If you're going to fight da Vinci 5 - fight them 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

The first part of my strategy would be to avoid at all costs trying to trash them, trash their product and in any way say that it is not a brilliant piece of kit. The new da Vinci 5 is a decade in the planning and execution, and it is not only gorgeous, it is totally functional. The format - the X- beam and bedside boom architecture has been proven to work in millions of procedures. The data is so convincing the FDA approved them for all procedural applications that the Xi has - so take it as “It works”!

Trying in any way shape or form to say the DV5 is unproven is utter madness. It is a generation built on 25 years of knowledge and engineering heritage.

Trying to imply that Intuitive is not a great company - stupidity.

Trying to imply that they don’t know how to sell, service, support, train and all the other things they excel at - would be borderline insanity.

In short - every company - be you a small start up like Vicarious Surgical, to a multi national like Medtronic - you need to be humble and admit the upcoming product is brilliant.

But it doesn’t mean you can’t compete in your niche, or on your terms. It just means going head to head with them is a futile fight.

Proclaiming “you will be number 1 in 5 years” is a lost battle. (I don’t care who you are.)

Fight on format not features

Let’s face it - it will take a decade to catch up with all the features that a da Vinci Xi has. Let alone the da Vinci 5. For both technical reasons, data reasons, and above all regulatory reasons you will not be able to match them on features (especially in the early days.)

The way that you can work against them is to have a different offering and a different format.

I’m sorry for all the single boom da Vinci clones at this point in my article - you made a bad choice to try and compete with them head to head. You made your fight way way harder. No matter what you think you have under the skin - you will be a direct comparison to da Vinci - and that makes your fight harder.

Instead having an alternative format that delivers something different is a smart way to reach some of the market.

Modular robotics - is one such way. By offering a radically different format (note I don’t say better) you are allowing users to have choice. One of the reasons I hear about why certain surgeons “don’t like to use a da Vinci” is that the single boom architecture does not allow them the same freedom of choices in their surgical approach.

The modular approach gives them back a degree of freedom - but does bring its own challenges about learning to position the bedside units - but it allows more flexibility. And that is a choice. So one way to compete is to offer a modular format - on mobile carts.

Why do I add mobile carts? One alternative is to give modular arms but to then table mount them. That is not giving modular arms (from everything I’ve experienced). Instead you are moving the single boom from above the table to under the table. But by fixing it to the table. Irrespective of how many DOFs - degrees of freedom you give your arms, your architecture is a bed mounted constraint instead of a boom mounted constraint. The addition of carts allow a critical part that a boom can’t give in the same way - variable distance from the bed. And that is the secret to the choice in approach and port placement.

Now bed mounted arms - in theory give integrated table motion. But Intuitive has that - and they just announced it is part of the DV5 as standard - so … do you have a big enough differentiator now?

Size of the robot - is the single biggest advantage you can have. The beauty of the DV5 is the tried and tested format - architecture. But that architecture is also known to be too big for some sites of care. It is considered by many to be too big to “willingly” move from OR to OR. It is known to require certain weight limits, power limits etc.

So if you can make a small format robot - then you can potentially take da Vinci to the phone booth. You can maybe be in a phone booth where they can’t even fit - so can’t fight you. That is the ultimate way to win that niche - by excluding them from the niche.

But this can be a double edged sword. The smaller that your format gets - the less capability as a stand alone robot it has. So you need that balance of “enough procedures to be interesting” but not so big that “well it’s sort of the same.”

One example is HUGO - it is great that it’s a modular robot - but it is potentially bigger and heavier than da Vinci 5 when you put all the components together. It’s way too big for some small ORs. So that has no advantage in the size stakes.

But then go to the other extreme - something like Vicarious surgical to Virtual Incision. Smart moves as they reduce radically the bed side component dimensions and mass. Let’s not forget they still need a tower and console - so its not quite as small as they may claim - but it is a radical drop in footprint - and a much much simpler set up.

But here’s the down side - if you start to try to do major multi quadrant - you need to put in more accessory trocars. Maybe 2 or 3 in some cases. It then moves away from “single port” and the lack of size translates into lack of surgical options from the console (integrated advanced energy and stapling). These all become trade offs in the zone between size and capability.

So size is important as long as you retain a certain capability - or then pick a set of procedures to go focus in.

