Without repeating @Rick ‘s points or going into too much detail, because the recording will be made available on the ASX for anyone who couldn’t see it live, I’ll share my key takeaways from the call while also noting some open questions.
Top line: as far as I can tell, Swami Raote appears to be a great appointment and I feel very positive about the prospects for $PNV under his leadership.
On Swami himself, we learned more about his background in the industry. Multiple roles leading functional teams, experience in process integration, and then roles at the "head of the table" where his general management experience has included full businesses from R&D through to sales. He also has experience in external stakeholder management. His experience in Asia is important, and he was quick to point out the potential attractiveness of Japan and South Korea – something management and DW have not embraced hitherto.
I believe we have someone with the experience and vision to develop a path to addressing the global opportunity.
Swami described $PNV as a “diamond in the rough” and sees a “humungous” market opportunity, noting that the category is currently serving 1.7 million customers whereas it should be serving 10 million. He was attracted to the role because he sees for the first time a technology has breadth and simplicity and takes cost out of treating the patient.
He endorsed the current go to market strategy of focusing on burns and trauma as the best route to get the product into hospitals. Once this bridgehead is built it is easier to build out. This is aligned with David’s own sales and marketing war stories that we have heard over the years.
More generally, I was impressed by Swami’s clarity of thought and ability to communicate his ideas. For example, on M&A he was crystal clear as @Rick has said: no new tech, but instead find businesses with established access to customers and can accelerate market penetration. His areas to go looking are in diabetic foot ulcer and plastic/reconstruction markets.
Again, I am confident he will discern the right sales and marketing model knowing clearly what he is looking for in distribution partners. He’ll have had a lot of experience on these decisions from his time at J&J.
On people, Swami noted the enthusiasm for the product in new starters who have joined from competitors, like Integra (current market cap $4.8bn; sales $1.5bn).
In terms of innovation, he sees peer-to-peer learning as a key. The surgeons have to unlearn 30 years of training and practice! He wonders whether $PNV can develop and provide a knowledge platform for practitioners to share on. This would have several benefits including: 1) helping bring new pratitionners onboard, 2) tapping into customer-led innovation (DW has repeatedly described how the users are innovating faster and $PNV R&D are playing catch-up) and 3) easing friction of adopting in emerging markets where wound demand is greater than in the West.
So, a lot to be positive about. Of course, there is a lot we don’t know and cannot know at this stage. How does he build the team? What kind of appointments does he make? What is the financial framework he is going to establish and how will the market respond?
But as far as one can tell from a 30-minute webinar, he looks like a great appointment and nothing he said gave me any concern.
Disc: Held on SM and IRL