10 simple rules you must follow when commercialising a medical robot
- Steve Bell
- May 6
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 9

Below I give personal insights into what I learned from actually commercialising the number two surgical robot by volume on the market - Versius (after da Vinci) for soft tissue surgical robotics. Plus the insights from working along side most of the emerging robotics companies - and seeing the daily struggles they have. What works and what does not.
I've called it medical as I think a LOT of this applies to more than just surgical robots - so read it in that light. The lessons translate I think.
Here are my top 10 simple rules (in no particular order) you must follow when you want to bring your product to market and get sustainable growth.
1) Go Deep
Every single install in the early days is a money pit. And the wider you cast your net - across more geographies, more regulatory bodies, more hospital systems - the faster that money pit grows. Do not try to go broad, but instead find a few potential super users and go deep. Get as many specialties in that one site using the system - or users if it's therapy specific robot. Do not move on until every possible user is enaged and using. Leverage that install to the max. Don't be tempted to move on.
2) Have a killer application
No - not software - but a procedure or therapy that just cannot do without your solution. Nothing gets more attention than solving a real problem. Nothing gets more anger than an expensive alternative to something that works just fine today. Use that killer app to act as the centre of gravity for the purchasing decision - and make the rest cream. Once the system is in and "paying for itself" all the rest can be added on. But not having that centre of mass of a killer procedure means everything is a fight to explain "why." Get the robot brought in for the "tip of the spear" procedure and then expand when the value is appreciated.
3) Find the right users
Let's face it. Unless you are Intuitive you are a late follower - by decades. It is going to be hard to find people that are enthusiastic about robotics that don't already know something about Intuitive - (user or not.) Critical to this is sorting the user groups out and understanding "who is your target user" (and not just Surgeon !) If you are open console - maybe lap surgeons that never liked the closed console are a fit. If you're a "light" robot - then maybe the user looking to port robotics to the ASC is your user. It doesn't matter - you need to find your USP and find the users that "need" that USP. It can also be an "anti fit" selection. Intuitive fans that absolutely love everything about their Xi or DV5 and the company - filter them out. That's a headache right there just trying to "convince" them why you are just not a pale imitation. Etc etc. The final part about user fit is mentality and practice. A surgeon that is making every dollar they can day in day out and inefficiency will cripple their income stream is not likely to be very tolerant to a learning curve that slows them down. If it is not sit and go at the same rate... you will know that from them straight away. Finding that "I really want an alternative" to my lap or Intuitive - and the "I want to get on the robotics train but haven't found the right one yet..." way better. It takes a lot of time. But don't just go around kissing frogs and hoping one is a prince. Find out which ones are actually princes disguised as frogs and then kiss them.
4) Segment your market
I am still staggered by how many people (across the whole industry) don't have a super well segmented map. Procedures, hospital types, site of care, willingness and ability to buy, motivated, able to take a new system, need alternatives etc etc. And spend deep time mapping this out - triaging by type and time, and then building execution plans to that segmentation.
I see companies chasing every single tender (even though they can never ever win it) but "hey let's give it a go."
I see anyone with a pulse being brought in for demos - even though they are either never going to buy... or are going to run straight back to your competitor and spill their guts.
Robotics is time and resources critical. Segment and target.
5) Don't give away systems
Don't confuse what I'm saying with "you must sell capital." Surgical robotics are expensive for the company. Hellish expensive. Money pits at first. And yes anyone will take your robot and "try" it if it is free. But until the customer has been through a process and crucible of fire to "win" the hospital funding for a robot - it risks coming back - and it will.
Starting a robotics program is inherently painful for all. And if it was free - it's a lower bar that allows the team to give up and give back. The act of "buying" the robot even via lease - or commitments like PPC - mean there is skin in the game. That skin in the game will help (not guarantee) they won't quit and send it back or worse... let it sit in the store room.
Free also means your system must be shit if you need to "give them away."
Free means the worst of the worst cash holes for the company. Even if you get $500 per procedure back - it's $500.