Improve manual laparoscopy - A smart move taken by companies like Moon Surgical is to not try and go head to head with da Vinci. Instead it is to move up stream and help in laparoscopy to make that better - more modern and resolve some issues in the phone boxes.

In say an ASC where a large format DV5 may struggle to actually fit, fit into work flow, fit into moving from room to room… something like Moon Surgical which assists laparoscopy is a smart move. There is no extra tower - there is no console: It’s different - it’s differentiated.

If you go after procedures where a full format DV5 would be considered “overkill” i.e. you won’t be needing all the full features (say in Lap chole) then an assisted laparoscopic straight stick by default becomes a sensible choice. If it has a small footprint - (No extra console or tower) and a low cost (uses off the shelf instruments and camera system you use every day) - and allows solo surgery (cost reduction and meets crippling staffing needs) - you have just carved out a real phone booth niche.

So if you are in the early phases of thinking to come to this market - find a solution that helps laparoscopy.

Even solutions like FlexDex, Human Xtensions, Artesential - wristed and flexible instruments - can bring some “robot like features” to the table without trying to run head to head with da Vinci.

But again - pick a few killer apps where the DV5 would be just overkill for set up - tear down and costs. Go fight in that corner and you will have a better chance of success.

If you are already down the development route - maybe even with a robot on the market… you might need a few other strategies.

Pick your geographies carefully

I cannot stress this enough to every company that is competing with - or potentially competing with Intuitive.

Do not - and I mean - do not pick your first fight in the USA - it would be utter suicide: for a few reasons.

Firstly that is the home turf of Intuitive - with the single largest installed base. It is the fighting ground of the 800lb gorilla. You would be an utter idiot to start there.

They have a fan base - a successful base of users - and they have serious taste makers.

It is also a market (non socialised) that is basically coin operated and profit driven. Marketing based and highly competitive. (All factors where you have to work out of the box day 1- perfectly. And you won’t!) The US market has ZERO mercy for failure; combined with super high expectations and standards of what they expect for performance.

If there is one thing I will guarantee - and I mean guarantee to very new robot. Especially if it is a complex mainframe. You will have failures and challenges for the first two years of your life.

Instruments will fail - software will have unknown bugs - the system will fault.

I don’t give a damn which company you are - what your history is. Soft tissue surgical robots are like nothing on earth - period.

The one thing you DO NOT WANT is to have crappy usage in the USA in your first 1000 cases. Word spreads fast! If you launch first in the USA and you have issue - that is the end of your robot. It will be full on product recall for all the world to see.

The US surgeons (who are friends with Intuitive) will spread that word globally like wild fire.

Medtronic have been smart - very smart (and so were we are CMR by the way). If you have lack of features, lack of performance (especially in the first few months). Be self aware.

If failures happen in Central America - or India - those markets are way more tolerant than the USA. If they lose money - or time - the healthcare system, and often the surgeons, are way more forgiving.

If your system breaks down a lot (it will)  - early adopters that have little to no da Vinci comparison in their heads will be more tolerant.

If that happens in the USA - you are dead!

So be smart - pick some geographies that will allow you and your company to go up the learning curve. Do not go and fight the DV5 head on in the USA. Dumb Dumb Dumb.

Instead - work out which geographies would appreciate any improvements you can offer to their current frame of reference. They will tolerate your “learning curve” way better.

Find geographies where advanced energy and integrated stapling are seen as luxuries. Where they are happy to use monopolar and bipolar. (And good with it.)

Go to places where they don’t have staff shortages - and if the system goes down it doesn’t wreak havoc with their OR schedule and billing.

Go to places where da Vinci is not a standard of care - and they don’t immediately have that as a direct comparator.

Go to geographies where DV5 will be last to come to. Either from a regulatory perspective or from a market perspective. Think of the last place that Intuitive will send the DV5 for logistical, supply chain, pricing, market attractiveness reasons. Keep away from the DV5 as long as possible so you can get your reliability up, feature sets up and build know how in your delivery and training. Choose places where your lack of features will be less of a differentiator to “never coming here for the next 5 years” DV5.

Pick a phone box where Intuitive will go last. It will allow you time to build your brand ahead of them - gain case data - test your systems including servicing  - and make their entry a little bit harder when they eventually come. “We’re actually quite happy with what we have.”

