The device industry has its share of serial inventors/entrepreneurs—that elite handful of company-creators who are able to return to the well of innovation for new ideas that lead to successful new companies. Most of the members of that rare group continue to innovate in a particular clinical specialty. Rarer still are those who can repeat their success across a variety of therapeutic areas. Alfred Mann is among the best examples of that distinct group.
What makes Mann’s extraordinary technological and commercial success in medical devices even more remarkable is that he got a late...