Lindsey Roddy, RN founded RoddyMedical after she almost lost a patient in the ICU due to a medical tubing hazard. After the close call with this patient, Lindsey discovered that her experience was not unique and that medical tubing accidents happen frequently. In fact, over 19 million lines are pulled out yearly in the United States. Lindsey searched the market for a solution to this problem and was unable to find a product that would prevent the medical tubing accidents that she and other clinicians had experienced. Lindsey decided to take on the problem herself and designed a medical device for managing and securing medical tubing.
Lindsey formed a team and developed the product they are currently launching, the SecureMove-TLCTM. “The SecureMove‐TLC is a wearable, single‐use medical device designed to organize and secure different types of medical tubes, IV lines, and cords to support patient therapy efficiency, improve IV medication safety. The patent‐pending tension mitigation design helps eliminate hazardous pulling and line/cord dislodgement during therapy, transport, and patient movement,” according to the RoddyMedical website.
Read on to learn more about the RoddyMedical team and their entrepreneurial journey:
Q: How did receiving an Ideadvance grant and working with the UWM Research Foundation (UWMRF) affect your startup journey?
Lindsey Roddy: Early in the life of this product the UWMRF worked with me to file the patent to protect the intellectual property. They also provided a small grant for early prototyping at the UWM Prototyping Center with engineer Kyle Jansson, who later became an integral part of the RoddyMedical team as our Director of Engineering. They also had one of their students work with me to organize and analyze the user data I collected around the many prototypes to determine the best path forward. UWMRF Vice President Jessica Silvaggi encouraged me to talk to leaders of the Startup Challenge. Through the Startup Challenge I learned lean launch tactics and customer discovery from Brian Thompson and the amazing team now at the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center (Dr. Nathaniel Stern, Dr. Ilya Avdeev, Nicole Powley). That really got this whole adventure started.
Ideadvance was a pivotal program for us. The coaching from their team to expand our customer discovery efforts and to quantify our value proposition was foundational for where we are now. They really challenged our business model and helped us grow. The programs and their grant brought us to the next level and helped us find who we needed to be able to move forward.
Kyle Jansson: We received a lot of encouragement and support with the utility patent from the UWMRF. Through the Ideadvance grant we become incredibly educated about the problem we were solving, the users, regulatory needs, and how to approach and go about selling a product to a hospital or clinic.
Q: What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Lindsey Roddy: Do not be afraid to ask for advice even from someone you don’t know, people will want to help you. Also, you never know when asking for advice could lead to important connections, milestones, or funding.
Leverage your network. Customer discovery is a key way to build that network. It was through that process that we built up support for our product and team and talked with people that may be our first customers.
Find a partner(s) to work with you who have different skills than you. Entrepreneurship is a team sport.
Kyle Jansson: Dive deep to become an expert to discover a problem and then create your novel solution. No other first-time entrepreneur has ever known how to proceed at the onset. So don’t be intimidated by the long road ahead and the uncertainties you have – that can all be figured out with the right mentors and by asking the right questions. It’s better to surround yourself with a well-rounded team than to try and go it alone.
Photo taken at the 2021 Wisconsin Innovation Awards Reception. RoddyMedical was chosen as one of the top three in the Healthcare IT category.
Left to right: Pat Deno, COO and Lindsey Roddy, CEO & Founder of RoddyMedical
Q: What has been the most rewarding experience thus far as the founders of RoddyMedical?
Lindsey Roddy: It is amazing for me to have seen this built from the ground up. My first prototype was made out of sculpey and twist ties and now this is a real medical product that could actually save a patient’s life. It has been so rewarding working with my team who has totally different skill sets than I have, and to see us come together, learn from each other, and grow this company. This has honestly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Kyle Jansson: For me, this project has always been about helping patients. We are so confident that our solution is going to be a new standard of care and comfort for patients, and we are blessed to have the opportunity to find out the impact our product will have on patient care soon! I am so proud of our team and how we’ve treated each other, and others, along the way. When looking back, now I am so incredibly proud of our journey and our story – and it is my goal to always be able to say that.
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What’s next for the RoddyMedical team? Pat Deno, COO and Director of Quality informed us that RoddyMedical will be registering with the FDA this October after recently completing and passing all FDA testing and requirements. This means the SecureMove-TLC is ready for sale and ready for use on patients. “The production of SecureMove-TLC is underway with the help of our series seed investment round and the partnerships with the Winnebago Seed Fund, and the Winnow Fund, two of Wisconsin’s Badger Fund of Fund venture capital firms,” stated Pat Deno. “We are very excited for the next steps in our journey.”