The Man with Midas Touch

In September 2021, before NASS, I wrote my review of exciting, up and?coming players. As I finished my list, I noticed that three out of?those?seven companies are associated with Alex Lukianov and Dr Kevin Foley. I have always advocated that great technology won't achieve great results without the right people on board, and this felt like the perfect example to prove that theory. Unsurprisingly, I wasn't the only one to point this out, as one of the first comments was from Ted Bird, who said:

‘A common theme for your list this year is Alex Lukianov and Kevin Foley, M.D. founded/affiliated companies, (Accelus, DuraStat and Tissue Differentiation intelligence, LLC).?These guys have the Midas touch in spine.’

My immediate thought was to reach out to Alex and to understand how he chooses his projects and to try and learn if there is a "secret sauce" to his success. I am very grateful that Alex was kind enough to grant me an interview, and over three articles you will find his hard work and enthusiasm for success have paid dividends, not just in business, but in his personal life as well. Hopefully, this series of articles with Alex will help to inspire the next generation of MedTech leaders and to continue pushing innovation forward.

In today's article, I would like to share more about Alex, his career, and his attitude toward bringing brilliant ideas to life.?

Inventing the unknown, imagining the impossible

For the few of you that may not have heard of Alex Lukianov, here is a short synopsis of his career progression.?To summarise, in Alex’s own words:

“I?have had the good fortune to be a part of a lot of good?technology.”

Alex’s journey in orthopaedics began with a Joint Venture between Stryker and Meadox Medical by bringing an artificial ACL to the sports medicine market. This was followed by Smith & Nephew, where he formed and led the Ilizarov Business Unit to manufacture and commercialise innovative?limb-lengthening technology?(distraction histogenesis) from Russia throughout the world. He then went on to spearhead Sofamor Danek, (now Medtronic), where he set the industry domination vision for the company. He introduced a customer-oriented culture and product innovation, leading them from #4 to #1 in the spine industry. He then took on a project that everyone said would be impossible, building another?company specialising in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, NuVasive - the billion-dollar start-up. And as the Founder and CEO of NuVasive, he proved everyone wrong. He built it from the ground up all the way to public offering and to the number #3 global spine company position with a $2.5 billion market cap (NUVA: NASDAQ). He achieved this through product innovation and Absolute Responsiveness with an emphasis on industry-leading service.

He hasn’t stopped there, in the Spine industry alone, he currently acts as chairman of the board in three companies—DuraStat, Tissue Differentiation Intelligence (TDi) and Accelus—which?we will discuss in the next article in more detail.

Success Story Takeaways?

When?we?follow Alex's journey,?we?wonder what makes him so successful.?How does he operate to repeatedly deliver unprecedented results? Throughout his career, he has succeeded, no?matter?the?technology. It?almost feels like?he?was the hidden formula for success. Just to further verify this,?I spoke to Keith Valentine and Pat Miles to get their perspective on the matter.?Here are the two key takeaways:?

1) Alex is committed to the customer?experience

According to Keith Valentine,?“Alex thought about every detail to make sure it was the best experience for the surgeon.”?It’s this surgeon-driven culture that has allowed Alex to retain their loyalty over the years.?

Alex has always made sure that everything?is?planned thoroughly, from?his guests’?travel?arrangements,?to?landing at the airport?and?arriving at the hotel?to a personal welcome. As Keith puts it, Alex felt that “the surgeon is giving us their time, so we have to make the experience perfect”. He even hired a concierge from one of the local hotels—someone who?truly understood the?customer experience—to ensure that the experience was seamless. He wanted the surgeon to leave and say, “Wow! I’m actually happy I took a day out of my practice, that was super informative. “

In fact, the more?Alex thought about it, the?more?it made sense to have?a cadaver lab?on site too,?specifically designed for ortho/neuro surgeons and their needs. So he did exactly that. He set up a cadaver lab?at the office?to ensure the very best spinal surgery training, and a product area where visitors could ask questions and debrief on the experience… perhaps over wine and cheese. This?surgeon-driven initiative?proved to be such a huge innovation that the industry would go onto follow in his footsteps.?

2) Alex’s passion?is contagious

Keith Valentine and Pat Miles both agreed that Alex is a very charismatic?and passionate?guy. Pat?recalls Alex creating a “performance culture” -that’s to say creating a passionate message, communicating it with a great sense of urgency and garnering a very personal buy-in across the entire company.??

Keith echoed this statement by commenting,

“Alex, and his passion was contagious. With his contagious passion, I got passionate, Pat got passionate, Jason Hannon got passionate, and we all drove it!”??

Pat recalls the time?Alex got a NuVasive XLIF surgery and?teased that he wasn’t just the CEO, but the ‘hair club for men guy’! He?was in surgery with Alex during?this?procedure?and remembers how excited Alex was to experience the procedure firsthand rather than relying on scientific data and others’ experiences. This drove him to sell the technology even harder, since he believed it was better than they had even been describing!?

