Click Here for Part 1, Part II

Setting new standards of treatment with shockwave therapy

Avner Spector is the CEO and co-founder of Medispec, a medical technology company that specializes in extracorporeal shockwave therapy solutions. At clinics, medical centers, and hospitals in over 80 countries around the world, health care providers use Medispec’s systems to treat patients’ conditions in fields such as urology, cardiovascular medicine, and orthopedics. The company’s products are versatile, modular, and easy to use, and offer a high degree of mobility. Started in Tel Aviv, Israel, Medispec opened headquarters in the U.S. several years ago with the help of the Maryland/Israel Development Center (MIDC), a nonprofit organization that promotes trade and investment between Maryland and Israeli businesses and research institutions.

Avner Spector spoke with Barry Bogage, director of the MIDC, for this interview.

Tell us about working with the MIDC and its president, Barry Bogage.

AVNER SPECTOR: MIDC and Barry Bogage helped us a lot. We met him in the time that he just got into this business and we were a young company: one and a half people in the U.S.—not from a garage but out of flat of the only employee, who was also overseas half of the time. Obviously, we needed somebody who would guide us and help us to build connections people to and know which way to go, how to behave, how to become a company in the U.S. In the first few years, in the beginning of the company over here, this was a very important factor that helped us to be who we are today. And I think it’s a very good way, I think it’s very important for both sides. I believe that’s part of what I do for the community, that I see as volunteering activity. I try to help Israeli companies move to the U.S. and to go over the mentality and to understand which way they need to start to think a little bit differently from the way that they started in Israel. There are a lot of funny stories about it—unbelievable stories, the way that Israelis think that they want to do it. I said, “Look, you need to stop yourself and start to behave like Americans.”

How is running a business here different from running one in Israel?

In Israel it’s very common to ask somebody who you interview about what your wife or husband is doing, how many children you have—what they learned. It’s part of the Israeli mentality that everyone knows everyone. This could very quickly escalate even up to the level of sexual harassment. If you ask somebody, “Do you intend to be married? How many children, you think?” Or at least discrimination. And in Israel it’s a basic aspect: when you work with somebody, you know them as a person. One of the things that we try very hard to do in our company is to try to combine this mentality of family company where you know one another, but in an American way where you don’t get inside their personal lives. It’s very difficult to do it well. Sometimes we need hear people say, “it’s a little bit too much.” But the fact that we succeed and we have here a few employees that have worked more than 10 years—[VP and COO Anil] Dhingra and I have worked together for nearly 25 years—it’s really uncommon is U.S. companies to do it like that. At the last sales meeting one of our technicians said that it’s his 15th year in the company and he said, “no—it will be 18.” That’s something that does not exist in American companies: that you can keep people for a long time. I believe the reason we succeed at it is by knowing those people personally, as much as it is allowed. This is something that we bring from the Israeli mentality, but still all of our procedures go according to U.S. [regulations]. To cover this gap is sometimes a very big problem and I think it is a very big contribution that Barry has given to us, and I believe that’s how he can help any Israeli company.

ABOUT OFFIT KURMAN

Offit Kurman is one of the fastest-growing, full-service law firms in the Mid-Atlantic region. With 120 attorneys offering a comprehensive range of services in virtually every legal category, the firm is well positioned to meet the needs of dynamic businesses and the people who own and operate them. Our eight offices serve individual and corporate clients in the Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Northern Virginia markets, as well as the Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City metropolitan areas. At Offit Kurman, we are our clients’ most trusted legal advisors, professionals who help maximize and protect business value and personal wealth. In every interaction, we consistently maintain our clients’ confidence by remaining focused on furthering their objectives and achieving their goals in an efficient manner. Trust, knowledge, confidence—in a partner, that’s perfect.

You can connect with Offit Kurman via our Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages. You can also sign up to received Law Matters, Offit Kurman’s monthly newsletter covering a diverse selection of legal and corporate thought leadership content.

MARYLAND | PENNSYLVANIA | VIRGINIA | NEW JERSEY | NEW YORK | DELAWARE | WASHINGTON, DC

Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contactedwin.warfield@citybuzz.co

Connect on LinkedIn