Leslie Bottorff

Leslie Bottorff

Principal, Bottorff Advisors
BSIDE (Biomedical Engineering) 1979

Early in her studies at Purdue, Leslie Bottorff was interested in becoming a design engineer and building “The Six Million Dollar Man,” a TV show character that was a bionic man.  But thanks to her coursework and internships at Fermilab and GE Appliances, she decided that the R & D career path was too solitary and did not align with her strengths and need for social interaction.

“I could analyze the heck out of a circuit in electrical engineering classes, but I could not design one to save my soul,” she said.

Her internships also exposed her to a whole new career path in technical sales and marketing roles in industrial commercial organizations.

“I found that I had a knack for translating nerdy engineering concepts into simplified features and benefits and clearly communicating ‘the secret sauce’ to customers.”

These realizations were the impetus for a 45-year career in building companies as a venture capital investor and as a key sales and marketing executive in both startup and large medical companies. Currently, she is the principal of Bottorff Advisors and focuses on leveraging her experience in healthcare technology companies as a consultant to mentor CEOs and teams, helping them to accelerate growth.

She has worked with a diverse range of companies from seed to late commercial stage in multiple subsectors, business models and clinical specialties. She also has built teams from scratch, successfully launched a wide array of novel medical devices, defined and implemented strategies, developed new products, created new markets and pioneered adoption of new medical procedures and applications.

Specifically, Bottorff has been a key leader on teams developing pulse oximeters, implantable defibrillators, cardiac ablation systems, spine pain mitigation procedures, depression therapies and heart valves inserted via catheters.  And she was an early investor in imaging AI and other data analytics and IT technology to improve healthcare procedures and delivery.

As an undergraduate biomedical engineering student, she conducted research with the “Fab Four” (Leslie Geddes, Joe Bourland, Willis Tacker and Charles Babbs), who are considered the fathers of BME at Purdue. They “turned students’ mistakes into teachable moments, holding us to high expectations of academic performance, but with humanity and kindness to avoid discouragement.”

She also remains grateful to Richard Grace, then-head of Interdisciplinary Engineering and her academic advisor.  When she was contemplating becoming a patent attorney, he put her in contact with one. The interaction was invaluable, helping her conclude it was not the right fit for her.

“That kind of personal attention was unexpected at a large university. It made a huge impact on my success at Purdue and in my subsequent career.”

Bottorff is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, presenting on market opportunities created by applying new IT technologies such as AI and cloud connectivity to transform the delivery of healthcare. But she also finds time for engagement at her alma mater. She advises and partners with the Leslie Bottorff Fellowship Program, established to increase the exposure of Purdue doctoral engineering students to the real-world clinical environment to help them identify technology innovation opportunities.  In addition, she is a longtime member of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering’s Advisory Board, was named a 2019 Old Master and earned the 2012 School of Engineering Education Outstanding Alumni Award.

Career Highlights

2020–present	Principal, Bottorff Advisors
2018–2019	Senior Managing Director, General Electric (GE) Ventures, Healthcare
2014–2018	Managing Director, GE Ventures, Healthcare
1998–2013	Managing Director, ONSET Ventures
2006–2013	Board of Directors, Relievant Medsystems, Inc.
2003–2013	Board of Directors, Neuronetics, Inc.
2003–2011	Board of Directors, Sadra Medical, Inc.
1998–2003	Board of Directors, Spinal Concepts, Inc.
1999–2000	Founding Vice President, Marketing, Embolic Protection, Inc.
1994–1998	Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Medtronic CardioRhythm
1992–1994	Marketing Manager, Ventritex, Inc.
1988–1992	Product Manager, Menlo Care, Inc.
1986–1988	Product Manager, Nellcor, Inc.
1979–1983	Sales Representative, GE HealthCare

Education

1979	BSIDE (Biomedical Engineering), Purdue University
1985	MBA Business Administration, Harvard University