Section 1
Before You Walk In
Mental Checklist
Run this checklist on the drive over. The work is done before Daniel arrives, not while he is sitting across from you.
Tone Reminders
- Peer level, not vendor level. Daniel is the one being recruited here. Carry yourself like the person doing the offering, not the person doing the asking.
- Relationship meeting, not a sales call. No closes today. No asks. The output is trust, not signature.
- Orchestrator, not presenter. Frame, hand off, watch. If you are talking more than 30% of the meeting, something is off.
- SMU brother first, operator second. The trust is already there. Use it. Don't introduce yourself like he doesn't know you.
- Confidence without swagger. Daniel respects substance. He distrusts performance.
Physical Setup
- Round table. No one at the head. Four people having a serious conversation.
- No projector. Phones and laptops only. The demo passes around the table.
- Michael's demo loaded. Confirm the Softr app and Snowflake dashboard are open and working before anyone sits down. No live debugging in front of Daniel.
- Ten minutes alone with Jay first. Pull him aside before Daniel arrives. Align on tone. Reinforce: peer level, not rep mode.
- Water on the table. Daniel runs hot in long meetings. Small thing, signals care.
- Phones face down. Including yours. No glances.
Section 2 · 0:00 to 0:05
Your Opening
The First Five Minutes
Use this as a glance script. Beats, not a paragraph. Eye contact between every line. Pause between blocks.
Open warm. Look at Daniel.
"Daniel, thanks for making the time. I know what your calendar looks like."
Frame why this room is different. No preamble.
"Before we get into anything, I want to be clear about who I brought today and why."
Frame Michael. Substance, not titles.
"Michael Barrett built the commercial data infrastructure at Loxalytics. Pharma-scale: over a billion patient records on Snowflake, HIPAA, NVIDIA compute, the works. The same backbone that runs pharma's biggest commercial programs is what he is extending into orthopedic device sales for us. He is going to show you something running on it today."
Frame Jay. Operator language.
"Jay was part owner of the exclusive Arthrex territories in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. He didn't sell into those territories. He built them. He knows what it takes to recruit reps, train them on OR support, and run a winning medical device sales organization from the ground up. He is the commercial architect, not a field guy."
Frame yourself briefly. Don't dwell.
"And I bring the operating side. Four active companies, two decades running multiple organizations at once, capital and team assembly."
Land the point. Slow down here.
"Between Michael's platform, Jay's commercial discipline, and the operating muscle, we have every piece of the commercial engine that a great orthopedic device needs to win."
"What we don't have is the IP. You have that."
Stop. Hand him the moment. The next sentence is his, not yours.
Section 3 · 0:05 to 0:15
Show Daniel You Already Know His Story
Do Not Ask Him to Repeat Himself
Every other conversation Daniel has had started with "walk me through what you've built." Not this one. Reference what you know, watch him correct or add detail, and let that be the conversation.
Talking points to drop in casually, not a recitation
- The cannula portfolio. "We've gone through the Suremka portfolio with Zach's filings in front of us. Three generations of the retractable cannula, US and European coverage. The Gen 2 issuance in 2019 was the inflection point."
- The graft compression system. "The graft compression family is the more interesting acquisition story, especially with the 2025 CIP. That's the one strategics will price on."
- Whitt and the inventory. "I know Whitt has the cannula inventory in hand. The thousand sterile units plus the non sterile breakdown across all three lengths. We want him operating with us, not around us, on integration."
- USPI relationships. "North Central and The Star are exactly the right Stage 1 entry points. Physician-friendly ASCs, no VAT committee process. The fact that you already operate at both gives us a head start most platforms don't have."
- The European deadline. "June 30 on the European maintenance fees is the first decision we should help you make as a team. Our recommendation is to pay. UK/France/Germany coverage adds real acquisition value, and the South Africa relationship tells us international demand exists already."
- The South Africa distributor. "We know you have a distributor in South Africa already ordering. The constraint was supply, not demand. That constraint is now resolved."
