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employee. I wanted them to hear your passion. The E-Myth became the first read of all our new employees at AlphaGraphics, and in every one of my other companies, and the frequent brush up read of every employee. I built games and contests around the E-Myth material. You were the prophet, who I called my 6 th man, my wingman, and the enforcer of everything I taught from that point forward. In a way you might say, you’ve been with me in every one of my ventures. Through my evangelism of The E-Myth and Michael Gerber, my people developed a deep understanding of the principles of the E-Myth, and I was able to accelerate one outcome after another. We talked in the short hand of the E-Myth. My mantra became one of compressing time to accelerate outcomes.
Michael: But Rodger, you did n’t answer my question. My question is just how did the principles of the E-Myth impact the Artificial Heart? What was SynCardia like before you pitched in?
Rodger: 55 years of hard work, disappointment and dead ends preceded me. Beginning with Dr. Willem Kolff, a Dutch pioneer in the field of artificial organs who built the first Artificial Heart prototype in 1950. Dr. Robert Jarvik then popularized the Jarvik 7, but in 1991 in an action that stunned heart researchers, the FDA withdrew its approval of continued experimental use of the Jarvik artificial heart because of deficiencies found in its manufacture, documentation and vigilance. SynCardia was formed in 2002 by a group led by Dr. Jack Copeland which included Marvin J. Slepian MD, Richard Smith PHD, and Robert Sarver, Arizona’s best know n entrepreneur. In 2002, I invested in the A round of financing and joined the board later the same year. The company was operated by previous employees and directed by Marvin J. Slepian, Chairman and CEO. In October of 2004, SynCardia was granted an FDA approval to allow implantation of the Total Artificial Heart…however , by then, SynCardia was out of money and was selling just 20 Artificial Hearts a year at an average price of $25,000 each. Business systems necessary to live up to the standards set by the FDA didn ’ t exist and inventory control of raw materials, finished product and drivers in the field was shamefully inadequate. When I got there, 35 of the original 82 Total Artificial Heart drivers were accounted for, and the remainder vanished in the field. Yes, 47 unsupervised drivers for the total artificial heart just vanished! To understand what that means, it takes a driver to support an artificial heart and thus 47 patients at any given time were deprived of the gift of life ….in short, without a driver, they couldn’t benefit from the use of our Artificial Heart! To make matters even more frightening, SynCardia was denied a reimbursement code by the centers for Medicaid and Medicare. Without a reimbursement code the Artificial Heart and the implant procedure weren ’ t covered by insurance.
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