At BrilliantRead Media, it is our constant endeavour to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the entrepreneurship world. As part of this, we invited a passionate entrepreneur – Dr. Pankaj Parashar for an exclusive interview with us. Dr. Pankaj is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Mentor, and Consultant. He is the Founder of Cutting Edge Medical Devices Pvt. Ltd. Let’s learn more about his inspiring journey, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Dr. Pankaj:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
My school education was done in Indore, and later I completed my MBBS from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Indore.
I have worked in different capacities in the healthcare industry for more than 17 years. I have always been into creating solutions, right from my school days.”
I was inquisitive and always wanted to work on something new. I must say that the early seeds of innovation and curiosity were sown into me by my mother. She has been a teacher and a writer and has been a powerhouse of inquisitiveness for me. She always encouraged me to follow my inner calling, which made me focus on what I always wanted to do.
My father who is also a director of our company is a QA professional with over 40 years of industry experience. He has been an unlimited source of inspiration for kicking off my entrepreneurial journey. This is the reason I could pursue research in biomedical engineering and join IIT Delhi for PhD after an MBBS degree. I always wanted to integrate medicine and innovation. Hence, academically, I chose an amalgam of fields.
Finally, years of research and hard work resulted in innovating my flagship device, Scintiglo, which initiated me into the world of entrepreneurship. I believe in collaboration and continual learning. I was part of the Leaders in Innovation Fellowship by the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK where I am also a certified mentor.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
I would rather answer this question differently. I have never considered a corporate career – it was never a choice for me.
My goal in life has always been to create a social impact. I have been brought up in a close-knit family that has always prioritized human values over anything.”
When you grow up in such an environment, you are always focused on what impact your actions have on others. You keep questioning yourself about what more you can do to help others. Entrepreneurship is a consequential effect of the urge to innovate. I want my innovations to change the lives of as many people as I can. My ultimate objective is to touch the lives of common people and provide affordable and reliable medical solutions.
Entrepreneurship in healthcare is a challenging game – you work endlessly for years, the gestation period is comparatively more, and the fruits of hard work come very late.”
Unless you are committed to your goals, it is difficult to sustain in this area, because it takes a lot of time and massive efforts to identify problems and implement the solutions.
‘Cutting Edge Medical Devices Pvt. Ltd.’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know, what kind of problem you are solving?
Modern medicine is going through a phase of the revolution. Be it in the field of disease prevention and diagnosis or personalized healthcare, a lot is happening and will continue to happen. With a motto to innovate and keep doing that, I could not think of a name that could miss the essence that keeps you ahead of the existing technology and also showcases what your focus area is.
Being “cutting edge” means we develop relevant and advanced devices that could provide greater benefits. Currently, our flagship product is Scintigloô, which is a point-of-care device that screens urine protein with proven accuracy of >96% and sensitivity of ~2 mg/100 mL. This device will prove to be a game-changer globally for detecting patients with abnormal kidney function. People with diseases like diabetes and hypertension are prone to kidney diseases. Scintiglo is a cost-effective method for screening millions of people at their door steps. Globally, governments are struggling to implement preventative healthcare solutions, and only affordable solutions like this are scalable at a massive population level.
We are also working on different versions of this device that will cater to different segments of market needs. This project has received more than 26 awards until now. Post-COVID, there have been studies that point to possible kidney-associated diseases in the population affected by COVID. “
So, this makes screening programmes all the more important. Additionally, we are also developing some out-of-the-box solutions for other diseases, which are in progress. We will be showcasing some of the products on our website very soon.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
We are a 7-year-old startup. We have been focusing on innovation and implementation. The COVID-19 crisis was unprecedented and demanded a lot of resilience from organizations. We, too, were not different. We are a seasoned team and could immediately move to a remote model.
Our focus remained on innovating and researching. Some of our ground work such as marketing and other activities were halted for some time. However, we ensured that we continue making progress in the development area. We also ensured that the speed that we unlocked during the pandemic times remained sustainable. During the pandemic, we extended support to our employees to overcome the difficult phase.
It was critical to evaluate and act on the health of employees – both mental and physical. There could have been possible burnouts otherwise, which we were able to avoid by constantly providing support to our workforce.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
Unexpected and expected challenges are part of the daily life of an entrepreneur. You would find many memes and videos on social media depicting the life of an entrepreneur – one of my favourites has been the one showing a man running in front of a moving train who repeatedly jumps out to clear all the obstacles from his path. He is not free for even a moment.
Jumping out and returning on the train is a repeated process. This is a true depiction in the context of entrepreneurship. This is exactly how I manage to keep going – the focus is on keeping the journey obstacle-free and doing what is needed to make the process smooth in order to achieve the step-by-step goals. What drives me is nothing but the trust and faith I have in my vision as well as the confidence of the supporting tribe that I have who motivates me all the time.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
I have found motivation in every single person who has left an impact on me. I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by teachers, mentors, guides, friends, colleagues, and family who keep motivating me.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
I have never had a set strategy for my growth. However, I did reflect and found a few things that helped me grow as a person.
> Setting goals for the short term as well as the long term.
> Breaking long-term goals into shorter goals.
> Always staying connected with my personal values.
> Value of gratitude.
> Embracing setbacks and being prepared to stand up for another try.
> Continual professional development.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
There is nothing like believing in yourself. Unless one believes in his or her strengths and inner powers, it is difficult to be satisfied with what one is doing. Taking pride in what we do and being confident about our work helps a lot in the long term.
One must have powerful goals and probably smaller goals that lead to achieving the bigger goals.”
Everyone defines success differently. What works for me might not work for someone else. However, goal setting and working towards it with integrity is a universal method and is applicable to all.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
During the last many years, I have continuously engaged with students and young professionals in many forums. I have delivered a lot of entrepreneurial talks to young minds. As said by a wise man,“Man cannot discover oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore”.
Innovation and entrepreneurship need novelty. It is a long road of taking risks and going for complex solutions rather than taking shortcuts. It is not a one-time achievement. There is no measurable outcome of success. It is you against you. You have to keep adding goals and fuel the journey with your passion.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
