VitaTalk Ep. 11

elliebecker35
Jun 25
3 min read

From the Garage to the Lab: Rich Thompson on Building VitaTek’s Bold Future

On a recent episode of the VitaTek VitaTalk podcast, we sat down with none other than Rich Thompson, our President of R&D and Engineering, known affectionately to the team as "Iron Man." His journey from a hands-on childhood filled with garage inventions to co-founding one of the most comprehensive medtech development companies in the country is as inspiring as it is visionary.

The Roots of an Inventor

Rich’s roots in innovation trace back to a garage filled with lawnmower engines, DIY ski sleds, and anything else he and his father could get their hands on. That early passion for building laid the groundwork for what would become a lifelong pursuit of design excellence. After earning a degree in industrial design, alongside another in economics, Rich began a two-decade career in consultancy work, eventually leading a high-performing team developing devices for major players in the medical space, including Olympus Medical.

Early Wins and Design Philosophy

His work with Olympus illustrates the kind of innovation Rich thrives on. Tasked with redesigning a modestly performing surgical device, Rich and his team developed and tested a wide range of concepts, consulted with physicians nationwide, and carefully crafted a solution that became a long-standing commercial success. That mindset, explore broadly, test rigorously, and refine precisely, has shaped everything he’s done since.

During that consultancy phase, Rich gained valuable insights not just into engineering, but into the shortcomings of the service-only business model. While the Red Group was known for its nimble, early-phase innovation, it lacked the infrastructure to see products through manufacturing, regulation, and commercialization. That limitation was always in the back of Rich’s mind, until the founding of VitaTek.

Founding a New Kind of Company

In 2021, Rich and CEO Jason Scherer began building something radically different. They envisioned a company that didn’t just serve others’ ideas but developed its own. At VitaTek, the aim was clear: to create a vertically integrated ecosystem that could carry a product from napkin sketch to operating room shelf. No handoffs. No outsourcing. Just a seamless pipeline of engineering, manufacturing, regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

VitaTek's Integrated Expansion

Today, VitaTek stands as that vision realized. Rich described the current state of the company as "cruising altitude", a phase where the systems are in place, the team is growing, and new devices are steadily entering the market. With two products already launched and more in development, the team is focused on refining their launch process, scaling operations, and expanding capabilities. From balloon manufacturing and UV laser systems to larger injection molding equipment, VitaTek is adding infrastructure at an impressive pace, all with the aim of developing more in-house, faster, and smarter.

Building the Right Team

Rich’s excitement about 2025 is palpable. He’s especially enthusiastic about a new orthopedic rehabilitation device that blends mechanical innovation with app-based user experience and wireless communication. It’s exactly the kind of multidisciplinary challenge that VitaTek is built to handle, and a reflection of Rich’s approach to product development: human-centered, technologically complex, and grounded in real-world outcomes.

He also shared thoughts on the future of his R&D team. The goal, he explained, isn’t to fill roles with narrow specialists but to continue building a team of versatile, driven generalists who can own entire projects. Whether the expertise comes from mechanical, electrical, or industrial design backgrounds, what matters most is the ability to collaborate, adapt, and deliver.

Inventing the Future, One Problem at a Time

Reflecting on recent wins, like a cutting-edge imaging device developed through iterative problem-solving, Rich emphasized that innovation at VitaTek isn’t about knowing every answer in advance. It’s about assembling the right minds, breaking problems into solvable pieces, and pushing forward one milestone at a time.

What’s Next for VitaTek

As the episode wrapped, it was clear that Rich isn’t just leading an engineering team, he’s co-architecting a new kind of medtech company. One that blends startup agility with manufacturing muscle. One that doesn’t stop at design reviews, but sees the process all the way through to product launches and market adoption. One that was built, quite literally, to do it all.

Stay tuned for more episodes and updates—because the best ideas in healthcare are just getting started.