Ed Stevens was the CEO of Pulse NeedleFree, a successful US based business that developed ‘needle free’ injector solutions for animal health management in the swine sector. Datamars acquired Pulse NeedleFree with the view to help bring this great technology to more producers around the world, and to help expand the innovation into wider sectors beyond swine.
Kansas City-based Ed has recently been appointed to the new role of ‘Swine Platform Lead’ for Datamars.
Let’s get to know a little more about him…
What sparked your interest in the animal health industry (specifically swine)?
I kind of stumbled into it! I had a background in law and human medicine, and I initially became a partner in Pulse NeedleFree to commercialize human needle-free devices. The human development projects hit some technical and regulatory roadblocks, but the livestock side of the business showed much more promise. I saw a technology and an industry that needed it, and felt that was a more interesting career path than my previous one.
For swine, it seemed (and still seems) like an overlooked industry segment. I liked the idea of bringing high-tech solutions to species that often receive less attention than others.
With that different background, how did you learn the swine business?
I learned on the job. And I had a couple of really good instructors in our strategic sales representatives, Curtis Civis and Pat McIlrath. They both worked in the pork industry before joining Pulse and did an amazing job of teaching their boss about production practices, the products used and what their customers needed. To this day, I still call them to explain things to me.
How long had you been with Pulse NeedleFree, and what was attractive to you about Datamars?
I had been with Pulse NeedleFree for almost 20 years when Datamars acquired Pulse. As Pulse was looking at potential acquirers, we were thinking about a company that was a good fit for the Pulse team and the Pulse products, and personally I wanted people I would enjoy working with. I had known Andrew Shepherd for many years and this was a big positive for us. Then, as we had initial meetings and due diligence and got to know others on the leadership team better, we realized that this would be both a good business and cultural fit for our small team.
How has the transition into the Datamars organisation gone so far?
The biggest challenge has been coming from a small closely-held company with less than 15 employees into a larger company like Datamars. Datamars has processes and administrative things that Pulse, as a small business, simply did not have or do. So all that takes some getting used to.
But for me, it has been great because we have additional resources and expertise available to us. If we’re grappling with a problem, we have a lot more people to turn to for advice, support or expertise. And it is great to have a larger team raising awareness on needle-free in more markets around the world.
You’re stepping into a new role as Swine Platform Lead — can you tell us a bit about it? What excites you most about the role?
I am excited because this is very much an entrepreneurial project. Datamars has great products and people. We get to take these assets and advantages and apply them to a market that Datamars has not been fully engaged in. And the project is fairly straightforward: we are looking at a market segment and asking “what do we have?” “what do we need?” and “how do we go about growing in this area?”
So I am looking forward to taking an analytical approach to the work, and I see a lot of upside for Datamars in expanding our reach.
I’m also excited that the work will give me an opportunity to meet and interface with a wider portion of the Datamars team. So it helps bring a sense of connection and inclusion into the larger organization.
Can you share some of the most interesting projects you’ve worked on in recent years?
Pulse NeedleFree was always competing with disposable syringes, which are easy for farms to use because they are relatively low-cost, intuitive to use and disposable. Pulse set out to develop a low-cost disposable needle-free syringe, which became our Pulse FX product. The real work was done by Misha Zolotukhin and his engineering group, but it was fun to push the boundaries of what is possible for a totally new product concept. And I am personally proud of how the team cooperated on Pulse FX, and how this product opens up new avenues to get our technology into the hands of customers.
Outside of work, what’s something you’ve achieved that you’re really proud of?
I guess everyone says their family is their greatest achievement, but that’s my answer too. My wife and I raised three sons that are in the early stages of their career development, and are kind and caring people that I’m incredibly proud of.
What do you do to recharge outside of work?
I play tennis four or five times per week. This is early in the morning like 5:30am, so it helps me wake up and get my blood flowing for the day. Also, I am a pretty good player and a very obnoxious opponent. So tennis is somewhat therapeutic for me and it’s a big part of my life outside of work.