- The insurance number. "We've looked at the $1M facility requirement. That's a real number we can structure around. Not the $10M manufacturer figure that was a worst case."
Every one of these signals: we did the work. Daniel does not have to start at zero. Watch his shoulders drop.
The one forward question
"Given where you are right now, with inventory in hand and OR access established, what does the first 90 days look like from your side?"
Then stop talking. This is the most important question of the meeting. His answer tells you everything about how fast he wants to move, what he is anxious about, and where the friction is. Don't help him answer. Don't fill silences. Take notes. Nod once when he pauses. Let it breathe.
What to listen for in his answer
- Specificity about cases. If he names surgeons or specific procedures he wants to cover first, he is already operating in our timeline. Move fast.
- Hesitation about Whitt. If he talks around Whitt's role, the operations question is more sensitive than the docs suggest. Slow down there.
- References to David or Zach. If he says "I'd want David's view" or "Zach would have to weigh in," that is the buying signal. He is already mapping decision makers.
- The word "we." If he uses "we" instead of "you guys" within the answer, the room has already shifted. Note it but do not call it out.
- Anxiety about manufacturing or supply. If he raises Shenzhen lead times unprompted, supply chain is the real bottleneck in his head, not commercial structure.
Section 4
Anticipated Questions & Answers
From Daniel, David, or Zach
Daniel may ask any of these. David Worrel (his brother, attorney) and Zach Hilton (IP counsel) may surface the same questions afterward by phone. Have the answers calibrated and identical across every channel.
How does LoxaNova make money?
Multiple paths, stacked. Near term, gross margin on the commercial sale of devices through the sales organization we are building. As individual IP families mature, we broker patent acquisitions to strategic acquirers, with you holding the leverage as the IP owner. Over time, the platform itself, sales organization, technology, and surgeon partnerships together, becomes the strategic acquisition. We are not optimizing for any single exit. We are building an asset that has several.
AvoidSpecific multiples. Specific buyer names. Anything that sounds like a valuation pitch.
What does the entity structure look like?
Suremka stays exactly as it is. 100% yours. LoxaNova is a separate operating entity that holds the commercial organization. A commercial agreement between Suremka and LoxaNova defines the economics: exclusive commercial rights to a defined set of patents and SKUs in exchange for a defined royalty plus founding IP partner equity in LoxaNova. Counsel on both sides drafts the specifics after we agree on principles. Nothing today is binding.
AvoidPretending the structure is already drafted. Naming specific royalty rates or equity percentages.
Who owns what?
You retain 100% of Suremka and 100% of the underlying IP. LoxaNova is owned by the operating team and by founding IP partners. You would be the first. Future surgeon IP partners come in on the same structural model. Specific cap table numbers come after we agree on the structural principles, not during the first conversation.
AvoidPercentages. Comparisons to other founders. "We're like X" framing.
How does this affect my existing patents?
Ownership doesn't change. LoxaNova would hold defined commercial rights under a license you and your counsel shape. Patent prosecution and maintenance stay coordinated with Zach Hilton. We want him in the conversation, not around it. On the immediate calendar, the June 30 European maintenance and the July 15 final US fee on the 2014 cannula are both decisions we'd help you weigh now, but the call is yours.
AvoidAnything that sounds like we'd take over IP prosecution. Anything that minimizes Zach's role.
What happens if this does not work out?
The license is exclusive but limited in time and tied to performance. Defined commercial milestones in defined windows. If we do not perform against those milestones, rights revert to you cleanly. You don't get locked into a partner that isn't producing. That structure protects you, and frankly it protects us too. It forces discipline.
Avoid"Trust us." Show structural safeguards, not assurances.
How is this different from a distributor?
A distributor moves product. We are building the entire commercial organization around your IP: rep recruitment and training, OR support, surgeon engagement infrastructure, product catalog tied to the patent families, consignment workflow at the ASC level, and Sunshine Act reporting from day one. A distributor sells what you give them. We commercialize the portfolio, run the field, capture and operate the data, and position the IP for strategic value over time. The output is a commercial asset, not just unit volume.
