Catching up with Geoff Beecher

In my conversation with Geoff Beecher, we talk about what all  Geoff has been doing, and he wrote a chapter in my Common Grounds 2 book. We talk about that chapter, talk about his career, where he has made seven exits successfully from medtech companies, spending his life in the operating room with surgeons, working with med tech companies, and how he and his current company Echelon Development group have developed an AI product to help founders and investors of med tech companies find the marketability and success using AI. predictability.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Welcome to the Common Ground podcast. Exploring how ethic relationships drive ethnicity. Join your host, Ansel Lee, as he has coffee with someone who is mastering the art of connection. So step back, grab your own cup of coffee, and join Ansel and his guests as they explore themes of healthcare, business, and building relationships in the marketplace. And now here's your host, Ansel Lee.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Hey, welcome to another, yeah, another edition of Ansel Lee Live. And man, special uh live today here with my with my buddy uh Jeff Beecher. Hey Jeff.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Hello, Ansel. How are you? I'm good, brother. What do you know, man? I don't know much, really. I think you already know that. I don't know much, but uh happy to be here today.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

No, that's uh let's let's give you a proper introduction here. Look at that. Um Jeff Beecher, uh, so folks know who you are. Oh, they all they already know who you are, but let's tell them again that you're the co-founder of Echelon Development Group and Astor Intel Corporation. It's a lot of words. That's a lot of words. It's uh man, two lines, two lines of uh that's that's impressive. I think you're my first two-liner.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Yeah, you just mentioned a minute a moment ago that all hat and no cattle, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:46

So yeah, we're I was admiring your um your your cowboy hat back there in the background next to your your get fiddle. And uh um I've I've heard I've heard your songs. You you write some good great songs.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Oh, thank you. Um yeah, I I gotta get back to it. I just haven't had much time, but um, it's it's always it's always in the back of my mind to um, you know, I hear things, you know, and it's like oh, I gotta write that down, you know. And I do, I'll stop the car and just you know, get my voice memo open and just start, you know, giving myself ideas. But yeah, I I'm still doing some of that. I just haven't had a chance to a lot of lyrics, uh, but uh haven't really had much time to to generate any sort of melody to go along with them. So I'm kind of stuck right now.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

But well, hey, you know, one of the one of the treats is when you and I were running up to one of the fuel events up in Bentville, Arkansas. You played me uh one of your songs, yeah. And I'm telling you, that was a treat. And uh so uh so proud of you for using that creative side of yourself. And and uh that that was that was really good. That was pretty special.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Well, and and as I recall, it was um I had a a genuine female artist uh sing that song, it which made you know it definitely made things better because uh you know you don't want you really don't want me singing it, but uh thank you for the compliment though. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Oh man, it was great, it was great, and uh hey, so hey, today we're catching up, and I I wanted to just um and actually, you know, fuel was one of the things you know you and I have been co-hosting fuel uh cohorts, and where we're we will interview these uh these companies, uh these startups, I guess, early stage companies that go through fuel. So you've been my my um my co-host, and we've had so much fun doing that through the years. And uh it's great to have, you know, I know you've been super busy doing other things lately, and it's glad it's so great to have you back on here. And uh I tell folks that um that you know Jeff Beecher wrote uh in the in Common Grounds 2. I I asked Jeff to write a chapter. And so when we finished the book, I asked my wife, I said, so what's your favorite chapter? And you know, what what what's what's your favorite chapter in my in our book? She said, Oh, the one the the that the uh one more one more call. Um and I'm like, oh my gosh, out of the whole book, you like Jeff's chapter the best. So you you're you're you're a talented guy. I mean it and and uh that's she's a very bright woman, you know. I mean that's for sure. Uh she has she had uh I've got caught her off guard when I'm when I'm when I married her. So I'm um I'm uh very I'm a very blessed guy to say the least. But uh and you know, one of the things that um that that I felt like you and I when we when we interview these people, these uh companies, because they're both I feel like you and I are like Donnie and Marie, and that that you're a little bit country, yeah. I'm a little bit country, you'll be rock and roll, whatever. That we're we're both um health tech.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Can I be Donnie just please? Can you Marie?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah, sounds fine to me.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

