Insights
Perspectives on early-stage MedTech venture capital
Heinz Ventures publishes and teaches openly about how early-stage medical technology gets built, funded, and brought to patients. The writings and lectures here reflect how the firm thinks about the asset class, where regulated complexity creates durable advantage, how founders and investors work together through commercialization, and what separates a compelling MedTech company from an interesting one. It is written for founders, operators, and fellow investors, not as marketing.
Foundations of Venture Capital
Foundations of Venture Capital is an eight-session lecture series that walks through the venture capital asset class from first principles: how funds are structured, how capital is raised and deployed, how deals are sourced and diligenced, how ownership and returns actually work, and how companies reach exits and distributions. It was taught over the summer of 2026 to members of Eric's professional network, and is available to approved site members as an on-demand library.
The series is taught by Eric S. Heinz, Founder and Managing Partner of Heinz Ventures. Before founding the firm, Eric spent his career operating inside regulated medical technology, with tenures at Medtronic and Intuitive Surgical. He is a registered patent agent with 19 patents, holds a Stanford Biodesign Graduate Certificate and an MBA from Kellogg, and completed his bioengineering degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Alongside his work at Heinz Ventures, he serves as an independent board director and teaches: Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, and Entrepreneur in Residence at Northwestern University and the University of Memphis.
The series draws on Eric's experience as both an operator and early-stage MedTech investor, and features guest practitioners across law, banking, and investing.
The Lecture Series
Eight sessions, each 60 minutes: a ~25-minute framework, a fireside conversation with an invited guest, and open Q&A.
Lecture 1 — The Venture Capital Asset Class Power laws, the J-curve, and where venture fits in a portfolio.
Guest: Roger Royse, Haynes and Boone.
Lecture 2 — Inside a Venture Fund Structure, roles, fees vs. expenses, capital calls, and SPVs.
Guest: Mike Suprovici, Decile Group.
Lecture 3 — The MedTech Venture Sector Where science, regulation, and returns meet.
Guest: Jonathan Norris, HSBC Innovation.
Lecture 4 — Portfolio Construction How funds are actually built.
Lecture 5 — Term Sheets Economics vs. control.
Lecture 6 — Due Diligence How to evaluate a deal, and how to evaluate a fund.
Guest: Jonathan Turner, Avanos Medical
Lecture 7 — Creating Value Post-Investment What investors actually do between the wire and the exit.
Guest: Tyler Wanke, Madison Scientific
Lecture 8 — Exits and Distributions The distribution waterfall, and a few horror stories.