still probably give away five six seven chairs a year. But we actually took Freedom Chairs all the way to going international. We actually took a bunch of wheelchairs into Moldova, and that was a really cool project went over there a few times and then so still run that.

[00:04:59] And then actually off of that, I realized I learned a lot about how these chairs work from repairing them and actually got hired by a design firm that was designing an all terrain wheelchair because of that experience. And so working with them, I got my name on the patent and actually helped design a wheelchair that's on the market today. I'm not associated with the company in any way. I was employed by the design firm, but that was where I started figuring out that, oh, I could give away these wheelchairs, but if I can actually improve the products that are available, I can help a lot more people than what I ever could hope to with a small nonprofit.

[00:05:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And so you then from starting this nonprofit, then from there, you've obviously had quite a bit of really amazing experience. You've been a SpaceX engineer and whatnot. Can you share about how those past experiences and your desire to help people have merged with all of your technical expertise over the years to create your company and what that has looked like?

[00:05:58] Tim Balz: Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, I became an engineer because of what I learned with Freedom Chairs. I learned that with engineering, you can change a lot of people's lives. And so, the first thing I did was I knew that technology for people with disabilities was way behind the rest of the world. So that's where I did the the proposal for the world's first smart wheelchair and actually got that funded by Intel. They sponsored the project,, and then Stephen Hawking endorsed it, and it was named the number one smart device of the year by Intel. So that was really cool. That was where I was able to take technology and really advance the state of technology and in the space, but from there I knew that I still had a lot to learn before I could go start a company or something like that in the space.

[00:06:36] And so I knew SpaceX was the place where my friends would go and they would learn so much more working there than other places, partially because you work such crazy hours. When you're doing 80 to 100 hour weeks, you're learning twice as much as someone that's working 40 hours. And that's what I wanted. I wanted to learn as quickly as possible, and I wanted to be at the forefront of technology so that I could take those learnings back to the back to people with disabilities so that they didn't need to have technology that was a decade plus behind what the rest of us get in our day to day life.

[00:07:03] And so I stayed at SpaceX and actually moved to multiple different teams that were different phases in the product development and commercialization cycle so that I could learn how is it that SpaceX, this scrappy startup, was able to completely disrupt a space that was dominated by multi billion dollar companies. And with those learnings, that's where we started Kalogon and we actually structured a lot of our processes based on the learnings I had from working there.

[00:07:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. That's incredible. And so now can you share a little bit about what your company does and the products that you're really excited about and... yeah, I'll stop there, 'cause I, I'll ask too many questions all at once.

[00:07:46] Tim Balz: Oh, no worries. I'm so, I love geeking out on the technical side.

[00:07:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Excellent.

[00:07:50] Tim Balz: So, you know, Kalogon, when we started Kalogon, what was really important is focusing on the need first and then building the technology for it. So many people just love technology and they're like, "We just want to shove technology into the end user's face. And we'll try to find a need based on the technology we want to build." And we didn't want to do that. So, we first went out and just started interviewing as many people as possible and said, " What are the big challenges that you have in your day to day life because of your disability?"

[00:08:16] And we talked to everyone from the clinicians to the end users to even the family members to try to understand what are the largest unmet needs for people with disabilities. From there, we discovered pressure injuries. And we did this actually while I was still working at SpaceX full time, I even bought a house and all the co founders with me, they all moved in the house and we made it where their rent was able to pay for the mortgage on it. And we started using that to prototype and really start building the team. So we start with the team and the need. And when we found out that this need, these pressure injuries killed more people than any cancer in the US other than lung cancer, we were like, "That's crazy. Someone else has got to be solving this problem. We're probably way behind on this because of how big this is."

[00:08:59] And then we looked and we're like, "Oh my gosh, there hasn't really been any innovation in like 50 years." And it just was mind blowing this something at the scale of cancer And the, still the leading technology that was being used to try to prevent these sores for people in wheelchairs was like twice my age at that point. And that was just crazy. So, so we said, "All right, there's the problem we're going to solve. Now let's go dive into that, become experts in that, and try to figure out how we can start iterating a solution to solve that problem." And that's how we created Kalogon Smart Seating technology.

