Coining the phrase “start with the end in mind,” which has become foundational to every Fogarty company, is just one of the ways Marga Ortigas-Wedekind has made her mark as chief commercial strategy officer. From mentoring innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs to leading the education programs and helping drive Fogarty’s growing global alliances, she’s played a key role in the organization’s growth and evolution.
With more than three decades of experience in medical and health technology companies, Ortigas-Wedekind has been sharing her insight and knowledge at Fogarty since 2019.
Building the education programs
One of the areas Ortigas-Wedekind oversees is Fogarty’s education programs, which have evolved significantly during her tenure. “To much of the world, our brand revolves around our incubator efforts, but education is a key part of our mandate. Over the years we’ve raised its stature so much that now I believe Fogarty is perceived as we’d always hoped, as an educational incubator,” she said, describing her vision.
The educational programming spans a diverse range of initiatives, from reaching promising high school students through partnerships with organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union School District to expanding the Lefteroff Internship, created to honor former Fogarty Innovation board member, the late Tracy Lefteroff —an influential leader in venture capital-funded life sciences companies known for his commitment to mentoring the next generation.
Heading into its 12th cohort this summer, the internship immerses students in the multifaceted world of medical technology, offering a combination of didactic teaching programs, hands-on experience with Fogarty startups, professional development, and invaluable industry insights.
This year, the program drew 140 applicants and grew to 26 accepted interns through expansion efforts led by Ortigas-Wedekind and the Fogarty team—most notably a new alignment with El Camino Health. In addition to shadowing physicians and nurses, some interns will take on projects within hospital administration and operations, and all of them will be educated about these disciplines, opening valuable pathways for students interested in these fields.
Beyond the internship program, Fogarty’s lunch-and-learns have become one of the organization’s most recognized offerings, covering a wide range of topics of interest for early-stage startups, from technical and leadership issues to self-improvement, growth and emerging areas, like AI. “I’ve been really pleased with how many external industry people are now joining these sessions,” Ortigas-Wedekind said. “We really are helping elevate the startup ecosystem as a whole.”
Expanding with global alliances
Fogarty has also significantly extended its international reach in recent years, building on the organization’s original initiative—the corporate program, which hosted teams from leading Japanese medtech companies such as Terumo Medical and Mitsubishi.
That early work has since expanded to include partnerships such as Singapore Biodesign, a global affiliate of the Stanford Biodesign program, which helped launch MedTech Catapult, a $38 million national initiative hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) aimed at accelerating the development and commercialization of life science instruments and medical devices.
Building on this momentum, Ortigas-Wedekind helped close a multi-year effort to establish a similar partnership with Tokyo Biodesign and the Japanese government. The new initiative offers Biodesign entrepreneurs virtual coaching and mentorship, followed by an in-person immersion at its Silicon Valley campus.
“We’ve had a strong relationship with the Japanese medtech community from early on, rooted in their deep respect for our founder, Tom Fogarty, and we’re excited to see that relationship blossom,” she said.
Mentoring startups to success
Of course, all these educational endeavors are on top of Ortigas-Wedekind’s “regular job,” where she helps mentor and coach the Fogarty startups. That’s where “start with the end in mind” has proven especially valuable.
“A lot of our companies aren’t yet thinking about those larger next steps when they join us because they’re so early stage, but we’ve been successful in instilling the importance of including commercialization and reimbursement in their initial strategy,” she said. “Since historically only 30% of companies are acquired before commercialization, we encourage them to create a comprehensive plan for bringing their product to patients. If they happen to be acquired earlier, that’s a bonus.”
This holistic approach entails considering the entire spectrum of decision makers and end users, which can include doctors and healthcare systems. “We encourage our entrepreneurs to consider any tweaks they can make in their product design early on, to streamline adoption down the road,” she said.
A new venture
Those in the medtech ecosystem know the close ties that are formed in the course of a career, and that is certainly the case for Ortigas-Wedekind and her new partners in a winery, Chateau Caroline. She’s known co-founder Thierry Thaure since her first job in the industry in 1990, and when he and his wife Carol McCloskey bought a property in Mount Hamilton in San Jose with ample acreage, she helped harvest grapes for what began as a backyard grape-growing hobby.
Over time, the Thaures decided to expand and invited Ortigas-Wedekind and her husband Cris to become partners. Since then, Chateau Caroline’s output has grown from a small selection of rosé and GSM (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre) to its current portfolio of 10 wines. It’s a fitting full-circle moment — Fogarty’s late founder, Dr. Thomas Fogarty, also blended his medical career with a passion for winemaking, founding Thomas Fogarty Winery in Woodside in 1981 to share a family venture alongside his pioneering medical device work.
“This was a great opportunity for Cris and me to jump in and work with a serious winemaker, producing wines we can truly be proud of,” she said. In just its first year, two of the wines earned 93-point scores from Wine Enthusiast, and another took home a gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
While production is still limited, Chateau Caroline sells to a number of restaurants, wine bars and high-end merchants, in addition to its wine club members. What’s most exciting to Ortigas-Wedekind is that the venture is a true family affair—their daughter designed the wine bottle labels, she leads marketing efforts, and her husband, now retired, drives a variety of operational functions.
As she hones her skills in the winemaking business, Ortigas-Wedekind continues her impressive work at Fogarty. “You really feel like you’re making an impact, and it’s also just a fun and invigorating environment,” she said, noting that a visiting physician from the Dartmouth 3D Scholars program also recognized the unique vibe. “He said he noticed how optimistic we are and how much joy we get out of our work, despite how challenging it can be to raise money. It’s always fulfilling when you know you’re really making a difference.”