Cover Story - The Five Percent: William Dai and the Discipline of Building Medtech Winners

In medtech, the distance between a promising idea and a product that truly reaches patients can be a long road. William Dai has spent more than three decades navigating that path. As Founding Managing Partner of ShangBay Capital, he has backed companies at their earliest stages and stayed with them through the hardest phases of growth. At LSI USA ’26 and in an interview with The Lens, Dai reflects on leadership, commercialization, and what it takes to build one of the estimated 5% of medtech companies that last.

Every medtech company begins with a belief: a new idea. A compelling technology. A founder who sees something others do not.

For a while, that belief is enough. Until it isn’t.

At some point, the timelines stretch. The capital becomes harder to raise. The questions shift from what could be possible to what can actually be delivered.

William Dai has seen that moment many times.

“Only about 5% of medtech startups eventually make it,” he says, in a conversation with The Lens. “You have to build smart, with that reality in mind.”

“Only about 5% of medtech startups eventually make it. You have to build smart, with that reality in mind.”

He does not soften or reframe this stark statistic.

Because if you are building in medtech, you are building inside that 5%.

Dai has spent more than 30 years doing exactly that. First at Boston Scientific, where he learned how innovation scales into global impact. Then, as Founding Managing Partner at ShangBay Capital, he has spent more than a decade backing early-stage companies and helping them navigate the long road to patients. Founded in 2015, ShangBay Capital focuses on investment opportunities within medical devices, biopharma, and healthcare that have clinical benefits for significant unmet needs.

This blog is originally published here: https://www.lifesciencemarketresearch.com/insights/cover-story-the-five-percent-william-dai-and-the-discipline-of-building-medtech-winners

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