[00:09:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. That's incredible. Was there ever a time as you're creating this technology and you're talking to the people who are going to be using it and so deeply affected by it, was there ever a time when you just kind of had this moment of realization where you went, "Yes, this is why we're doing what we're doing." This is a moment that really kind of enforced that.

[00:09:53] Tim Balz: It's almost like a weekly basis. Like some of the early ones, we had early prototypes that we, we didn't expect them to succeed, because they were so early. And we had a, an individual where their, their wound care doctor came to us and was like, "Hey, I've tried every cushion on the market, their wound's not healing. It's probably going to take them out. And so I heard about what you were doing from, you know, some of the people that you were asking questions in the community to try to understand this problem. I was wondering, do you have anything?"

[00:10:21] And we're like, "We have this prototype. It's completely unproven, but if you want to try something, if you're at the point of, almost, it felt like giving up, let's give it a shot." And being able to see that progression and finally hear from-- actually, what my favorite part with that one was-- a couple of months after we provided that, that cushion I was out at at a lunch with a prospective investor. And all of a sudden I had someone like call over to me. I turned around and it was the individual that we given this cushion. I'm like, "What are you doing out?" And she was saying that the cushion was so successful, that they let her go out for lunch with her friends and then come back to the rehab facility, and that she thought she wasn't ever going to get to do that again.

[00:10:58] And that, that along with the fact we get multiple Christmas cards every year from people that say we changed their life and that they thought they wouldn't be able to go visit their grandkids again, or that they're able to now, instead of sitting in a chair for two to three hours a day, and that's all they get to go live their life, because of the pain reduction from the technology, they're able to be out for eight to 12 hours. Those instances always really fuel the passion because start ups a rollercoaster.

[00:11:23] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah.

[00:11:23] Tim Balz: There's ups, but there's typically a lot more downs than ups in a startup. You're trying to solve problems that have never been solved before. And that's hard. That's really hard. And that's the startup kind of journey. It's lonely. You've got your co founders, but it's tough. And those moments are always the ones that make it all worth it. Every, any one of them is enough.

[00:11:38] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, I love that. Yeah. And I love your perspective on that too, where you said all of it matters. And it's just one, you realize how many times that one person has made a difference, and that one person matters so much. And I love that perspective because like you said, it is such a roller coaster and that's a lot of challenge that you're dealing with on a daily basis. It would be easy to get discouraged or feel like, "Oh my goodness, is it worth it?" So being able to talk to a human being who goes, "Yeah, it is worth it." You know, that's, there's nothing quite like that. That's very rewarding. Wow.

[00:12:15] Tim Balz: It's true. And then at the end of the day, the people that change the world are the optimist. And so knowing that, I'm not going to give up, the team's not going to give up, until we succeed. That's that along with the positive reinforcement from hearing these stories, people's lives were changing, it really does make it all worth it. 'Cause at the end of the day, if we were in it for the money, I should have stayed at SpaceX. I walked away from a lot of SpaceX stock that was still left unvested, and I regret nothing because at the end of the day, I'm doing what I need to be doing in the world. My goal is, let's say, when I die, I want to know that I put in more than I took out. And so I want to create the largest net positive on the world possible. And I think Kalogon is my way to be able to do that. I'm solving problems that wouldn't likely get solved if Kalogon wasn't doing it.

[00:13:04] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. That's incredible. And so what are you looking forward to as you continue to grow the company and even for yourself, you are continuing to grow in this role too. But, for yourself and then for the company, what excites you coming up?

[00:13:22] Tim Balz: Yeah, we've got a, we've got a Series A coming up in 2024. So we're really excited about that. One of my favorite things about the job is, in a startup, especially when you're a first time founder, you've got to make sure you grow personally at a rate faster than what the company is growing otherwise it's going to outgrow your competence.And so I'm always looking for and getting feedback from our board, for example, and then the team is, "What are the things that I'm going to need to do six months from now? What are the skills I'm going to need to have to be able to successfully run this company?"

[00:13:53] And then that means I get to do tons of learning. And with that learning, I know I'm growing as an individual. It's going to make it where someday, post Kalogon, I'm going to want to start something else and solve more problems. And the learning I'm getting is one that's, it means having a new challenge every day where I don't already know what the answer is when the challenge pops up. That keeps me motivated.