Do Not pick your first fight in the USA!

Innovate something “new” - have a stand out

If you have a da Vinci clone - it better be 40% plus cheaper per case to even get anyone’s attention. (And that is hard to believe in most markets.)

If you have a different form factor - then make sure it brings some benefit - (smaller, easier to set up, allows you to put your ports exactly where the surgeon wants.) Or an open console with a an open 3D screen.

These things bring choice - and customers like choice. There needs to be something tangible that the customer prefers, and so would be willing to to sacrifice some of the DV5 functionality because it allows them to operate the way that they like.

If you have a da Vinci clone. Get an open console option tomorrow.

So besides that, you need to really have some stand out innovation (and not just product) that will convince people to “give you a go.”

Procedural innovation: This is where a company like Virtuoso Surgical has been smart. They’ve gone down a route to work inside the bladder with small diameter flexible instruments. That’s an area that nothing on DV5 can do today or tomorrow. Yes - it may not be as big a market - but Virtuosos can take all of that smaller market rather than a tiny fragment of a bigger market. Smart.

There are several others that are making sure they are not going directly head to head.

The other way to do this is to find two or three low acuity procedures and be the utter God of those procedures.

If you were just the lap chole, and lap hernia robot in the USA that’s way over a million procedures alone to go after per year.

And if you think the number 2 robot out there is just touching 20,000 procedures since 2019… then having a slice of that low acuity procedure market can easily get you to the 100K procedures without scratching the surface - without needing advanced energy or stapling.

Hell you’d be the 5X 2nd player in just two procedures. Okay screw that - why not be the world’s greatest lap INGUINAL hernia robot?

Super simple set up an tear down - cost effective - 2 arms - pre peritoneal approach - rapid guided suturing… mesh placer … blah blah blah. Be the God of the groin.

Your life would be way way easier with that focus. You’d dominate sites of care like ASCs - you’d have a massive market - and if you were just awesome in that - you’re a billion $ unicorn.

Be smart and get one killer procedure. Because you won’t compete across the board - that’s stupidity to think you can compete with them - everywhere - in every procedure.

Fully autonomous: Go mad. Go Big or Go home!

Skate to where they are not (yet). The only way you will go head to head with DV5 is to go bigger and better. One thing that will level surgery in the future is full autonomy. The smarts of the world at every user’s finger tips. You can be as good as the best of the best at the push of a button.

Science fiction? No - there are some smart companies working on this.

Lower that scope - pick that one procedure and make it fully autonomous - and you have a story to tell. A big story. You don’t need to be autonomous in 100 procedures. Pick 1.

See more: This is a tough one as I can assure you that DV5 is about to launch some killer imaging systems that will boost the DV5. But anyone that can offer some kind of next gen imaging system on their robot needs to make that leap now and be the first.

ICG is old news already.

You need ICG for different molecules - hyper spectral imaging - laser speckle - structure recognition - AI based image interpretation - etc etc etc

Give them more than the human eye - give them help - give them assistance through vision.

If you come out with a 3D HD system against DV5 - you are missing the point. Go home.

If you come out with a basic ICG (even full colour overlay) - you are missing the point.

Get your imaging to be awesome. Why? It is the main thing the surgeon see when they operate.

That red square in front of their eyes is almost everything to them. Give them the most amazing red square and they will care less about automatic insufflation - integrated energy - and all those key DV5 features.

Let the surgeon see more and understand more.

Workflow improvements: If you can make your robot self set up - self tear down - and switch instruments automatically - and improve work flow. You reduce cost by default. You improve efficiency by default.

If you don’t have time or money to get your system to fully do this —- let’s not forget people. Be creative and every system comes with a fully trained professional to run the robot. It comes with an OR efficiency team that is there just to improve work flow when the robot starts.

There are a lot of no “robot” ways to improve efficiency - and that can be your differentiator. Again it will be amplified in certain setting like ASC, OPD, clinics and high through put places.

Think beyond the robot.

Meet them on feature sets - it’s now the bar

Okay - you don’t want to listen - and you still want to go after the big cake and go head to head. Then you need to reel off the feature sets and match them 1:1 - or get out of the market.