Free is zero.
6) Don't sell on price
Robotics is not cheap. It's not just the robot - it's everything.
Anyone saying "we are going to crush the price of robotics" by reducing the price of the robot clearly has no understanding of what reduces procedure costs in robotics. Volume is one key factor. And a myriad of other things.
A $1 million robot that does one procedure costs that procedure $1 million. If you just drop your price - you will get into a death spiral. You will also reinforce that it is an inferior product. You need to set a value statement for your offering - and that is not "price". You need to sell in value and match that to the needs of the robotic program. Then you need to work out how your System (not talking just device here - talking sales, training, servicing, supply, support, etc etc) is brought in at a fair exchange for cash; that creates a solid value proposition to the customer - and you.
7) Know your unique selling proposition
Not every perosn can tell me their Unique Value Proposition of their system. (Not just robot.) Some can - but I often find a very different alignment between people talking about the same system.
What I also often find is that they have a selling proposition - but it is not Unique.
"We have an open console and are modular!" like six other systems. So what's unique about that?
We are here to reduce costs - like every other one of the 65 companies. I mean come on - your not going in saying "we are here to raise costs."
Do this exercise - either with senior management - or across the company at different levels. And even better across different functions like commercial - finace - engineering. And ask this one question "Write one short paragraph on what is our Unique Selling Proposition?"
Half the team will, say what's that - so explain it.
Then throw all those answers on a PDF. Then upload that to Chat GPT as a PDF and ask it tell you your degree of alignment. You'll thank me later.
And if you are not aligned in your management - God help your teams and customers.
And if you cannot articulate that UNIQUE proposition - everything else falls to pieces.
8) Cluster deployments
Want to be an unprofitable robotic surgery company? Spread your deployments out far and wide. Have one clinical and one engineer support team per system. Want to get zero mass effect? - spread em out.
Want to complicate everyone's lives? Have one surgeon do one specialty at one hospital 2000 miles from the next. Hell have six systems out there - each one in a different country with a different language - go for it!
Cluster. Tighter the better. Deeper the better.
9) Plan and execute - this is a marathon
I estimate that on average a surgical robotic sell cycle is 18 months - and if we now have 10 systems to be evaluated for each purchase... extend that. It will be hundreds of call interactions per sale - especially after the easy lobs to your "friends" have dried up. This is a massive commitment to each and every sale. Very complex - very. So you cant't just run at this in the old fashioned sales way. You need to have a massively complex - well thought out - plan! And then execute flawlessly.
If you even have one hiccup - it's over. The competition is too fierce and too good. Your product IS inferior to Intuitive. Let me say that again LOUD. Your product is inferior. So your processes and proposition better be flawless.
A demo where the system breaks is fatal to you bid.
You can't turn up on time... imagine the service engineers (they say.)
Plan for a long and protracted campaign. Plan it - execute it.
10) Make sure your system delivers what you promise
Prior to competition every new robot was "gonna be a da Vinci Killer." Everything works in powerpoint. It's gonna come loaded with features, or they'll be there "just after launch."
The system will be better, faster, more mobile, easier to use - it will finally (after those laggards at Intuitive that only got to 3% market penetration) give better robotics for all.
Hear the British sarcastic tone with which I write that.
Either promise high and deliver high.
Or underpromise and over deliver.
Or do what you say you will do with humility.
Whatever happens - and whatever expectations you set - you had better... better deliver on that. There is NO second chance. Especially in the USA.
It's 2025 and most systems that have hit the market so far have grossly underdelivered vs what customers were promised. In all aspects. That is being adjusted now - with reality settling in.
But - and listen to me carefully - NO ONE believes you anymore. The market has been burned too many times. Words are not enough. Deliver - deliver deliver. And manage expectations to the max. You will get one bite at this (especially in the US) and bad news travels so fast in this tight community.
If you can't deliver - wait! Don't half ass deploy. Get it right !
These are just ramblimngs by the author for education purposes only.
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