[00:14:15] Like this morning I woke up at 3am and I was like, that's what we need to do for our CNC machining on that part. And even though I'm the CEO of the company, I literally was like texting one of our engineers. I'm like, "Oh yeah, here's what, like check this out," like moment of clarity. "This is going to totally improve the efficiency and solve that challenge that we have in the organization."

[00:14:34] And while typically I'm not solving challenges at that level anymore, I'm more equipping people and putting the right people in the places, and they're truly the ones doing the innovation now, I still like to try to make sure I understand what are the challenges that are limiting Kalogon's ability to impact more people's lives. And and that's like my personal litmus test. I've always said, even when I was at SpaceX and one of the reasons I left was, if I'm not doing something that's so interesting and challenging me so much that I, that it doesn't keep me awake at night thinking about it, then it's probably not, it's probably not the right thing for me to be doing.

[00:15:09] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And so how was that transition for you? Did you enjoy going from sort of more of a doer role to a leader role? Was that an enjoyable thing or was it really challenging at times to sort of, you know, you have the heart of the company. So was it a little hard to go from being so hands on to being at a little bit of a higher, eagle eye view?

[00:15:32] Tim Balz: Yeah. I'd say the process was a bittersweet one. At the end of the day, if my goal is to have the largest net positive impact, this is what I need to be doing. So from a, from being a rewarding side, it's so rewarding. I would say like, it was something where, of course, there were times when I had a hard time letting go of specific tasks that really I'd outgrown that as being something that I should have been doing in my role. There were times where I had a hard time emotionally giving it up, but I never had a time where I like wanted to jealously guard something just because I enjoyed doing it.

[00:16:04] At the end of the day, I look at my job as, I wear a lot of hats, and if I'm doing my job effectively, I'm setting other people up so I can take that hat off, give it to them, so that I can be putting on a new hat for what the company needs next. And so if I'm not doing that, then I'm not doing my job. And so being able to take a job that I love doing and equip someone else and see them be successful in it, that's where I get my rewards now.

[00:16:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Oh, I love that. I love that perspective too, and I think it's very telling about your leadership that you are so willing to learn and grow at a pace that will enable you to continue leading at such a high level, because it is, that is challenging and, I'm sure that there will, like you've mentioned, every day you have a new opportunity to solve a problem that might have been a little just out of left field, but if you're continuing to help grow your own skills and you're able to continue to lead the company well. So out of pure curiosity, what kinds of learning tools have you found to be particularly effective?

[00:17:10] Tim Balz: Yeah. So one, I'm a big reader, but like audio books. So I'll look at what are the skills I need. And I'll go, so one, mentorship is huge for me. I have a ton of mentors, and often I'm working directly with those. I have a technique I call verbal iteration, where I just like, will throw ideas at people who have good insights. And I'll have them tear it apart, throw it back. And I have no ego about things needing to be my ideas, so I steal the best of their ideas. And now I change my new idea, and then I'll throw it at someone else. And that way I can get a lot of diverse opinions and diverse perspectives. And so that's one way where I'll kind of change my mental models for how I look at the world.

[00:17:47] And then another thing I do is, so lots of audio books, I listen to very specific podcasts. I'm a big fan of podcasts. When I'm driving, I often you use audio books and if I'm doing like tasks around the house, I'm always listening to podcasts. And I go on runs in the morning, always got a podcast on, but besides that mentorship is the big one. And then I do have a strategy coach 'cause strategy is one of those things that, it's so abstract, it's hard to truly absorb it from just a one way transfer of information from audiobooks. And so I do have a strategy coach that, we look at like case studies and, and he'll help me apply those to our business and make sure that I'm truly leading the company in the right direction.

[00:18:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing that. I'm always just intrigued because it's fun to keep learning and growing and everyone has different methods of doing so, and I'm always just fascinated to hear how someone wants to do that, enjoys doing that. So you know, looking back over your life so far, could your six year old self have possibly imagined what you'd be doing now, or is this completely out of left field?

[00:18:53] Tim Balz: I love that you use that analogy there because one of my favorite things, whenever things are going rough, like I have to do a ridiculous amount of travel. And I think a lot of people romanticize work and business travel. We're a startup. I'm sharing hotel rooms. I'm trying to get the cheapest I can get. I'm flying Spirit, back row, middle seat, red eye to save money.

