# The MedTech Founder Backing Surgical AI | Garrett Smith, ReefHaven Ventures

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/top-decile-podcast-7851283/the-medtech-founder-backing-surgical-ai-garrett-smith-reefhaven-ventures
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/top-decile-podcast-7851283/the-medtech-founder-backing-surgical-ai-garrett-smith-reefhaven-ventures.md
Podcast: [Top Decile Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/top-decile-podcast-7851283)
Published: 2026-06-01T09:06:12+00:00
Episode link: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/6277540417ea31f65709c29bbaeb21c0b7e1fcac1063f3e5afa8a303eede8e89/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJjZTMxYmNjMy1mZDhmLTRjYTYtOTFiMC0xZGZkOWRiMjM3Y2QiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJmOGJlZWFlOC0wMDgzLTQ3NzktYmVlMy01YjRhMjdjYzIyMmYiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OWMxNGUxYTM1ZDgwNDA3YmViYmZmNjciLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEwNjIwYjRkMzIxYzhhZjZmYmQzODljL2Nvbm5vci1zYXR0ZWx5cy1zdHVkaW8tY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi01LTE0X18yMS0yMS0yNC5tcDMifQ==.mp3
Audio file: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/6277540417ea31f65709c29bbaeb21c0b7e1fcac1063f3e5afa8a303eede8e89/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJjZTMxYmNjMy1mZDhmLTRjYTYtOTFiMC0xZGZkOWRiMjM3Y2QiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJmOGJlZWFlOC0wMDgzLTQ3NzktYmVlMy01YjRhMjdjYzIyMmYiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OWMxNGUxYTM1ZDgwNDA3YmViYmZmNjciLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEwNjIwYjRkMzIxYzhhZjZmYmQzODljL2Nvbm5vci1zYXR0ZWx5cy1zdHVkaW8tY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi01LTE0X18yMS0yMS0yNC5tcDMifQ==.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1093

## Resource

Garrett Smith holds a PhD in bioengineering from UC San Diego and co-founded two medtech companies acquired for a combined $600 million, one before FDA approval. After spending years investing in and partnering with early-stage companies at Johnson & Johnson, he launched Reef Haven Ventures to back life science and medtech founders at the convergence of biology, robotics, and AI. We get into why San Diego is an underserved gem for medtech seed capital, how Garrett thinks about backing AI-assisted surgical tools that could eventually move toward full autonomy, and what it means to invest in a company that can identify a patient's cancer type in real time rather than waiting weeks.

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## Transcript

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