Dr. Dylan Attard graduated from the University of Malta medical school in 2017. He completed his foundation year training and worked in surgery, but felt restricted tending to one patient at a time.
Attard had always loved events, venture funding, and investments, so he naturally followed this path and ultimately founded MedTech World in 2019. He initially created it as a conference to promote potential in med tech and the digital health world, but it has since expanded, forming an ecosystem of events.
What did you learn from the early part of your career that allowed you to build and maintain a successful business?
Patience, perseverance, working hard in silence [are key lessons I’ve learned]. I think working as a medical doctor gives us very unique characteristics compared to other professions. [For instance, managing patients with a step-wise, patient-first, history-taking approach]. That’s how we get to the bottom of every patient’s problem and how they’re feeling.
I think I’ve adopted this same skill set and mindset when it comes to business. [Another skill set that I have transferred is teamwork]. As a medical doctor you’re always working in a team and business is the same – you have one big team where everyone knows each other.
I think working as a medical doctor gives us very unique characteristics compared to other professions.
I imagine your role involves a lot of networking. How did you start building those initial connections? Do you have tips?
I started this out as a part-time gig in my first year when I was still working as a surgeon. One conference led to another, one LinkedIn connection led to another, and I began touring the world for various conferences, ultimately building genuine relationships.
Four years later, after a lot of hard work – even more than surgery if that’s possible – I started nurturing relationships and helping others connect with each other. Ultimately, MedTech World became the ecosystem it is now.
My practical tips for networking and building connections are:
- Focus on offering value.
- Asking how you can help.
- Research and personalise your approaches.
What tips do you have for clinicians interested in entrepreneurship but unsure how to start?
I believe that it’s all about risk taking. I’m a first-generation doctor in my family, so it was very difficult for me to make the jump from clinical surgery to entrepreneurship.
It’s about carefully assessing your risks and thinking about how badly you want something. It’s important to not be too afraid to seek beyond your boundaries. Life starts outside your comfort zone and that’s something that I genuinely live by.
For medical doctors or healthcare practitioners looking to jump, the first step up is to start being ‘intrapreneurial’, solving problems within their day-to-day work environment.
Life starts outside your comfort zone and that’s something that I genuinely live by.
What problems does the company aim to solve and how are you solving them?
I think in healthcare, there’s a lot of mismatch between startups and investors. There’s a lot of inadequate communication when it comes to startups pitching themselves and how they’re looking to portray their message or any problem that they’re trying to solve.
MedTech World helps facilitate communication between stakeholders within the global medtech medical device and healthtech industries to connect more dots and help companies take off the ground and reach more patients across the world.
Why did you choose Malta as the place to establish your company?
I was born and raised in Malta. The Maltese government helps a lot to sustain our conference not just in terms of financial aid, but in terms of supporting us and helping nurture the local medtech industry.
Initially, it revolved around promoting Malta as a potential medtech and digital health hub. This wasn’t purely to get companies over here, but because we genuinely believed, and still do believe, that Malta can be a good country for companies to test their solutions – to undergo clinical trials, to carry out tests on a smaller scale, on an island state like Malta, before eventually opening up to bigger countries.
We speak English and have euros as our currency, so there’s a lot of international people, which means tests are not purely carried out on a Maltese population. All in all, these are very good factors, which we like to promote, to be able to encourage more companies to make use of the resources here.
Where do you see MedTech world in the next five years?
I’d love to organise bigger events in different parts of the world because, up until now, we’ve focused on Malta as our flagship conference and other countries as roadshow events.
How can people get involved?
I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn and encourage anyone interested to reach out on there. Not purely if they want to open up their own startup company business, but also if they’re looking to make the jump into health tech, I would be happy to discuss.
There are many companies that host conferences, how do you ensure that MedTech World conferences stand out?
We’re trying to focus on genuine connections and genuine people. I’m not looking to organise a massive trade show or exhibition. We’re focusing on events on a smaller scale, which are more professionally curated.
Malta also acts as a nice backdrop for conferences. It’s not just about hearing others speaking on stage, but the whole experience.
How does the medtech ecosystem in Malta compare to the UK?
[I think that the main similarities are] the regulatory framework, the focus on iInnovation, the access to a skilled workforce, and the presence of collaborative networks. [The main differences to consider are] the market size, the regulatory environment post-brexit, and the cost of operations.
What’s the most inspiring piece of advice you’ve been given as an entrepreneur?
Work hard silently and humbly. All in all, have patience and avoid competing with other healthcare companies. I mean, we’re in it to save more patients and improve our healthcare so we should be teaming up.
When I was a young medical doctor, I used to look up to Doctopreneurs as a majestic brand. I used to look at the people who were being featured and back then I would have never thought that I would also be interviewed one day. So, this goes on to show that if you believe enough and work hard enough you will get to where you want to be.
Work hard silently and humbly.
How do you stay up-to-date? Do you have a couple of book or podcast recommendations?
Funnily enough, I listen to a lot of podcasts, but they’re not actually health-related. I find listening to podcasts about journeys of founders motivational and it inspires my entrepreneurial spirit. I don’t like to tailor my podcast purely around healthcare, so that it acts as a nice break from work.
I stay on top of what’s happening through my LinkedIn feed, news websites I follow, one-to-one conversations I have. I enjoy staying in tune with various industries, including fintech and Says [Software as a Service]. I believe in the benefits of cross-pollination between fields and think we can learn a lot from them.
What are three startups that you’re most inspired by? And why?
It’s a good question. I’m very much into robotic surgery, which has a good number of startups.
I’ve also recently been intrigued by startups focusing on how a patient looks after horizontal breast mastectomies.
Have you considered developing a digital health company yourself?
I think I’ve exhausted my entrepreneurial efforts for lifetimes. Jokes apart, my next step would be setting up my own fund. MedTech World is my own startup, up to a certain point.
In the future, I wouldn’t want to be focused on just one thing as I think it would get boring. I mean, MedTech World allows me to network, get to know as many different people, speakers, startups, investors. My next step would be setting up and tapping into the venture world.
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