[00:19:16] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah.

[00:19:16] Tim Balz: Because at the end of the day, we're a startup and any dollar I can put back into the business is, it's more innovation. And so for me, when I'm in those moments, I'll always think back, would younger me be proud? And I'm like, man, younger me would have been so jealous of being able to fly on an airplane. I got to fly on one or two airplanes when I was a kid. And I'd be like, okay, younger me would be pretty proud of and pretty, pretty jealous that the older me gets to go fly around the world to have business meetings and go try to solve engineering problems. So I really do think that six year old me would never believe that I would be so fortunate to be in the position I am to be able to build and innovate and change people's lives.

[00:19:58] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. That's incredible. And it's helpful to have those perspectives too. We talked about earlier a little bit about knowing because you can, and because people send you cards and they talk with you, it's like being able to know that your younger self and the people that you're currently affecting are grateful and proud and whatnot. It just, it really does help, like you said, because those red eyes are not always super fun, I'm sure. And there are days where it's a little more demotivating than others. So

[00:20:30] Tim Balz: Absolutely.

[00:20:31] Lindsey Dinneen: So what kinds of other big engineering challenges would you be thrilled to help solve?

[00:20:40] Tim Balz: I mean, one thing we've kind of realized is, our initial goal was to take technology for people with disabilities and try to at least bring it up to the level of what's provided to people without disabilities. And one thing that ended up happening was, we truly went to solve this need and did such a good job of it, that we realized our technology can solve problems for a lot of other areas in the world where people have to sit for extended periods. And that was something that wasn't the initial intent. We just went to go build what was right, not what was easy.

[00:21:12] And what's exciting for me is we've now got contracts outside of the wheelchair space where we're able to keep funding and putting more money and effort into R&D to just understand and become the world experts in seating. And so the way I look at it is, there's no one in the world that knows more about dynamic seating and seating that actually changes based on the user, no one can do anything like what we're able to do. And so I'm excited for things like. airplanes, automobiles, long haul truckers, construction equipment.

[00:21:41] There's so many different areas where people have such a negative impact on their health and wellbeing because they have to sit for long periods. I mean, look, office chairs. And so I am really excited to, to make Kalogon's technology available to those people so that they can, at the end of the day, go home and play ball with their kid, or pick up their kid without, without back pain, or without one of the many other medical issues that can arise from sitting so much in our days.

[00:22:09] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love that. And I'm very thankful for what you're doing. I love that the work that you all do and that you are so passionate about becoming experts to help solve some problems that have-- like you said it's kind of wild when you think about it-- that the technology hasn't evolved, or maybe emphasis hasn't been placed on this kind of technology, and lots of people are affected by it.

[00:22:35] Tim Balz: The average person sits more than they sleep, which is crazy to think about, yet the research in the space on sitting is so narrow, and it's still in its infancy. Like the fact that a company our size can become leading experts so quickly, it's post a testament to the team we have, but it's also, it just shows that there's so much runway here because this is a problem that it's just going to keep getting bigger as the world ages and as more people are sitting as part of their job.

[00:23:06] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, of course. Well, I just think it's really amazing what you guys are doing. And it's cool to hear all about it. So I'm, I just, I want to pivot just for fun. Imagine you were to be asked to give a masterclass on any subject that you want to. It can be in your field. It doesn't have to be, but you're going to get a million dollars to do it. What would you choose to teach and why?

[00:23:31] Tim Balz: I believe. So I think I would start with, what is the criteria that would help me decide what area to teach? And I would say, what is a skill that I've had to build where I was not able to find a lot of resources to help me learn how to do that. And so, there's a lot of things out there. There's 20 masterclasses in leadership and project management and those things. So no one needs another, no one needs another masterclass in that. And there's a lot of people, a lot smarter than me at that stuff.

[00:24:00] I would say, how to innovate as a hardware company, and how do you do that in a cost effective manner? I think one of the things I learned at SpaceX, I have a very different approach to product development, especially with hardware products. We at Kalogon, we treat hardware like software in a way that very few companies do. And I think sharing that so that other startup founders who are afraid to go do a hardware starter, 'cause typically people think you need a huge amount of capital, and people build products without properly iterating with customers in the loop. So like empathy driven design and early product manufacturing, test, and iteration, I think is something that there's not a lot of great resources out there. And I think a lot of people could learn from it.

