DR RUCHI DANA

POWERHOUSE GLOBAL MAGAZINE (PGMAG)

INTERVIEW WITH: DR RUCHI DANA (DRD)

Dr Ruchi is a multi-award winning doctor, thought-leader, innovator and entrepreneur. She is a Board Member of Dana Group, as well as other corporate organisations. Dr Ruchi is also the President of Duluth Medical Technologies Inc, a Silicon Valley-based Robotic Medical device startup. She holds other positions too numerous to mention.

PGMAG: Dr Ruchi, you are welcome to this interview session.

DRD: Thank you.

PGMAG: I remember our first meeting as co-speakers at the Arab Women in Leadership Summit held in Dubai last February. We both promised to stay in touch and today you are being interviewed by me - thank you for this opportunity.

DRD: You’re most welcome. I am humbled to be your interviewee. It’s a pleasure to meet you again.

PGMAG: I believe our readers would love to know more about who you are, and what you are about in the world.

DRD: I am an entrepreneur and businesswoman. I studied at Stanford University, Stanford, California, I pursued an MBA in General Management. I am

also a Doctor of Medicine, MD, Medicine & Surgery, and Stanford BioDesign Fellow. This year, Forbes Middle East recognised me as a Power Businesswoman 2020, and I am highly grateful to them for considering me.

It has been my fortune to have participated at several talk shows, conferences, forums, webinars, seminars and other events on health, wellness and technological adaptations in the sector, as an expert and speaker.

PGMAG: As a leader who sits on several corporate boards, what are the three top keys of becoming a 'change agent'?

DRD: 1. Honesty

I strongly feel that the chief quality of leadership is unmatched rectitude. No one on earth can achieve success without being honest- to oneself and everyone around. Rectitude and honesty are the essential ingredients that makes a great leader who can be a change agent. Hard work goes hand-in-hand with honesty.

2. Commitment

Commitment comes next. It is a result of honesty. One who has an honest approach towards life can never fail to achieve what he/she is determined to. Having self-commitment enforces one's capacity to perform passionately, and this is again a quality that’s very important for one to be a change-maker.

3. Leading by example

To become a ‘change agent’ I believe it is utmost important to lead by setting an example for others to follow. One has to act and show. After all, “Great leaders don’t apprise of what to achieve, they show how to achieve it.”

PGMAG: Please tell us a little bit about your organisation (Pik A Venture).

DRD: "PIK A VENTURE" is South Asia's crowdfunding portal with added services for entrepreneurs. These services include legal advice, company registration advice, consulting services, campaign management services and also incubator and accelerator services. Pik A Venture attempts to bring power of people to empower entrepreneurship and provide impetus to all unrealised dreams of individuals, by helping them raise capital. It brings concept of democracy to field of Venture Capital through crowd funding, where funds are raised "by the people and for the people". PIK A VENTURE provides Silicon Valley expertise and aim to bring entrepreneurial revolution in India by providing creative minds, budding artists, technical brains, entrepreneurs and innovators alike a common medium to get financial backing and encourage them to embark on their entrepreneurial journey. Pik A Venture is a crowd-funding portal that offers a variety of advisory services to its users. The portal offers services such as legal

"PIK A VENTURE" is South Asia's crowdfunding portal with added services for entrepreneurs. These services include legal advice, company registration advice, consulting services, campaign management services and also incubator and accelerator services.

advice, company registration advice, consulting services, campaign management services, and accelerator services to its clients. Pik A Venture was launched by me, Dr Ruchi Dana in 2008 at Stanford, California.

PGMAG: Our research shows us that you have been reorganised by Forbes Middle East as the "Next Generation Business Leader, Arab World" for three consecutive years. What has been your biggest motivation to becoming the person you are today?

DRD: The one award that I cherish the most is Forbes Next Generation Business Leader, Arab World and Forbes Top Power Businesswoman 2020 award, the reason for this is that with my multicultural upbringing and wide industry exposure, I have made it my mission to try to spread my knowledge, connect and engage with the right audience and help empower women and make more women choose STEM field and be leaders in their field. Forbes Top Power Businesswoman 2020 award has provided me a platform for advocating for women, to help other women to advance in their fields, specifically STEM field. I am also part of many initiatives where I go out to the community and reach out to women.

PGMAG: Please share a little bit about "Surgical Robots' and some of their benefits.

DRD: Surgical Robotics are giving the healthcare sector a much-needed makeover. Surgical Robots have already been used for assisting surgeons in operations for over 20 years. Indeed, higher precision and minimum chances of human errors can be achieved with RoboticAssisted Surgery (RAS). Semiautonomous robots in surgical operations also reduce the chances of infections, shorten hospital stays, and recovery time. Moreover, RAS requires

less staff in operation theatres. Hence, in the current times when Covid-19 is clutching the world, robots can free-up more medicos and resources to cater to patients who genuinely need personal one-to-one care and attention. They can also help the medical fraternity and healthcare systems to be relatively unburdened.