About ten years ago, I, myself, had the pleasure of meeting NuVasive’s Jon Arcos in London and remember his pride in presenting me with his NuVasive business card with Alex’s x-ray on it.?What better way to sell your product than have your CEO’s?post op XLIF x-ray on?your?business cards? After all, very few CEO’s have the possibility to utilise their own products.?

So what does Alex have to say about his own passion? He?points out?that:

“I really enjoy building things and injecting culture into the process. It’s more the way you build the?company, versus just the product. That’s the way I look?at it.”

3) Alex has a family-focused philosophy??

There is great fluidity between Alex’s work and his private life. As Pat recalls, Alex would host Christmas parties at his house and would always say, “it’s not business, it’s personal” – quite the opposite of what many other businesses say. Let’s look at Alex’s background and personal life to gain a sense of what guides his ethics and decision-making.?

Alex was born in New York as a first-generation American. His Grandparents fled the Russian revolution. Both his parents were born outside Russia and they ended up meeting in New York City at the end of World War 2, having fled their homes through respective refugee efforts in their countries. As a result, Alex speaks Russian and was raised with Russian faith and culture. Alex's Father was a civil engineer who became the highest ranking priest in the Russian Orthodox Church. Father Valery authored many books, was a gifted orator, and built one of the most beautiful Cathedrals in North America in Southern New Jersey.

Family is certainly one of the things he feels very strongly about. His wife Katya, shares his passion for Russian Orthodox Chant music and they're both involved in philanthropy, helping to build new churches and seminaries. They have four children and recently, Alex enjoyed partaking in physical labour to help remodel his son's house. The Lukianov Family resides mostly in Florida on the east coast, while Alex's oldest daughter is a marketing director at ATEC. The Family often enjoys their condo in Manhattan and seeing Broadway shows.

Producer, performer, racer?

As it turns out, Alex has the Midas touch not only in Spine. His career most certainly has not overshadowed other facets of his life.?Think big - as in?Tony Awards?and?Grammy Nominations!?

Yes, he produces and performs music. He is a Tony Award winning producer for the stage show MEMPHIS. He has received multiple?Grammy Nominations?for his work producing, recording and singing?Russian Orthodox Chant at the highest professional level. At the time of our conversation, he was waiting to find out if they will receive another Grammy?nomination for their most recent CD, which came out on a London based label called Chandos, one of the bigger labels for Classical music. He is also planning to perform and record his 5th album later this year in Jerusalem.?

On top of this, he loves racing cars and building churches! He's?on the track once a week -mostly at the Concours Club in Miami where he is a Founding member, racing cars like BMW M2 CSR racer, or Porsche GT 3RS and Ferrari Challenge. He has re-modelled or built four churches over 25 years and is presently undertaking a massive project in Miami to build a Cathedral and Orthodox Spiritual music center. ?

Summary

So, this is Alex Lukianov. Successful businessman, family man, award-winning producer & musician and philanthropist. I hope that Alex's?journey, hard work and passion can help to inspire the next generation of leadership and innovation in the MedTech industries. Next month I will?discuss?Alex’s?current projects and what he looks for when committing to a project.

#PeopleInSpine series from?talanoa aims to introduce you to influential Spine professionals, investors and founders, sharing their success stories and overview of the market.

Support for?Ukraine

Nobody signs up for this newsletter for my ‘take’ on geopolitics.?

However, as I'm based in Poland, more and more people have been asking me about?how I am in the light of the military conflict of the next-door neighbour. Thank you for that. We're fine and trying our best to help those who come across to find shelter. We've sent clothes, blankets and toiletries to people who fled in a rush, we're signed up to take under our roof anybody who needs it.

With only a few exceptions, the World has condemned the Russian invasion on?Ukraine, but not many people know or fully understand the best ways to support or help the thousands of Ukrainians leaving homes, loved ones and livelihoods behind.

In Poland there are huge humanitarian efforts which include:

• ?Sending care packages to the border,?
• ?Sending care packages into?Ukraine?(much harder),
• ?Making immigration?into Poland as simple as possible,
• ?Welcoming refugees,?
• ?Finding them shelter (they join to live with Polish families),
• ?Offering jobs to Ukrainians who had to flee?their homes,
• ?And so much more.

If you want to support this humanitarian crisis, but don’t know how, please find a charities, that help?Ukrainian?civilians in these dark times. Any donations will help this cause.

PomTeam NGO Set up by our friend Eleonora, whose mother is Ukrainian and father is Polish. She was born and raised in Kharkiv (Ukraine) and moved to live in Poznan (Poland) 11 years ago. As a successful entrepreneur with strong connections in Ukraine, we're positive that this is a great way to help.

PAH a long standing charity that has been supporting diverse humanitarian crises.

Matthew Henshaw, Founder / CEO / Recruiter,?acts as a talent adviser and startup mentor in the medical device industry.?You can connect with?him?on LinkedIn?or?schedule your online consultation to learn more about building a successful team in MedTech.