If your R&D aren’t working on these things - you will not get close to DV5

Force feedback haptic instruments

Next gen 4K ICG colour overlay

4K vision chain

Hyperspectral imagining

On board AI and procedure assistance

Ultra smooth tremor free motion

Advanced energy

Laser

Multi modal Integrated energy that talks to the system

Integrated insufflation with constant pressure, low pressure, automated smoke extraction

An ecosystem of apps

Workflow enhancements so all OR members can be efficient

Integrated stapling

A full range of instruments - full range - not 5 or 6

Base instruments that can do 20 plus lives for economics

Advanced instruments for specialists

Set up assistance by procedures

Full telemetry back to base for servicing support

Amazing procedural simulators

VR education help

99.8% up time and reliability

Amazing service teams

Ability to place your system under lease or Pay per procedure

Ability to exchange out old systems as trade ins

Etc etc

If you are a tower system like Olympus, Storz, Wolf, Stryker. You better get your shit in gear.

All the robots will be coming with towers in the next 5 years - with their own imaging systems - electrosurgery - advanced energy - advanced insufflation - OR integration - smarts etc etc.

No direct attack on you - but you will be a casualty by collateral damage.

If you are a tower company - get into bed NOW with a robot - NOW!!!!!

The future - in markets that you actually care  about - is robots with very capable towers.

Prepare now and get agreements with the companies.

Don’t try and fight on price or cost savings

Going to call this one out.

If you are doing Mainframe vs Mainframe - you will not beat Intuitive on price.

Said it before - will say it agin - “There is no such thing as a cheap mainframe robot!”

You will not build the system cheaper (Okay maybe Kawasaki with Medicaroid has a chance) - than Intuitive. Especially as they are leveraging a lot of metal from the Xi.

The big cost is wristed and advanced wristed instruments.  And they make millions per year at scale - and lower cost than you can.

I absolutely guarantee you that every single company that sat 5 to 10 years ago modelling sub $100 cogs on a wristed instrument - 20 lives - and 80% plus margins is in the utter shit over this.

Wristed instruments cost a lot - and now if you want “Haptic” instruments - that shit just got real.

First - you do not have the installed base to leverage and get volumes of instruments that crash cost. Intuitive does.

Next - your instruments out of the gate won’t work exactly as you expected in any way shape or form. I don’t care what company you are.

Then - you will be getting just a few lives in those first 2 years - you either can’t clean them - or the cables break - or something happens to performance.

So forget all the bullshit fantasies that “we will crash the cost of surgical robotics and democratise surgical robots once and for all.” - Yawn!

You will launch the product - understand it is fucking horrendously expensive to do surgical robotics and you will be as expensive or more expensive than Intuitive - period.

Even the DV5 will do better than you. Just because they have massive leverage of training - servicing and servicing teams - etc etc. It is not about the cost of the hardware!!!!!!! That’s 30% of the equation. It;’s about all the stuff you need to build for that other 70%. They have it and it’s leveraged.

So instead of even trying to talk cost - talk efficiency - workflow - throughput - features - benefits - differentiators - different business models - data - AI - Autonomy.

Live by price - die by price.

Build a “tribe” that follows your cult

I don’t care what size company you are - if you’re a Medtronic or Johnson & Johnson, a Stryker or a BD. I don’t care if you are a startup with 10 employees. Compared to Intuitive - you are all startups in robotics. Face it and embrace it.

The way that young disruptors go against entrenched companies - is to build a cult and them get a tribe to follow your cult.

For me - if I was doing this (again - and I think I did the first time) - is to build some form of differentiated cult around your product and offering. The Mac was a cult against the IBM. Uber was a cult against the taxi market. AirBNB was a cult against hotels etc etc etc.

The product must offer something unique - of course. A knock off of a daVinci Si, or Xi just won’t cut it.

But if you’ve got a minimal differentiator - then build a cult around that, and bring people into your tribe to worship that cult. You will not out da Vinci Intuitive. Let me say that again - especially to the big companies. You will not out da Vinci Intuitive.

Your legacy brand - won’t win it by default.

Find that one big differentiator you have as a product - or as a company - or as an offering - and amplify that to the moon! Then market the hell out of the “Rebels are the ones that buy into you.”

Go full cult on it. (And If you have no idea what that means - buy my time - I’ll explain the culture of the cult.)

Go open system where you can

One strategy is - that if a company is going closed system (Apple) then you can go the opposite route  and go open system (Android).