At the moment I am also working as the co-founder and COO of Duluth Medical Technologies Inc., a Silicon Valley based Robotic Surgery Device Company, a USA Delaware registered corporation. Duluth Medical Technologies Inc. was founded to develop a wide range of intelligent, agile, affordable robots, targeting medical surgical applications, to improve patient care. Leveraging years of expertise in life sciences and device/robotic technologies, Duluth is actively promoting initiatives to improve patient's care and lower costs. Duluth is collaborating on clinical data exchange in terms of CT Scans, MRI Scans and Arthroscopy, Arthroplasty videos with University of California San Francisco(UCSF), Stanford and various hospitals in the Middle East and Asia. The vision of Duluth is to democratize healthcare for all and access untapped markets by providing superior technologies at an affordable price. With the help of Duluth, patients and doctors worldwide will have access to the latest robotic surgery technologies at 1/10th the price of current Robotic systems. Duluth’s initial market is orthopaedic applications mainly joint replacement surgeries, but the long term vision is to enter mainstream surgeries. The current robotic surgery systems cost over one million dollars and take many hours of training on the surgeon’s part, while also requiring special operating rooms that only large, wellcapitalized hospitals can afford. Duluth’s robotic system is expected to cost about 90% less than the current systems and is developed to assist surgeons in their existing operating room, with their current surgical training

experience. Unique advantages are: precision, speed and agility and improved patientreported outcomes all for the fraction of the cost of existing robotic systems. Pertinent to the current situation, robot assisted surgery (RAS) may also help to reduce hospital stay for patients thus making room for COVID-19 patients. Also, it requires less nurses and assistants in the operation theater, thus freeing up manpower resources for other procedures/patients or COVID patients.

Duluth has filed for several patents to protect its intellectual property, and Dr Ruchi Dana is the investor of 2 US patents on AI in Robotic Surgery. My cofounder Fred CEO has more than 35 yrs experience in emerging companies. Several of Fred’s companies were acquired during the last few years,: Sharp Surgical by Cook Medical in 2012, PS Inc., an internet based medical company by Packet Stream Inc. in 2002. Other of his startup companies such as AFx Inc. was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2004 and Vivant Medical Technologies was acquired by Covidien in 2005. Fred has also served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Axis Surgical Technologies Inc. (now called Trice Medical) and Avantis Medical Systems. I , Dr Ruchi Dana, am the COO and I have 12 yrs experience in emerging companies, medical devices. I am a trained Medical Practitioner, transitioned to a successful Entrepreneur and Business Leader. I am recognized by Forbes Magazine as NexGen Leader for 3 consecutive years 2017, 2018 and 2019, Women to Watch by Campden Wealth 2018, Top 75 Business women by Campden Wealth 2019 and Top 50 Power Businesswomen 2020 by Forbes Magazine. I am also a Stanford Biodesign Fellow and Stanford MBA’13

PGMAG: How would you describe your style of leadership?

DRD: I believe that the soul of great leadership is impact, not power. This is the style of Leadership, I follow. Focussing on the impression of the results and its footprints is important to me. I am very determined about women empowerment. I also support several women entrepreneurs in the Middle East. I also want to do more to help other women to advance in their fields, specifically STEM field, so I am currently mentoring a few young women and this is my small way of bringing about a change in the society. I feel that it’s the Emirati women who are running the country, I have seen huge talent in the local Emirati women and with the help of the right education systems, we are seeing this talent getting nurtured. The Zayed university focussed entirely on women, and it focuses a lot on entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurship mindset. Almost all elite colleges now have a branch in the UAE and it's getting easier for women to get access to quality higher education while staying within UAE. We have seen a huge shift in the mindset of the women that come out of these universities and they are more than eager to join the workforce and be leaders and champions of change in their communities.

PGMAG: What are the three books that changed your life?

DRD: ● The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey ● The Struggle is my Life by Nelson Mandela ● Good to Great by Jim Collins ● The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy

● Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch

PGMAG: What is your message to World leaders?

DRD: Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, strategies and priorities have evolved to make sense and be successful in this new climate. Today the success that we are seeing and the recognition that I am getting from various sources motivates me to do even more and bring about a bigger change in the world we live in. I do speak a lot on conferences and I always try my best to support and motivate others, specially women to rise up in their personal and professional lives. My message to world leaders would be to encourage bringing of more diversity on boards, its really important to get fresh perspectives in the board room. And statistics also show that companies with strong women leadership generated a Return on Equity of 10.1% per year versus 7.4% for those without strong women leadership, according to MSCI ESG Research.

PGMAG: What are some of the steps businesses can apply in order to mitigate the losses caused by COVID-19?

I would definitely say that running a business is very challenging but also very exciting, specially during COVID19. I love starting things from scratch and organizing the team, putting in the hardwork to ensure that success follows.

DRD: I would definitely say that running a business is very challenging but also very exciting, specially during COVID19. I love starting things from scratch and organizing the team, putting in the hardwork to ensure that success follows. I am able to relate to other entrepreneurs who are in the startup phase of their businesses. Some of the steps that entrepreneurs can take is to try to apply to various grants, various government initiatives for Relief Funding. Apart from that, having a tighter grip over the finances would be really helpful, it would be advisable to cut off any unnecessary expenses and focus on the things that bring revenue to the company. Its best to work on sustainable business models. PGMAG: What would you say to your younger self?

DRD: Believe in yourself a little bit more, you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.

PGMAG: What makes you laugh?

DRD: I love playing with my 2.5yr old daughter, she’s the one person that relieves me of all my work and stress. I love to pretend play with her and play with her imaginary toys.

PGMAG: Dr Ruchi, thank you for sharing your time with us - much appreciated.

DRD: It was my absolute pleasure

PGMAG: Please share your links with our readers.

DRD: www.ruchidana.com www.danagroups.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/ danaruchi/ twitter : @ruchidana Instagram : @ruchidana https://www.salt.org/bio-danaruchi