Building Fast Without Cutting Corners: Interview with Excision Medical CEO Greg Walters

Building Fast Without Cutting Corners: Interview with Excision Medical CEO Greg Walters

From Medsider: Learn from Medtech and Healthtech Founders and CEOs by Scott Nelson

January 20, 2026 · 53 min

About this episode

Greg Walters discusses building fast in medtech without cutting corners, emphasizing learning and safety in product development.

In this episode of Medsider Radio , we sat down with Greg Walters , co-founder & CEO of Excision Medical . Excision is developing a leaflet modification system to enable lifetime management of aortic stenosis. Greg has almost 40 years of experience in cardiovascular devices, holding leadership roles at Kensey Nash Corporation where he led the development of Angio-Seal and several endovascular programs. He later co-founded Essential Medical, which was acquired by Teleflex in 2018, and is an inventor on more than 75 U.S. and European patents. In this interview, Greg discusses why early-stage teams should build to learn rather than to impress, using functional prototypes to generate real feedback and fundraising momentum. He outlines how disciplined safety work — not perfection — defines first-in-human readiness, and what makes a pre-revenue company attractive to strategic acquirers. Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things: First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs, and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter. And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game…

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