Medical devices are 1-3 years vs. 5-15 years (orphan drugs are actually pretty fast now), and 1-2 orders of magnitude less capital.
Medical devices would be just on the upper bound of what I think YC could do. The right way is probably to do an unregulated "fitness" or "convenience" product, which later has regulated-medical-device functionality. Defer the compliance parts until the product itself is proven.
There are plenty of "small business" ($1-5mm in personal-recourse debt) type medical device entrepreneurs. US and Israel seem to be the two big markets for developing them. Surprisingly, a lot come from people outside the medical professions.
Medical devices would be just on the upper bound of what I think YC could do. The right way is probably to do an unregulated "fitness" or "convenience" product, which later has regulated-medical-device functionality. Defer the compliance parts until the product itself is proven.
There are plenty of "small business" ($1-5mm in personal-recourse debt) type medical device entrepreneurs. US and Israel seem to be the two big markets for developing them. Surprisingly, a lot come from people outside the medical professions.