Ryan Speidel
Pinnacle Medical – MICRO Fall 2022
Published April 12, 2023
As part of our ‘Meet Our Founders’ series today, we introduce Ryan Speidel, Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Medical based in Fayetteville, NC. Pinnacle Medical’s mission is to improve patient and caregiver safety, ultimately improving patient outcomes while optimizing clinical staff/caregiver work processes and efficiency.
Q: What problem are you trying to solve and what influenced you to start your company?
A: The primary problems we are addressing are pressure injury (bedsore) prevention in debilitated or immobile patients and decreasing caregiver workload. Pressure injuries affect over 2.5 million patients every year in the US, causing pain, infection, prolonged hospitalization and other negative consequences including death. Nursing staff are disproportionately impacted by back injuries as a result of frequent repetitive morons associated with patient care. As a nurse of almost 20 years I am fully invested in developing new technology and processes to reduce these problems across the care continuum.
Q: What are you most excited about right now? What keeps you up at night?
A: Right now I am most excited about the prospect of launching our innovative product soon. We are currently nearing the end of the product development phase and will soon begin focusing on initial customer acquisition. Like most founders, the fear of the unknown and uncertainties associated with launching a start up business are what keep me up at night. Despite these jitters, I am confident that our product is going to improve patient care quality and outcomes once we are able to go to market.
Q: What does the road ahead look like for your company?
A: The next few months will involve further grant seeking, applying for FDA regulatory clearance and eventually identifying our initial customers to begin trialing our product.
Q: How will your NC IDEA grant funds advance your company?
A: We plan to use the funds to support our FDA regulatory cost requirements, specifically costs associated with registering our company and product listing.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about starting your own company?
A: I have enjoyed meeting some outstanding entrepreneurs and networking with exceptional people that I would otherwise probably not have met had I not started down this path.
Q: What is your greatest fear as an entrepreneur?
A: I think my greatest fear as an entrepreneur is the fear of failure.
Q: Who do you look to for advice and mentorship?
A: I am lucky to have an outstanding, eclectic advisory team that I frequently look to for advice and mentorship. The team is comprised of a medical device executive, an executive nurse, a wound care nurse leader, a physician, a medical device sales executive, and an academic leader in technology and innovation.
Q: What other passions do you have besides your business?
A: My family is really my greatest passion. I have a wonderful, supportive wife and three sons ages 10, 8 and 5. My greatest joy is spending as much family time together as possible doing activities like hiking, traveling, and supporting my kids in their extracurricular activities.
While visiting Fayetteville, Ryan recommends:
Support Pinnacle Medical and Ryan by:
- My company is a B2B company primarily targeting healthcare facilities as customers. Anyone reading this that would like to support my company should connect with our LinkedIn and Facebook pages. Also, anyone that is integrated in trialing our product can reach us via social media or by visiting our website at www.pinnaclemedicalproducts.com.
