Medtronic takes hunt for new technology to ends of the Earth (FN.com)
When trying to visualize what Dr. Stephen Oesterle does at Medtronic, a baseball analogy helps.
Consider Oesterle an international scout, scouring the planet for new technologies that push the envelope of medical devices beyond what Medtronic does now. In much the same way a baseball scout looks for the next great phenom with a radar-busting fastball, Oesterle travels some 250,000 miles a year to find inventors, companies, researchers and institutions that are developing technologies that could be relevant to medicine and to Medtronic.
He then encourages Medtronic to pursue partnerships, financial investment or collaboration that will someday benefit the Fridley med-tech giant's product portfolio and, by extension, its financial fortunes.
Oesterle's big-picture, sometimes-devil's-advocate, job is critical to Medtronic's fortunes. With more of Medtronic's 17 billion in annual revenue coming from overseas customers -- and an estimated 70 percent of the company's growth coming from outside the United States -- staying attuned to innovation is vital to helping Medtronic maintain its world leadership position. "Innova...