Find the best of the best and let them in to your camp, and have a group of you to ride the robotic wave together. Have each expert bring their best to the party.

Some of that has happened but in an almost pathetic and stupid way.

A lot of companies realised they are not imaging experts - so got into bed with an imaging company - that gave them access to their old technology. So you have a bunch of robots out there - today - with non custom - two generation back imaging technology. Not good.

You will have systems out there that have their own staplers - and only their own staplers and energy. Ethicon has been clear “Only our advanced technology on our robot.”

Same for Medtronic.

Again big company behaviour (for good reasons) but that will alienate a ton of customers, and potentially put them in the same “big company” bracket thinking as Intuitive - only 10 years behind.

Instead the world is full of amazing - cutting edge and emerging technologies. What would I do today?

I’d make a development kit and development team - with open interfaces - that allow qualified vendors to get their technology on my robot. Use my robot as the hub.

Got a great stapler - here’s the interface - software interface- specs - have at it. And you make it - and we do regulatory - and then we get 10% of every time you fire one. My robot knows when your stapler was fired and we automatically bill you 10%. - Win - Win.

Have an amazing imaging technology? Here’s the way you have to control it - here’s the interfaces - here’s the Api - get it on - and every case your imaging is used we charge you $X

Got an amazing tower - Olympus - great this is how it integrates and talks to our system - bring it on. You got customers that LLLLOOOOVVVVEE  your imaging - insufflation energy - this is the way you get it on our robot frame. And now you are in robotics.

We take care of the robot - you take care of the peripherals.

We build the robot - you build a cool app to fit into our digital ecosystem.

Like an APP store for the iPhone - but for the robot.

Want to be different - then be different - don’t try and be a mini me Intuitive.

Promote “Choice” in certain accounts

One of the primary drivers in marketing is that of choice. People don’t always hate the company that is a monopoly. But they do hate that they have no choice because of a monopoly.

Want to hit a primal nerve- offer choice.

Now if your product is just garbage - it won’t work - so get a decent product.

But I would be seeding the market now - like Apple did back in the day with their iconic 1984 advert (Go google it you younger generation.)

How about - “If Intuitive is hyper successful with their DV5 - we return to that monopolistic market of surgical robots - and that is not good for anyone. Even Intuitive. Help us spread choice.”

“Are you a robotic teaching Hopsital or an Intuitive teaching hospital? Is that good for eduction that you can only teach for one robot… wow. That’s not education… that’s marketing.”

“Is that robot right for all procedures in all care settings?”

You get my point. I would be  seeding the markets now to understand who needs choice - who wants choice and why. And then amplifying that message as hard as possible.

Remind people of why choice is good.

“Want to write a paper? Surely an alternative system with alternative architecture is more interesting than an upgraded Xi…” Then explain why a study with your device is way more interesting to read. Be creative folks.

“Wow. Intuitive just closed down choice even more with that move. But we believe in giving more choice - you can choose your preferred insufflator - energy system - etc etc”.

If you don’t have those feature sets - you need to position YOUR product on why not having them is actually a benefit of choice to a customer…

Tough but not impossible. (It’s called marketing.)

Play on home ground - and use nationalism (with care)

So a lot of new systems are coming out of Japan, or UK, or France, or Germany, or Switzerland.

Nationalistic pride and support of governments and local healthcare systems and surgeons must be a priority.

If you’re UK based - fly the Uk flag, if your’e Swiss based the Swiss flag etc.

That will help you in your local market to get this very early sales.

But beware and use with caution. Firstly that nationalism can play both ways and it can alienate the US market to you. America First in America. And guess where Intuitive comes from.

But here’s your biggest risk - so play this card carefully. If intuitive comes in with Xi or DV5 after you tap up your home market - and then comes in and eats you in that market - that becomes very very public.

If a country’s government and the “home” healthcare system decided to choose Intuitive over you - that will send a big message to the market worldwide. It will raise questions about the offering you have. Why?

Because ultimately governments and healthcare systems will do the best by the patients. So if they negate a home grown technology - with home grown jobs - home grown company - and choose a foreign company and technology. It says loud an clear “Despite all of our nationalistic pride - the Intuitive technology is not only better - but it is better value.”

