Helping Startups Bring Complex Medical Devices to Life | Ben Trombold from Valentium

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98 percent of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments with relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more. Stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50 percent more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out at pathmonk.com.

Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Ben from Valentium. How are you doing today, Ben?

Ben Trombold: Good, Ernesto. Thanks for having me.

Ernesto: Oh, it’s great to have you on. We’re talking a little bit about Valentium, and that’s what I think our listeners are here for. Let’s give them why they’re tuning in. In your own words, Ben, can you tell us a little bit more about what Valentium is?

Ben: Yeah, so Valentium is a contract design manufacturing organization in the medical device industry. We focus predominantly on four different areas: neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac, and diabetes. Our company’s vision is to change lives for a better world, and we do that specifically through medical devices, providing life-saving therapies for people.

We’ve created devices that have helped people who have partially severed spinal cords walk again. We’ve helped people who have been trapped in their bodies communicate with loved ones through brain interfaces. And we’ve supported people who are 100 percent dependent on pacemakers—without which their hearts wouldn’t pump, and they wouldn’t be able to live. Anything advanced, that’s where we can help change lives and give people their lives back.

Ernesto: That’s amazing. That’s like a second opportunity toward life, so that’s great to hear. So our listeners can get a good understanding of Valentium. What would you say is a key problem you solve for patients?

Ben: We don’t have a specific area—it’s really wide-ranging. Neuromodulation covers spinal cord stimulators, deep brain stimulators, and brain interfaces. Cardiac sensing could involve temporary implantables, and we also handle vagus nerve stimulators or wearables.

One of the devices we’ve worked on reduces opioid withdrawal symptoms by up to 99 percent for both adults and babies born addicted. Reducing these withdrawal symptoms lets them overcome their addiction—or, in the case of babies, avoid starting their lives in pain. Really, we focus on breakthrough therapies. Even small changes can be life-changing for patients struggling with conditions like epileptic seizures or chronic migraines.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear. So who would your clients be—are you more B2B or direct-to-consumer?

Ben: We’re B2B, more of a professional services company. We work with startups as small as one person who has enough funding to develop prototypes and take them through the entire medical device development process, including FDA submissions. We also have a state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for commercial manufacturing when their devices are ready for market.

Our clients range from solo startups to Fortune 50 companies. The mission is the same: take a device from R&D to manufacturing so it can start helping patients as soon as possible.

Ernesto: Great. Let’s talk about how people find you. What would you say is your top client acquisition channel?

Ben: In the medical device industry, reputation and word-of-mouth are huge. Many of our leads come from inbound channels—content we’ve created, reputation, and referrals. Our team’s average tenure in the industry is 25 years, so that experience shines through in the technical content we produce.

Ernesto: Great to hear that. While I am here on the website, valentium.com—listeners can check you out there—what role does the website play in client acquisition?

Ben: The website is all about clarifying services. We do so much for so many different types of clients, and the website helps showcase who we are, what we do, and our mission. We’re currently redesigning it to make our message simpler and more concise. Simple is hard, but simple is worth it. We want to ensure there’s no confusion about how we provide value.

Ernesto: Now, let’s switch gears a bit and talk about you as a leader. As part of the senior leadership team, what are some key tasks you focus on daily?

Ben: I oversee both sales and marketing. My tasks range from evaluating strategies, tracking budgets, and managing campaigns to conducting A/B tests. I spend a lot of time identifying winners in our marketing efforts—what works, we double down on.

I also focus on people management, removing roadblocks for my team so they can focus on tasks only they can do. It’s about unlocking their potential and helping them be as effective as possible.

Ernesto: Great to hear. Let’s jump into our next section: the rapid-fire question round. You ready, Ben?

Ben: Yeah, let’s do it!

Ernesto: First off, what’s the last book you read?

Ben: Kind Folks Finish First by Sam Jacobs. It’s about how you don’t have to be cutthroat to succeed in business.

Ernesto: What is one thing Valentium is focused on at the moment?

Ben: We recently built a 50,000-square-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. We’re focusing on marketing it and getting it up and running as fast as possible.

Ernesto: If there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you’d fix for your role as a marketer?

Ben: Understanding the true intent of a website visitor—are they looking for info or our services? Knowing that would let us focus our efforts better.

Ernesto: If there’s one repetitive task you could automate, what would it be?

Ben: Tagging people in LinkedIn posts. I’d love a way to automate tagging individuals directly through our tools.

Ernesto: Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self starting as a marketer?

Ben: Focus more on creating valuable content and fostering an ecosystem. Providing value outside your services—through technical papers, podcasts, or industry insights—creates goodwill and keeps your company top of mind.

Ernesto: Great advice. Ben, thanks for being on the show with us today. If someone forgets everything about the interview, what’s one thing they should remember about Valentium?

Ben: If you have a complex medical device and want to push the boundaries of technology, give Valentium a call.

Ernesto: There you have it. Check them out at valentium.com. Ben, thanks for joining us. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks, Ben!

Ben: Thank you, Ernesto.