Chief Executive Officer - open source medical devices - Openwater

Company Overview

Openwater is pursuing a fundamentally unique open-source approach to creating next-generation medical technologies with the goal of dramatically increasing access to therapeutics and diagnostics that can treat cancers, mental disease, COVID/Long COVID, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and beyond. The company has demonstrated strong clinical feasibility results on a single device that could enable treatment across this broad spectrum of diseases. The company’s core technology was developed under Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, who is a tech pioneer, executive, and entrepreneur in physics, photonics, and consumer electronics. Openwater’s underlying platform uses modulation of light and sound waves to create dramatically higher performing therapeutic ultrasound and diagnostic imaging than possible before.

Importantly, in 2024, Openwater announced that it was becoming the world’s first for-profit open-source, open-patent, open-clinical data, and open-safety-sharing company. This decision was made primarily because it represents a less risky, more compelling business model: rather than spending decades and hundreds of millions of dollars developing a singular device for a single disease, open sourcing their technology allows Openwater to generate revenue by selling hardware and services, all the while spurring collaborators to test treatments across hundreds of diseases simultaneously. Similarly, by mirroring the impact of Moore’s law in the consumer electronics industry, expanding access to the technology will enable Openwater to capitalize on the efficiencies that come with high volume production – every 10x increase in production corresponds roughly to a 10x decrease in costs. Thus, a general-purpose semiconductor-based platform with adaptable software for each disease and treatment could yield a million-fold cost savings per treatment, spread across numerous diseases using the same hardware and software platform. The open-source model also allows the company to fulfill its mission to improve human health at unprecedented scale and dramatically increase access to life saving therapies. As such, Openwater is not just developing new technology, but pioneering an entirely new approach to healthcare.

Opportunity

Given the progress Openwater has made in developing and validating its technology, combined with successful fundraising and anticipated growth trajectory, it is the ideal time recruit a new Chief Executive Officer who will lead the company through the next stage of its evolution. We are seeking a visionary leader who will build on the tremendous progress the company has made and scale the business through an exciting phase of growth and commercialization.

Position

Openwater is currently organized under the leadership of Mary Lou Jepsen, Ph.D., Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chair of the Board. Dr. Jepsen is a technology pioneer whose inventions have been adopted across virtual and augmented reality, laptops and smartphones, holography and health wearables. She has been named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and is a former engineering executive of Facebook, Google, and Intel. She is also a former MIT Professor and founder of multiple hardware companies including One Laptop per Child (OLPC), in which she co-founded the company and served as Chief Technology Officer. She will remain an active chairman of the company serving 1-2 days per week in that role.

Additional members of Openwater’s Board of Directors include:

• Jeff Huber, Board Director, Founding Chief Executive Officer of Grail;

• Arjun “JJ” Desai, M.D., Board Director, Former Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Johnson & Johnson Innovation + JLABS; and

• Juan Enriquez, Board Director, Managing Director of Excel Venture Management.

The new Chief Executive Officer of Openwater will report to the Board of Directors and work collaboratively with Dr. Jepsen, the leadership team, and the Board to develop actionable business strategies, objectives, and plans aligned with short and long-term goals. The CEO will oversee all company operations while building a highly inclusive culture to ensure team members thrive. This individual must be a creative, open-minded thinker who embraces Openwater’s novel business model as a for-profit, open source, hard-tech, hardware/software/healthtech organization, and at the same time brings a crisp focus and drive towards execution. At a high level, this person will establish the company’s short- and long-term plans, and then will develop actionable strategies to guide the team to successfully execute those objectives. The Chief Executive Officer will transcend disciplinary boundaries across hardware, software, and healthcare to formulate and implement organizational policies and procedures that prime the company for outsized growth and efficiency. This person will be expected to operate out of the company’s headquarters in San Francisco.

Additional responsibilities for the role include:

• Collaborating with the Board of Directors to establish and drive organizational vision and mission, corporate strategy, and hiring needs;

• Overseeing the transition of a predominantly R&D focused hard-tech company into production and scalable operations across hardware, software, artificial intelligence, open-source, and healthcare;

• Growing the company to revenue on sales of devices and support.

• Leading fundraising efforts and actively participating in expansion activities such as acquisitions, partnerships, and investments;

• Managing the day-to-day operations of the business, including developing and implementing operational controls and procedures, reporting processes, and systems to support the company through growth;

• Recruiting, retaining, inspiring, and managing large and multidisciplinary teams, and having the leadership moxie and negotiation skills to catalyze organizational performance to deliver results that exceed expectations;

Individual

In terms of professional background, we are seeking an entrepreneurial and visionary leader who is committed to open-source medical devices and driving transformative healthcare initiatives at scale. This individual must bring deep experience in translating complex technologies and programs in hard tech hardware and software, artificial intelligence, open source, and or/healthcare components and devices into fully formed, commercially scaled products. The Chief Executive Officer should have broad functional expertise across engineering (hardware and software), operations, product development, and ideally will be well-versed in managing corporate functions such as finance, HR, legal, etc.

Exposure to healthcare or life sciences is not required – what is most important is that this individual has had experience delivering highly sophisticated and novel product solutions to the marketplace at scale. The Chief Executive Officer should also have a proven track record in forging creative partnerships, leveraging extensive networks, and executing deals while employing analytical acumen to navigate business directions. As such, this individual should have a successful history of leading fundraising efforts for later-stage technology and/or medical ventures, coupled with the ability to motivate, organize, and engage employees of diverse expertise. We are seeking an individual who is familiar and comfortable operating in high-growth, fast-paced environments.

As such, it is critical that the Chief Executive Officer have a demonstrable track record in guiding an organization through rapid scale-up and the successful attainment of technical, corporate, and commercial milestones. In summary, the Chief Executive Officer must demonstrate the ability to simultaneously provide long-term strategic direction for the organization, execute at a tactical level, and effectively function as the lead corporate spokesperson and evangelist for the company. This individual will also have an established reputation and visibility in the technology and/or medical communities, with a history of thought leadership and impactful contributions.

At a personal level, the position requires heightened intelligence, mature business judgment, decisiveness, an elevated work ethic, personal warmth, and rich imagination. This individual must possess well-developed leadership skills in order to motivate and retain high-quality individuals while inspiring hyperachievement across the organization. Paramount to success in the role is executive seasoning, forcefulness of personality, and other strong charismatic qualities that will enable him/her to lead effectively. The Chief Executive Officer should be adept at leading highly talented multidisciplinary teams and unifying them in the achievement of goals and objectives. Experience working in a dynamic, high-growth environment is required.

From an educational perspective, it is likely that this individual will have achieved an advanced degree in a business or technical discipline. Education, while important as an indicator of character, intellectual ability, and achievement, will be subordinate to personal qualities and professional accomplishments as variables in the selection process.