US Surgical: VP of R&D Kurt Azarbarzin on Scaling Product and Innovation of a Billion Dollar Empire
•February 20, 2026
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Why It Matters
US Surgical’s experience shows that disciplined innovation and close clinician collaboration can create durable growth, whereas diluting focus into legacy product lines can jeopardize market leadership, informing strategic decisions across the med‑tech sector.
Key Takeaways
- •US Surgical pioneered laparoscopic devices beyond staplers in late 80s
- •Marketing leader Lee Cohen drove entry into high‑volume laparoscopic procedures
- •Pilot manufacturing enabled rapid product cycles, delivering new tools every 2‑3 months
- •Competition with Ethicon forced costly diversification into sutures, diluting focus
- •Close surgeon partnerships built trust, sustaining US Surgical’s innovation advantage
Summary
The interview with Kurt Azarbarzin, US Surgical’s longtime VP of R&D, chronicles how the company grew from a modest stapler maker in the early 1980s into a multi‑billion‑dollar empire that helped define modern laparoscopic surgery.
Azarbarzin describes the shift from open staplers to laparoscopic instruments, crediting marketing chief Lee Cohen for convincing Leon Hirs to fund high‑volume laparoscopic products. A dedicated pilot‑manufacturing line allowed the team to launch new devices—graspers, dissectors, multi‑fire clip appliers—every two to three months, while R&D and marketing jointly fought for funding.
He emphasizes that “Ethicon were followers, not innovators,” highlighting US Surgical’s first‑to‑market clip applier and hernia devices. He also calls the later diversification into sutures “the biggest mistake,” which drained talent and resources away from the fast‑growing laparoscopy platform.
The story underscores that relentless focus, surgeon‑centric partnerships, and an agile production model can sustain market leadership, while unfocused expansion into adjacent categories can erode competitive advantage—a cautionary tale for med‑tech CEOs and investors.
Original Description
In this episode, Omar Khateeb speaks with Kurt Azarbarzin, former Global Head of R&D at US Surgical, takes us inside the company that helped launch the laparoscopic revolution and reshaped modern surgery. He shares what it was really like working 18 hour days in a hyper competitive battle against J and J, how US Surgical operated like a startup despite being public, and why relentless innovation made them the dominant force in medtech. Kurt reveals the internal fights for resources, the strategic mistake of entering sutures, the intense rivalry with Ethicon, and the leadership lessons he learned from Leon Hirsch. From building multi fire clip appliers to navigating lawsuits and the Tyco acquisition, this US Surgical Series episode is a masterclass in focus, execution, and the cost of losing strategic discipline. If you are a founder, executive, surgeon, or medical device rep, this is one story you need to hear.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 – “We were fighting for resources”- The intensity of early US Surgical
00:36 – Introduction to Kurt Azarbarzin & his 21-year US Surgical journey
02:30 – Joining US Surgical in 1983 (before finishing engineering school)
04:30 – The stapling boom & 24/7 manufacturing shifts
06:30 – Lee Cohen’s role in launching laparoscopy
09:00 – Convincing Leon Hirsch to enter laparoscopic surgery
12:00 – The SurgePort Trocar & birth of minimally invasive tools
15:00 – Building multi-fire clip appliers & early device innovation
18:00 – Startup mentality inside a public company
20:30 – 18-hour days, 7 days a week during the laparoscopic boom
23:00 – Competing with Ethicon: Innovators vs followers
26:00 – The biggest mistake: Entering the suture business
29:00 – Delayed launches & failures in sutures and needles
31:00 – SEC pressure, public scrutiny & Leon’s bold transparency
33:30 – R&D inside the OR: Cadavers, animals & human trials
35:30 – Use-and-abuse testing & surgical trial-by-fire stories
37:30 – Strategic planning “Ham & Pineapple Pizza” war room
39:00 – Lawsuits, patent battles & American College of Surgeons rivalry
40:30 – Tyco acquisition & the end of US Surgical culture
41:45 – Intuitive Surgical & the US Surgical sales legacy
42:45 – Final reflections on Leon Hirsch & leadership excellence
Are you a medtech CEO in need of some marketing help attracting investors, growing sales pipeline, and more? Go to GrowMyMedtech.com to book time for a free analysis.
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