Austin is my second home. I know Austin and the orthopedics scene there very well. I have lived there three times. Here is what you may not know about Austin.
Austin has organically grown some of the best orthopedic startups in our industry - eg: Intermedics, Spinal Concepts, Encore Orthopedics, Ascension, LDR Spine, Arthrocare to name a few. These ortho startups combined have created hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, and employed thousands of people in Austin at one time.
By all accounts Austin should be an orthopedics metropolis. Austin should easily rival Memphis for the #2 city in orthopedics, but Austin hasn’t earned that standing.
Austin should be an orthopedics hub, but its not.
What happened?
The short answer is that these great little orthopedic companies have been picked off by the Big Ortho acquirers, one at a time. Austin became a favorite organ donor for the Big 5. Zimmer and S+N harvested most of the vital organs. Others took the rest. Each recipient acquirer has either shut down the Austin operation or suffocated the Austin location.
The end result is that Austin has clearly become...