A wig on you or something, but go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

I won't say that I've not worn one before. Um the um but no, you you know, we come at it from two different angles, uh, both from the med tech, you med tech, me, health tech, and which we I felt like really you know helped us ask these questions of these uh startups. And so we had a lot of fun doing that. We did.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

And um, you know, and one of the things that I you know have learned about you through the years is that how how specialized, how well um you're you know, how how much time you spent in the NOAA number one.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

And uh man, that that chapter really speaks to that. Um, you know, talking about about getting uh somebody ought to you guys ought to read that chapter in my Common Grounds 2 book.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Um it's called One More Row. One more row. One more row. That's right. It's related to um my spending a lot of time on a farm in in Marion, Virginia, Southwest Virginia, not Southwest Virginia, but Southwest Virginia. Um, and you know, those years when I was 13, 14, 15, just working the farm, my sister's farm, cattle, and we were, you know, in the fields. And you know, the the the hand I was working with, the farm hand, you know, he would say, one more row. We got to go one more row. And it's you know, it's hot out. It's I can't wait to get to the porch and my guitar. And, you know, before you know it, you know, he kept saying one more row, one more row, and we completely did the whole field. So I took that sort of mindset with me. Fast forward 10 or 15 years later, I'm actually working Southwest Virginia for Johnson to Johnson. And, you know, it was getting late in the day. I'd been in the OR all day, and I thought, well, let's just go home. I got my kids are at home. I, you know, have a game of catch with my son or go check out my daughter in gymnastics. And I said, well, why don't you just make one more call? You know, and so I did. I pulled into the um rural hospital and everything, you know, from there, just uh I got pulled into a room and I had a device that um was really they they had a big problem going on in the room, and my device um happened to solve the problem. So it's it's the story about just um showing up, really. Just showing up. And um I personally I don't there's there's no hero here. Uh it's just that it's by showing up, you can change the course of a person's life, and that day we did. Um, that that day we we did. It was just uh kind of a memorable thing for me. Um, so anyway, you don't have to read the chapter now, I just told it to you.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

So well, there's more in that chapter that uh mentioned, but yes, but there's more. Um but um and I don't want to embarrass you, but I mean you've been doing this, I mean, pushing yourself here for uh I mean enough to go and make seven exits from med tech companies, so you're you're no you're no novice to this space, and uh and you've got that, yeah. You you have you you don't have you don't have any gray hair, but I I've got all your gray hair right here, brother.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Oh I've got I've got a lot of gray hair, just you know, you gotta look hard. I mean, it's there, it's not there's a lot of it, which I guess is what which is a good thing. But um, no, I'm uh I'm very fortunate to have spent and I I tried to calculate as as accurately as I could. I think I've underestimated it, but you know, 40,000 hours over uh nearly a 40-year career in the operating room or or the clinic um associated with uh the surgeon or the technique or the technology that I was representing. So yeah, um spent a lot of time there. And it's funny how um even if I were to go in the room tomorrow into a case, it's still like brand new to me, you know. Um, so uh it's been a great, great rewarding place for me. And um, I loved every minute of it.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Well, it it uh I'm um well you you work hard at it, and uh like you said, you show up and um you do the things a lot most people want. And um, I've just been around you long enough to to know and uh and learn from you, you know. It's uh that's a pretty pretty cool thing. Hey, you know, if you wouldn't mind, uh, and I've asked you about I cleared this with you before. Yeah I guess is that hey, can you give us an update on Kathy and how she's how she's doing?