[00:24:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, I think that would be an incredible masterclass, exactly for all the reasons that you mentioned. And it is a difficult subject area, so that would be phenomenal.

[00:25:02] Tim Balz: Where a lot of companies die too, is they don't get the product market fit right. They don't create a system to be able to validate and do a bunch of tiny pivots to make sure that they truly build a product that solves a problem, and solves a problem that's worth solving. So, so I think there's a lot of companies that have to fall into those traps.

[00:25:22] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. "Solving a problem worth solving." I really like that. So, how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world?

[00:25:32] Tim Balz: For me, I don't care super much about what people think about me. I care about my reputation, and I think that's really important. But for me, I more care about building lasting businesses that, when I'm gone, continue to drive value, and specifically drive value for their customers above all else. That would be a pretty cool way to be remembered. The teams I've been a part of if, if they're continuing to be successful, I'd love to have people in that business remember me because a lot of people I work with are like family. You spend more time with their coworkers a lot of times than your significant others during a week, especially in a startup.

[00:26:09] And so, so definitely would like to be remembered as someone that always put the customer first and made sure that. That I was providing value for others above all else. And then, of course, I want to make sure my family remembers me fondly. I want to make sure that one day I can actually throttle back and, have kids and be a good dad. And hopefully they can feel that I did a good job raising them one day. But right now I have no kids. So.

[00:26:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Okay. Perfect. And then, final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it?

[00:26:40] Tim Balz: I mean, it's going to be my wife. She's pretty amazing. Totally out of my league, way smarter than me. And, and having a startup founder as a husband is-- it's, I don't know what it's like. I can assume I have, I know I can be pretty difficult sometimes not knowing if I'm gonna have to stay super late to help with a product launch or the stress of doing an investment round is, it's a lot. So I would say anytime I actually get to see her and spend time with her, that's, that's my favorite activity in life.

[00:27:09] Lindsey Dinneen: That's special and it is worth holding on to. I love that. Amazing answer. Well, I just want to say, this has been so much fun to get to know you, get to know your company, and get to know the heart behind everything that you're doing. I love hearing the story of what first sparked your interest in this particular thing that you couldn't have necessarily predicted would end up being something that you really chose to focus on. But I love the synergy that has occurred throughout your life so far and that you've been able to take all these little pieces and put them together, and it's just really cool to see that. And so I just wanna, again, just say, thank you for the work you're doing. I know being in a startup, , running a startup, is a lot of work, is really hard. But, thank you for being here.

[00:27:59] Tim Balz: And thank you for sharing the stories. There's a lot of founders out there that, they're out there solving problems that are, they're really important. And I love the perspective you're trying to bring so that people, understand that a lot of people, especially in the medical space, they're out here not just in it for the money. We're in it because we want to change the world. If we're in it for the money, it's so much easier to just go work for Johnson and Johnson or GE Health or something like that. And it's it's a tough road. So I appreciate you putting the spotlight on on founders.

[00:28:25] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, sure. Absolutely. My, it's my pleasure. I get to meet amazing people like you and I love that. So, I'm happy. Well, again, thank you so much for joining us. We are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to Save the Children, which works to end the cycle of poverty by ensuring communities have the resources to provide children with a healthy, educational, and safe environment. So thank you so much for choosing that charity to support. And we just wish you continued success as you work to change lives for a better world.

[00:28:59] Tim Balz: Absolutely. Thanks so much.

[00:29:01] Lindsey Dinneen: Thank you. And thank you also to our listeners for tuning in. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am at the moment, I'd love it for you to share this episode with a colleague or two, and we will catch you next time.

[00:29:14] Ben Trombold: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a full-service CDMO with 100% in-house capability to design, develop, and manufacture medical devices from class two wearables to class three active implantable medical devices. Velentium specializes in active implantables, leads, programmers, and accessories across a wide range of indications, such as neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac management, and diabetes management. Velentium's core competencies include electrical, firmware, and mechanical design, mobile apps, embedded cybersecurity, human factors and usability, automated test systems, systems engineering, and contract manufacturing. Velentium works with clients worldwide, from startups seeking funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.