Bio
Jay Watkins is a Managing Director at De Novo Ventures. Mr. Watkins is an operating executive with extensive experience founding and funding healthcare companies. Prior to joining DeNovo in 2002, Mr. Watkins was a co-founder and founding CEO of Origin Medsystems, a venture funded medical technology start-up which was purchased by Eli Lilly & Company. After Lilly formed Guidant, he joined the Management Committee and served as president of several divisions, including the Minimally Invasive Surgery Group, and Heart Rhythm Technologies. While President of the Cardiac and Vascular Surgery Group he initiated the development of a minimally invasive vein harvesting technology. He co-founded Gynecare, a women’s health care company which was spun out, taken public, and subsequently acquired by Johnson & Johnson. He was also the founding President of Compass, Guidant’s corporate business development and new ventures group where he was directly involved in the acquisition of two public companies and led venture investments in 14 companies including Impella, which developed the world’s first catheter delivered microaxial heart pump and Intuitive Surgical which developed the world’s largest selling surgical robot. Prior to founding Origin, Mr. Watkins held management positions in several start-ups, including Microgenics Corporation (acquired by Boehringer Mannheim), and was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. He has served as a board member for both private and public medtech companies and has been an active advisor and faculty member for the Kauffman Labs program which is dedicated to educating and training founders. Mr. Watkins received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his undergraduate degree from Stanford University.