I have watched orthopedic entrepreneurs beat their heads against the exact same brick wall since May 2022. That was the week venture capital flipped the switch from "risk-on" euphoria to complete turtle mode.
Dry powder parked on the sidelines. Cold shoulders at every pitch. Hyper-selectivity masquerading as diligence. We all know the drill.
Founders keep asking me what they’re doing wrong in the clinic or the OR. The truth? It has almost nothing to do with your titanium 3D-printed cage or your navigation software. The macro physics of private capital are fundamentally broken.
Why Risk Ortho When the S&P Delivers 20%?
Here is the elephant in the boardroom that nobody wants to say out loud: Why would venture capital risk investing in ortho startups when the S&P gives you 20% IRR a year?
Take a look at the latest McKinsey pooled IRR data comparing buyout and private equity funds against the major indexes. Top-quartile buyout funds might still show a pulse, but median and bottom-quartile funds are getting thoroughly smoked by public equities. The S&P 500—even stripped of the Magnificent 7—has been quietly compounding real, liquid gains that institutional LPs can actually ...