AvoidDismissing distributors as a category. He respects field people.
What does the timeline look like?
First 90 days: entity and insurance finalized, Whitt's inventory integrated into the platform, consignment and case coverage workflow live at North Central and The Star, first Stage 1 reps identified. By month six: full Stage 1 sales organization operating, Texas Institute of Surgery added as the third Dallas anchor, second surgeon IP partner in evaluation. By month twelve: Stage 2 expansion into a second Texas market, mature data layer feeding both commercial and acquisition narratives.
AvoidCommitting to revenue numbers. Committing to acquirer conversations on a specific date.
What do you need from me to get started?
Three things, none of them large. One, your view on which patent families come into commercial scope first. The cannula generations are the obvious near term, but you may want graft compression in the same wave. Two, your okay on Whitt staying as the operations anchor, so we integrate with him, not around him. Three, thirty minutes a week, no more, for the next sixty days while we stand up the structure. You keep practicing surgery. We do the build.
AvoidAsking for capital. Asking for OR time he hasn't volunteered. Asking him to "champion" anything internally.
How do you handle the Sunshine Act?
Reporting is built into the data layer from day one. Every payment from LoxaNova to a physician, whether consulting, royalties, training, or anything else, gets captured, classified, and reported. That compliance posture is one of the reasons Michael's pharma scale infrastructure matters. It is already audited for that level of reporting. This is not bolted on later. It is native.
AvoidSunshine Act minutiae. If he wants depth, route it to Michael in a later call, not here.
What is the exit strategy?
We have several paths and we don't optimize the next twelve months around any one of them. Patent families can be acquired individually by category leaders once they have commercial traction behind them. The commercial engine and platform itself becomes an acquisition target once it is running multiple surgeon IP partnerships. The point of building this in stages is that the asset has more than one buyer at more than one point in its life. The job in the next twelve months is to prove the model, not to shop it.
AvoidAcquirer names. Multiples. Specific timelines. Any phrasing that makes the exit sound imminent.
Section 5
Coaching by Moment
What to Do, Segment by Segment
The agenda has the run of show. This is the behavioral overlay underneath it. When to talk, when to shut up, what to watch for.
0:00 to 0:15
You Set the Tone
Talk less than you think you should. Frame, then hand off. The first fifteen minutes is about who is in the room, not what they have built. If Daniel asks a substantive question early, route it to Michael or Jay instead of answering yourself. That single move signals the team is not a one man show.
0:15 to 0:35
Confirming the Homework
When Daniel starts adding detail to what you've already raised, stop talking. Take notes. Nod. Do not compete to know more than he does about his own IP. Your job here is to be the warm conductor, not the loudest voice. If he corrects something, accept it cleanly. Say "Got it, that's exactly the kind of nuance I want to make sure we have right," then move on. Never argue a detail.
0:35 to 0:50
Michael's Demo
Sit back. Watch Daniel's face, not the screen. If he leans forward, the demo is landing. Let Michael keep going. If he leans back or his eyes drift, quietly signal Michael to skip ahead to the Cortex query or to a concrete data view tied to a specific arthroscopic CPT code. Do not narrate over Michael. If Daniel asks a technical question, let Michael answer. You stay quiet for this entire segment unless Daniel turns to you directly.
0:50 to 1:05
Jay Owns the Floor
Stay quiet. Do not finish Jay's sentences. Daniel needs to see Jay as the commercial architect on his own merits, not as someone you are handling. If Jay starts drifting into anecdote, you can gently steer with "Jay, walk Daniel through the rep training piece." Only once, and only if it is genuinely off track. Trust him.
1:05 to 1:20
The Bigger Vision
You open the marketplace vision and then you stop. The longest silence of the meeting should be the one right after you finish framing the surgeon entrepreneur platform. Five seconds will feel like thirty. Let it sit. Daniel will fill it, and what he fills it with is the most valuable data you will collect today. Do not rescue the silence.
