Aug 23, 2018 · 20m · top-founders
1125 He's Sold $5m+ Of Magical Pad w/ 1,014 Needles Athletes Use to Kill Pain
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this interview on The Top Entrepreneurs Podcast, BioWave founder Brad Smith explains how he engineered and commercialized an FDA-cleared non-opioid pain relief medical device, scaling it across ninety professional sports teams and dozens of VA hospitals to surpass $5 million in annual revenue.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 41.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Brad rejects Nathan's framing that over a thousand needles sounds painful and unappealing, asserting it feels like Velcro and provides superior clinical relief.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 15:31 Pressing past private company revenue deflectionNathan refuses to let Brad hide behind being privately held, restructuring the question into broad ranges until Brad confirms BioWave will surpass $5 million.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:15 Economics of single-use percutaneous microneedlesBrad thoroughly educates Nathan on how microneedles bypass skin electrical impedance and enable a high-margin $150 single-use model reimbursed by insurance at $450.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 6:56 Real-time calculation of franchise customer valueNathan instantly synthesizes hardware unit costs and consumable pad burn rates into an accurate total contract value calculation for pro sports teams.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introducing Founder Brad Smith and BioWave | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Nathan asks foundational questions about the physical form factor and compares it simplistically to a massage chair. Brad patiently educates him on the neuro-electrical mechanism that blocks pain signals similarly to chemical Novocaine. | |
| Hardware Pricing and Consumable Electrode Economics | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Nathan demonstrates strong business acumen by quickly calculating upfront hardware sales alongside recurring consumable electrode revenue across NFL teams. Brad provides specific unit pricing and replacement frequency numbers. | |
| Market Demographics and Institutional Credibility | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | Brad explains that pro sports accounts serve primarily as marketing credibility while workers' comp and hospitals drive true scale. Nathan probes the $6M pre-revenue fundraising journey, jokingly characterizing early prototype testing on investors' families. | |
| Scaling Hardware Distribution Across VA Hospitals | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | Nathan reacts skeptically to the concept of a 1,014-needle electrode pad, pressing Brad on why patients would accept it. Brad schools Nathan on the physics of bypassing skin impedance and the lucrative insurance reimbursement economics behind $150 single-use pads. | |
| Building a National Sales Force and Capital Expansion | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | When Brad attempts to demur on revenue figures citing private company status, Nathan pushes back firmly and secures confirmation that the business will cross $5M this year. They subsequently discuss medtech acquisition multiples. | |
| The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | The conversation transitions smoothly into the standard Famous Five lightning round, featuring an emotional reflection by Brad on his late father's aerospace engineering legacy. |