And the final watch out - live by the sword - die by the sword. If that nationalistic pride boomerangs on you - you could basically have the US market - the single most important healthcare market - buy “American first” in a tit for tat.

So play that card with care.

So what things would I be doing now as a company:

Firstly I’d be learning every single thing I could about the threat heading my way. I’d know how every potential screw and bolt would be working. Analysing the potential threat to the micro meter. Trying to anticipate the impact it will have on both the market and my products.

I’d be scenario planning and writing an “Asteroid is about to hit us” plan.

If I had a product in development - I’d be doing a relevance analysis. I’d be trying to understand the gap between “what I will launch and what they have launched.”

If that gap is too big, I’d be desperately re-writing the R&D plan to fill that gap as fast as possible.

I’d be analysing - “What can I do to differentiate” and understanding 1 or 2 key features of mine that would be attractive to potential users. You need differentiation.

I’d be analysing my entire GTM (go to market) strategy and understanding if what I thought would still hold true in 2 years when they have FDA, PMDA, TGA, Anvisa and MDR. (It’s now just time).

And deciding if that GTM still has sense - knowing what is coming.

I’d be accelerating my own offering TODAY - because if you don’t have a foothold in the market when the DV5 becomes widely available - when the Xi trade-ins start happening and flooding secondary markets with pre-loved Xis - when new features come after new feature. And when tender specs start being written to include all these new features…. If you don’t have a foot hold in the market by the end of 2027 - forget it. (I’m not exaggerating!)

If I was a big company - I’d be buying up every available asset on the market - every one. To cover every angle and get as much of my company (not single product) owning as much of the market share and having a footprint of my company (not a single product) into the markets as fast as possible. Critical mass of the company will be as important as share of a single product.

If you don’t understand that - call me!

If I was a “tower company” I’d have a map of every robot I could get access to and working out strategic deals by the dozen to get my latest and future technology onto a robot. Stand alone towers are dead in 5 years. Don’t horde you best tech just fort you. It’s suicide.

I would be ramping up my branding and my positioning of uniqueness will full fury NOW! I would not say “let’s wait until they hit the market and see how we get impacted.” It will be too late to react. Do not listen to your senior managers saying “It won’t happen.” Lot of people left a lot of big companies after seeing the impact of “Surgical robots won’t happen”.

I would decide if I can live without ever selling a single system in the USA. And if I can - I would never go there.

I would have a tiered product strategy -

Lap manual - Advanced lap assisted - light robotics and main frame high end robotics.

If I was the CEO of any of the big companies that has any significant business in general or thoracic surgery - I would have a war cabinet every week for the next 6 weeks until I had a clear strategy. My M&A teams would be sent out with open cheque books NOW. There is about to be a feeding frenzy on assets.

I would be training my teams now on how “our system” can be positioned with as strong USP against the future DV5; and have my entire teams out selling those messages. And those messages would be made in almost sleepless sessions in the next weeks by my marketing teams. Get a plan - get messages - get busy.

I would not be rubbishing them - that would be utterly stupid. I would be pointing out that is a great future option - similar to the Xi but with more fancy bells and whistles. But if you don’t want an Intuitive style solution - let me tell you why our solution is a phenomenal alternative; and you can have it now (assuming you are on the market.)

If I was a big company - I may even consider building an aggregator of robot based tech - to build as a stand alone company to go after the space. Roll up robots, put my endo mech products in (or buy someone else’s) AI, Imaging, tower boxes - and have a crack team (Outside of the big company) do a build to reintegrate later.

This is going to be about speed - and with the greatest respect - the big company with a “bag” of products will be slow. it’s just the nature of the beast.

If I was a small stand alone, I would be shopping this with a constructive pre made roll up plan to every big company - either an imaging company, a company without robot, or companies with robots that will brains and assets. You cannot survive as a small stand alone. You cannot survive as a small stand alone.

I would not be panicking - But…

It is NOT business as usual.

It is NOT the plan you had 6 months ago.

It is NOT keep doing the same thing with the same plan.

It is NOT “My better mousetrap will win” - it won’t.

I don’t mean to scare you all - but if you do not take some form of action now. That beautiful steamroller of a DV5 - followed by Xi - SP and X all driven by the roaring Intuitive engine - is about to consign you robotic plans to history.

ACT !

These are musings by the author based on experience and market trends. They are for educational purposes only. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners.