On January 24th, 2011 TE announced that it had hired Rich (you don't mind if I call you Rich) Mueller as CTO. TransEnterix is a company that specializes in the development of minimally invasive surgical devices situated in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, also better known as the Raleigh area.
You know that famous saying, "one man's loss is another man's treasure." Well Todd Pope, CEO of TE has landed himself someone that truly knows the business and is one of the good guys in our industry. Rich gave five years (a lifetime) of his and his family's life to NuVasive, and as much as one has to love the San Diego area, it was time to move on. In addition to having NuVasive on his resume, Rich spent many years working at Theken (pronounced Taken if I may add and don't you forget it) Surgical as an integral member in developing their pedicle screw system and other systems.
In addition to the aforementioned companies, Rich also worked for Volk Optical and Proctor and Gamble. Good luck in your future endeavors, Go Tarheel's Go!
"Rock and Roll" Rich Mueller is a stand-up, smart as hell, SUPER guy. He'll be successful anywhere he goes. I think he misses the Great Lakes Brewery in his hometown. GOOD LUCK Rich!!!
ReplyDeleteIs five years really considered "a lifetime" in this industry? No wonder why so many spine companies are run so poorly -- no one sticks around long enough to make a lasting impact.
ReplyDeleteIn this industry five years is like twenty. Management in this industry sucks. Its the worst. Take a company like Nuvasive and evaluate their attrition rate and you might be surprised.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have seen MM eulogizing someone to this extent...
ReplyDeleteWay to go Mman.
Mr Muller must have something in him that deserves respect!
Rich Mueller is very solid, I wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor.
ReplyDeleteJust another example of the continued exodus from Nuvasive. Funny, just a few blogs ago someone commented that "no one was really leaving THAT company",,
REALLY??
Rich is the salt of the earth. He dealt with the Hunchback of Akron and Igor his sidekick all those years at Theken hopefully he has landed where someone will truly appreciate his talents.
ReplyDeleteTheken developed its first products by starting out as an independent testing lab for Danek, AcroMed and others and making copies 'with a twist' of the implants that they tested for these companies. Once they had these, they became an implant company. So, one might call them a sort of smart Globus. Given the praise heaped on Rich he must have joined after that phase.
ReplyDeleteTheken originally developed a cervical plate that we inherited when Stryker acquired them along with a lumbar plate and some titanium cages, let's give credit where credit is due.
ReplyDeleteYou must give Theken credit for developing the first e-disc. The lumbar disc with plenty of electronics in it. i am sure Rich was part of that project.
ReplyDeleteThe e-disc...Rick Navarro
ReplyDeleteActually, Rich was too busy working on a pedicle screw
ReplyDelete@3:10
ReplyDeleteActually Theken was acquired by Integra, not Stryker. Stryker just licensed that crappy Tether plate from Theken.
Were any animal rights group called in to hammer Theken, that poor baboon, maybe we should try that on Randy and see if he likes torture. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to that piece of shit?
ReplyDelete11:02
ReplyDeleteThe baboon died 3-days later - or were asking about another piece of shit????
... the disc, I'm sure 11:02 meant the disc.
ReplyDeleteleave tether out of this. Does anyone know if k2m is having a big B-S training this weekend?
ReplyDeletee-disc was placed in a box and sent to Iron Mountain. The polymer developed for it was impressive. could have been a contender. the electronics embedded was novel for show and tell but the company should have lead with the polymer sandwiched between Ti plates.
ReplyDeleteAre you thinking of Nuvasive's meeting this week capped off by the "Cheetah Ball" that would make Ken Lay proud??
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that Rich will miss tomorrow night's Cheetah Ball,,, Lucky him!!
ReplyDelete