Why Read
If you’re leading or working in an orthopedics or medtech engineering and innovation team, stop scrolling and read this post—right now. In less than five minutes you’ll discover a dead-simple, 18-minute exercise that one experienced ortho R&D leader (who took Ellipse Technologies from startup to a nine-figure exit) calls genuinely eye-opening. It’s called the Marshmallow Challenge, and it dramatically reveals why some teams rapidly prototype their way to robust, market-ready implants and robotics while others waste years and millions on elegant plans that collapse the moment real-world physics (or the FDA, or surgeons, or reimbursement) hits. Kindergarteners routinely outperform MBA grads and lawyers; the reasons why are a masterclass in iteration, assumption-testing, and ego-free collaboration—exactly the superpowers that separate the medtech startups that survive 10-year development cycles from the ones that don’t. Read it, try it with your team next week, and watch how quickly it exposes who’s ready to build something that actually stands when the marshmallow finally goes on top.
Let me say this more directly, I strongly suggest that all Engineering and Innovation ...
