Jay Watkins

Jay has extensive experience founding and funding healthcare companies. He is a Managing Director with De Novo Ventures and serves as a Lecturer in Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Co-Director of the graduate class in Biodesign Innovation. He was founding CEO of Origin Medsystems, a venture funded medical technology start-up acquired by Eli Lilly & Company (LLY). After Lilly formed Guidant, he joined the Management Committee and served as President of several divisions, including the Minimally-Invasive Surgery Group and Heart Rhythm Technologies. He also co-founded Gynecare, which went public and was later acquired by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). At Guidant, Jay formed and led Compass, Guidant’s corporate business development and new ventures group, where he was directly involved in the acquisition of two public companies and led venture investments in fourteen companies including Impella (acquired by Abiomed (ABMD)) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG). Prior to founding Origin, Jay held management positions in several start-ups, including Microgenics Corporation (acquired by Boehringer Mannheim), and was a consultant with McKinsey & Company (MTRX). He has served as a board member for both private and public MedTech companies and has been an active advisor and faculty member for the Kauffman Labs program that is dedicated to educating and training founders. Jay holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University.