We were already in great awe of Dr. Richter’s accomplishments before we started the day today. And our respect grew several leaps and bounds during the course of our interaction with him. Not only were we inspired by his relentless innovative genius that drove his 300+ patents, but we were also humbled to learn about the evolution of his thought process and how he valiantly overcame his many struggles over the decades.

Dr. Richter’s childhood in the socialist-zionist commune of Kibbutz helped him stand on his own feet early in life. He became a professional welder at the age of 12 – something that came back to help him greatly in building a competitive advantage in stent innovation as CTO of Medinol. His years as the head of R&D at the Israeli Air Force as well as his time at MIT as a neuroscientist helped him build a R&D and manufacturing setup so innovative that it attained over 90% gross margins, much higher than any competitor.

Dr. Richter spoke powerfully about the significantly higher satisfaction in creating value than in destroying it. When his stent invention saved the life of the wife of Saudi Arabia’s king, the royal family gifted him with a cake that had Saudi Arabia’s flag alongside Israel’s on it. It was an instant that eclipsed his many decades spent in the Defence Forces on guard against those very neighbours.

Dr. Richter’s frank assertion on the role of luck in success provided a valuable lesson. “Luck is like a fast beast that comes running by once in a lifetime. Know everything you can to grab it by the tail the moment you see it coming by”.

Dr. Richter’s risk-taking adventurous nature has hardly dimmed over the years. While age has made him select progressively slower modes of transport – from fighter jets to super bikes to horses – he continues to remain unafraid of calculated risks, as evidenced by the cast on his broken arm from a recent horse -riding accident. His lessons on measured risk-taking along with his optimistic, creative spirit has left us all boldly inspired.