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Yeah, uh my wife Kathy was diagnosed with um acute myeloid leukemia uh April 1st, 2026, 2025, sorry. So we're about 15 months. Um, brutal diagnosis. She's been through so much. Um, but I'm here to tell you, and she's actually drove herself to the clinic today. She's still pretty much tied to Virginia Commonwealth University, and I credit them for um just an outstanding um regimen that she has, and she's a very compliant patient, but they saved her life, they've um got her to a point where she's um coming off a lot of restrictions, so she's getting back to normal, you know. She actually dropped herself today. She'll be um, she hasn't been in a restaurant in 15 months, but that's gonna happen soon. So very excited about the future for her and for us as a family. And yeah, um I can't tell you how proud I am of her and uh the courage and determination um that she has um exhibited over the last 15 months, and all the people out there, including you, the thoughts and prayers have lifted us. Um, we couldn't have gotten through it. So thank you for asking.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Well, I listen, I know we we um I know and uh thank you for sharing. And uh and I know that your our our viewing audience really cares and wants to know, but thank you for giving us an update and give her give her our love, please. And um, hey, with that, hey, let's talk a little bit about uh Aster and um what um you know you were telling me you're like hey Ansel, I'm I'm I'm crossing over in your world now. And uh I was when you were you're talking about building this uh this platform. And uh so uh I'm very intrigued by what you guys are doing with uh this Aster Intel.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Yeah, so um yeah, we've we've been working on it for quite a while, um, about 18 months now. So um we built Aster because MedTech and and biotech, they they don't suffer from uh a lack of information. So if you look at investors and strategics, the big strategic corporations and innovators, they're all surrounded and inundated by information reports, expert opinions, market data and analytics. Um, the real problem is that the wrong assumption often survives diligence. Let me say that again that the wrong assumptions often survive the diligence and becomes the basis for major capital and strategic decisions. And so we saw that, we see it a lot, and so we started building Aster, and it's what we call governed applied intelligence. It helps convert fragmented fragmented evidence into market signals, um, commercial realities, and strategic constraints into uh strategic uh excuse me, into decision grade intelligence. So um I guess to put it simply, um artificial intelligence generates and Ask for Intel governs. That's kind of it in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Well, awesome. And uh and so the bottom line on this is that this and this intelligence can help uh uh an investor, help someone know you know how a product uh viability is.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, I think uh coming um from the Echelon Development Group, um we repeatedly saw talented organizations making uh you know high-stakes decisions with incomplete um visibility and information into you know commercial reality. And the challenge isn't a lack of data, it was the absence of a governed sort of framework to turn that information into into an action. So we assembled uh a team of operators and strategists and commercial leaders, clinicians, scientists, physicians, and technology experts to create something that doesn't replace human judgment. So that's not what we're trying to do. Um, I know a lot of folks out there are worried about our AI replacing that, and I'm not here to debate that. I'm sure that's a reality. I in fact, I know it is. We're not here to replace human judgment, we're here to strengthen it. Yeah, so we uh Aster is built by humans and we just govern it, governed it by by evidence, and uh and um you know we design it's designed for decision makers operating in a uh very complex environment um known as healthcare.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah. Hey, so how how close are you to launching this?

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Yeah, we are um essentially days away. So it's um we think we have our first strategic design partner. Um that's gonna be a big shot in the arm for us. Um, we have been pressure testing this now for well, since we really started. Um, so it's it's only gotten better, it compounds daily. Um, it's like a flywheel, right? It's just uh getting better and getting stronger, getting more intelligent. Um, but the similar but the structure is there, the governed applied intelligence is there now. I and I believe that we're creating a new category. So um we are essentially uh at launch, and um I'll I'll be happy to come on and tell you more about it when we do. Hot dog.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

All right, that's I'm excited about that. And um, and uh thank you for sharing it. What else about Astrid uh would you like to share with us?

