Episode breakdown:
00:00 – Why Ronny Abovitz has better mics than podcasters
01:45 – From MAKO Surgical to Magic Leap: Rony’s medtech journey
03:00 – Growing up in Cleveland and why he built MAKO near home
06:00 – The talent stack: engineer, cartoonist, D1 javelin thrower, DJ
14:16 – The cartoon that nearly got him expelled
18:16 – Building MAKO Surgical from a backroom lab
23:16 – How he met Chris Dewey & closed his first big round
30:16 – 9/11 almost killed the company—and how he saved it
34:16 – Mako’s ethical moonshot: the “Mom Rule”
42:05 – What Striker saw in MAKO that J&J missed
52:05 – His partnership with Maurice Ferré and the “talking stick”
58:05 – Going public in 2008 the week after his father died
1:06:05 – How work-life “imbalance” makes legendary founders
1:12:05 – What really happened with Magic Leap’s famous whale
1:16:05 – Rony’s message to founders: “Do what is right”
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