Niko Fotopolous (Princeton ’21) on Starting a Healthcare Company in College

Dear beautiful readers,

For this issue of PIE I am very excited to present Niko Fotopolous, a member of the Class of 2021 and founder of Blackwell Surgical Company, a startup that develops innovative surgical instruments. Although his major is still undeclared, that hasn’t stopped him from killing it with his company, which he founded as a FRESHMAN. Also want to give a shout-out to the Class of 2021, as PIE has interviewed three students founders so far and they’ve all been sophomores.

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1. How did the idea for Blackwell Surgical Company originate?

The founding team was myself and four of my best friends from high school; three are currently attending the University of Pennsylvania and one is at Johns Hopkins University. We had always wanted to start a business in high school, knowing the level of complementary skill sets that we possessed, but never had the time to do so. It was in a somewhat unorthodox way that we came together in December 2017 and said “Ok, let’s actually get this going.” We didn’t have an initial product idea to start, so we just brainstormed products in the areas we knew best: medicine, surgery, science. Eventually, we settled on this concept for an artificial ligament redesign, which led to us securing our first venture-backing and since then, we have continued to develop some new medical device concepts.

2. Did you receive help along the way when starting the company and in its initial stages? If so, from whom?

In general, we received the most help from our respective schools’ alumni networks. Everyone was so receptive to hear from an undergrad and really wanted to help us move forward with what we were doing. Having these resources, we were able to move much quicker than we thought possible. This, compounded with our own connections in the industry from past experiences, really helped us learn and make the right moves at the right times.

3. What unforeseen challenges did you encounter in this whole process?

Initially, we found it very difficult to come up with our first product idea. We brainstormed for months to come up with what we thought would be a home run of a product. Over time, we lost energy for the development of that product, our artificial ligament, as there were far greater roadblocks in FDA regulation than we first thought, something we were unfamiliar with and could not imagine overcoming ourselves with our limited resources. So we did what we always do: learn on the fly. We taught ourselves the regulatory process and saw how to make it past those roadblocks. It was always about continuing to move forward and continuing to learn, which only served to help us now in our current business pursuits.

4. What was the moment or series of events that made you realize that this company was worth sacrificing your time?

My team. It was always about how well we could get things done and work together. It remains the most proprietary aspect of what we do, where no one else can replicate the brainstorming and problem solving we can manage. I knew from the start that putting my time wholeheartedly into this team would produce. I wasn’t exactly sure what it would produce, but I knew something would come of it.

5. What experiences at Princeton inspired you to go into your field and contributed the most with developing your entrepreneurial skills?

Entering the Entrepreneurship Certificate was a pivotal part of my experience. I came into school not really knowing that I had an entrepreneurial drive, I just wanted to get some business-oriented classes in before graduating. At some point, we came together and wanted to start this business and I went to my entrepreneurship professor asking if it would all be worth it. My professor (Joy Marcus) told me as long as I believe in the idea and dedicate the time, it will work out.

6. What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs in college need to take advantage of the resources around them. So much of our success can be attributed to our schools, including the alumni networks and various organizations on campus that operate on the basis of helping young entrepreneurs succeed. I would also say to not be afraid to be outgoing and speak up. While being young and scrappy with entrepreneurship may be daunting, depending on the industry you’re in, you have to be confident in yourself and confident enough to make yourself heard. It is the only way to start to get people to listen and believe in the same idea that you believe in.

7. Is there anything else that you would like to share about Blackwell Surgical Company or your journey as an entrepreneur?

We have some exciting new pitches coming up soon that I cannot wait to see come to fruition. With our connections in the industry and experience in medical devices, we are developing a new MedTech incubator concept to optimize medical device development. We already have a ton of industry partners on-board, including J&J, Medtronic, Intuitive Surgical, and more. I am incredibly excited for this new chapter of our business and to see where it all goes!

This interview is brought to you by Allen Liu ’22. Reach out to him here for questions or comments.

And that’s it for this issue. As always, if you are involved with entrepreneurship in any way, role, shape, or form (VC, engineer, founder, etc.), or want to contribute to PIE, we’d love to talk to you :)