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Yeah, I think even even um like on my own team, you know, we we often sort of you know get the misconception that we're we're AI, you know, we're an AI tool. Um but we have gone up against the generic AI platforms, uh Chat GPT, Claude, you know, Grok, all of them. And you know, we we continue to sort of impress investors, innovators, uh strategics with the knowledge that we have built. Um, it's really exciting. Um, and again, I I I can't say this, I can't say this enough that we're not trying to replace experienced professionals, we're trying to make them more effective, more informed. And and the thing that I haven't mentioned is uh we can do this at speed. So what let's just say um from an innovator's perspective, you know, we can help them um learn about how to prepare for strategic fit. So the same thing that a strategic is looking at from their view, we can inform them on the innovator. So there's this sort of backwards, forwards kind of look uh that we provide. Um, and we do that at speed. What might take a strategic weeks, maybe months to cull through all the information that they have to go through to make a decision? Um, we can do that in minutes. So more deals, um, maybe more kills, more opportunities. I mean, maybe we give them information that they don't waste a lot of time on. Maybe we give them information that this deal is is really a good deal, or an innovator, we show their weakness or their strengths. Where do they need to shore things up to be a credible opportunity for a strategic? And for the for the VC and the family offices out there, you know, they might not have a lot of staff, they might have analysts. We're not here to replace analysts either. I can't stress that enough, but we're here to strengthen the the humans who are working on these projects. And again, um, my tagline, which seems a bit stale now, but um, we are human intelligence, we're machine precision at speed. So that's Aster in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Well, and you know, and and and really what you're doing is bringing all your knowledge to bear, years of experience and and years of experience of multiple people uh to bear uh in in development of this uh technology.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Yeah, I can't I can't tell you how proud I am of my members on my team. I I have to pinch myself every day to say, you know, I'm here, I'm here along with these folks. They are just brilliant. And um, you know, I I'm not here to say that you know we're gonna conquer the world here. It's it's it's it's not a it's not a huge market, maybe, uh, in terms of uh of um you know something like the iPhone or you know anything like that. But I I know I know there's a definite need out there that decisions um decision decision support is needed, and we can surface these things pretty quickly, as I indicated. We can do this at speed, and uh again, um giving people uh support that are in places like uh the analyst, they can we can we can certainly give that human support to um by by our by our um platform. So pretty exciting.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Yep. So in the short term, where where can folks go to find out a little bit more about Aster?

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Um well, we have a website, but it's uh I'm kind of revamping it right now. So if you if you go to Echelon DG, um the other group that's really tied closely, all five members of Echelon are five members of Aster. We just uh expanded the the group into uh technology experts. So um you can go to echelondg.com and and find me there, or you can DM me right here on LinkedIn. Um I'm easy to find. And if you can't find me, surely you can find Aster Lee the third A3.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Absolutely. Hey, contact truly con if you can't find Jeff and you you can't but you can find me, message me, and I'll connect you with Jeff. Um now this is very exciting, Jeff, and and I uh I'm just I'm just very uh I'm very excited for you and um and what you guys are developing and excited for you to launch this here soon. And uh hope you'll come back on and and let's let's do a launch.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Oh, let's do that. I'll wear a cowboy hat.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Hey, um maybe I'll wear a hat. I don't know. But um man, it's so great to see you. Uh thanks for for taking the moment to catch up and you know tell tell us what's going on in your life. And um just uh hey, we're cheering for you in multiple ways, and let us know how we can be of help.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Ansel, thanks so much for having me today. It's great to see you. And uh, you know, we got to get back to interviewing these fuel people, you know. Um, I need to get up to Bentonville, it's been a while, but I need to get up there on maybe the next cohort and just uh I like going, just like hanging out there.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

It's like oh man, wonderful place. Isn't it the best? They do such an awesome job, and and we'll look uh hey, we'll shoot for the f the fall court cohort uh to get up there.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Sounds perfect. Thanks again.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

You bet. Well, hey, see you soon. Thanks again, and uh to our to our folks watching, hey, thanks for joining us today. And hey, as they say, more later.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Thanks, y'all. Good seeing you.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

Thanks again for joining us on the Common Ground Podcast, where relationship fuel success. If you would like an event to be built, please go to common groundthories.com. If you'd like to have a copy chat or title, you can message him on LinkedIn. This episode was completed by JVSenko. Thank you again for joining us. I'll see you next time.