Light, forward, dated. No ask. No commitment request. Three things happen next: Michael maps supply chain and inventory into the platform, Jay drafts the Stage 1 account entry plan, you work with Daniel on entity structure and insurance. Get the next meeting on the calendar before anyone stands up. If Daniel hedges on a date, offer two specific options. Do not leave with "we'll find a time."
Engaged Signals
- Leaning in toward the screen or table
- Asking technical specifics about the platform
- Bringing up other surgeons by name unprompted
- Saying "we" instead of "you guys"
- Pulling out his own phone to take notes
- Referencing David or Zach as future decision points
Skeptical Signals
- Asking about money or terms before substance has landed
- Repeating the same question with different words
- Arms crossed, body angled away from the table
- Looking at his phone or watch
- Short single word responses
- Bringing up prior bad experiences without context
Universal coaching. Applies the whole meeting.
- Silence is a tool. Surgeons think before they speak. Three seconds of quiet is normal for him, not awkward. Do not fill it.
- Transition by name. "Michael, walk Daniel through the data model." "Jay, this is your section." Never say "next slide," "moving on," or "in the interest of time."
- When you don't know an answer: "That's a real question and I want to give you a real answer, not a guess. Let me come back to you with that by Friday." Then write it down in front of him. That single move builds more trust than a confident wrong answer ever could.
- If Jay drifts into rep mode: Step in once with a clean redirect. Say "Jay, give Daniel the org build version, not the field version." Do not correct him twice. Talk to him afterward, not in front of Daniel.
- If Daniel raises ZuriMED: Acknowledge it directly. Say "Watching Arthrex try to lowball ZuriMED is exactly the dynamic we are built to prevent. The whole point of structuring this in stages is that the leverage stays with the IP owner." Do not bring up ZuriMED yourself.
- If David or Zach is invoked: Welcome it visibly. "I'd want them in the next conversation. I'll send them the same materials I send you." This is a buying signal disguised as caution.
Section 6
Hard Stops
Things You Do Not Say Today
These are not negotiable. Regardless of where the conversation goes, regardless of how engaged Daniel becomes, regardless of what he asks directly. Anything on this list either gets deferred to a future conversation or routed elsewhere.
Never say in this meeting
- Specific acquirer names. Not Arthrex. Not Stryker. Not J&J DePuy Synthes. Not Smith & Nephew. Not Zimmer Biomet. If Daniel says a name, you can acknowledge with "That's one of several strategic profiles in this space," but you do not introduce the name yourself.
- Valuations or multiples. No revenue multiples, no patent comps, no "we think this is worth X." The number we discuss today is zero.
- Exit timelines. No "we'd be ready to sell in three years," no "the right window is Q4 of year two," nothing dated. The asset gets built. The exit emerges.
- Rich Rendina. Under no circumstances. Not as a relationship, not as a reference, not in passing. His name does not exist in this meeting.
- Specific term sheet language. No royalty percentages. No equity splits. No vesting schedules. No board seat language. No anti dilution clauses. If pushed, route to counsel: "Those are exactly the questions the structural conversation answers, and we'd want both sides' attorneys shaping that document."
- Any framing that suggests Daniel is a founder or creator of LoxaNova. He is the founding IP partner. LoxaNova was built by you, Michael, and Jay before Daniel walked into the room, and that distinction protects the platform model for every future surgeon IP partner. Do not blur it, even casually, even to be warm. The phrase is "founding IP partner." Use it.
- Promises about other surgeon partners. Do not name a second surgeon by name even if Daniel asks. "There are several conversations in the pipeline at the right stage" is the ceiling.
- Anything about capital you are personally raising. Not the round, not the targets, not the LPs. Capital structure is a later meeting, with him, not at him.
Section 7
Reference
Acronym Glossary
Every abbreviation used across all LoxaNova sites, defined in plain English. Search or filter by category.
Private · J. Lovelady only