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Writer's pictureSteve Bell

If you're going to fight da Vinci 5 - fight them in a phone box


fight da Vinci 5 in a phone box
fight da Vinci 5 in a phone box



Let me preface this article by saying that with da Vinci 5 - Intuitive have ensured they will be in the lead in surgical robotics for the next decade. There is no way any other company can catch up and overtake their lead of 8000 plus installed base, features, products and procedural applications (backed up by vast data). DV5 will not slow them - it will accelerate them. They are up there with Apple.


I use the above image from the phrase by my friend Joe Mullings “If you’re going to fight a kick boxer… fight them in a phone booth.”


What his metaphor elegantly says is that if your opponent has certain advantages and weapons - such as a kick boxer that can dominate you with long range kicks: move them to an environment where that advantage is remove; it brings you both to using elbows and knees.


I couldn’t agree more with this statement - as Intuitive have the biggest kicking weapon in the world of surgical robotics - and it just got stronger and harder. So let’s pretend I’m back in the world of competing against Intuitive (I used to be there you know, and think my team did an okay job.)


Now with DV5 - suddenly a few other “non robot” companies have become even more “competitors”: and I’m talking the tower companies that do imaging - energy - insufflation. Your towers are now firmly in the firing line of the DV5. It may not be a direct “we will sell towers” - but your towers are going to become collateral damage.


So below I’ll give some advice that could apply to both startups and big companies trying to, at least ,stay in the wake of Intuitive - because that is all you will be doing. If you don’t think that… maybe you’re a little delusional. (Ambitious but delusional.)



Don’t try and talk Intuitive and the da Vinci 5 down


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