John Adler, MD, never wanted to be an entrepreneur. His passion has always been medicine first, and neurosurgery second. “The minute I saw a brain operation, I fell in love,” Dr. Adler says. “Its sheer beauty, delicate physicality, is something I can only now try to convey in words.”
He advanced his education through medical school and residencies at top institutions, and later traveled to Sweden for a yearlong fellowship. There, the seeds of a new idea were planted, one that would help him pioneer an innovative technology in the field of brain surgery and deliver it to the world.
Now, roughly 40 years later, Dr. Adler is the founder of a small business with a big impact: delivering state-of-the-art cancer treatments to people around the world. Here, the neurosurgeon shares the lessons he’s learned on the journey from accomplished doctor to successful entrepreneur—including how his human-resources solutions partner, TriNet, made keeping track of the details a whole lot simpler.
An Inspired Introduction
Up until he arrived in Sweden, Dr. Adler had only witnessed what he refers to as “manual, open procedures,” in which a surgeon would physically open a patient’s skull to remove a tumor or blood clot from the brain. But under the guidance of one of the most renowned neurosurgeons of the 20th century, he learned about helping patients not just with a scalpel, but with precise energy X-rays. “That blew me away,” says Dr. Adler. “And I realized that the future of medicine was what he was creating.”
The technology, called stereotactic radiosurgery, uses myriad tiny beams of radiation to destroy tumors, abnormal blood vessels, and treat other diseases in the brain. “I liken it to what a magnifying glass does to sunlight,” says Dr. Adler. “The sun is not so powerful by itself, but if you put a magnifying glass in front of it, it has a transformative effect.” “Therapeutic radiation” machines use ionizing radiation (generally for cancer) that is much more powerful than, say, the radiation in diagnostic (e.g. bone and chest) X-rays. “By accurately focusing such higher energy radiation on a particular target, you can painlessly and non-invasively perform brain surgery.”
Precision and Partnership
Several years after his time in Sweden, Dr. Adler accepted a job in California close to Silicon Valley, where technology, entrepreneurship, and innovation are at the forefront of every conversation. “By sheer accident,” he says, “I landed in the middle of the startup world.”
That accident turned out to be quite serendipitous, since he was already developing a next-generation tool inspired by his work abroad. After attempts to sell this idea to big medical device companies fell on deaf ears, the neurosurgeon pivoted to starting his own business—despite having zero experience in that world.
“I had no real exposure to entrepreneurship before I decided to become an entrepreneur” he says, explaining that he felt these innovations were simply too important to not share with the world. And he’s certainly followed through: To date, Dr. Adler has invented the CyberKnife system (a type of robotic radiation therapy), founded the online medical journal Cureus, and launched ZAP Surgical, a company that provides his most recent invention, the ZAP-X—that is only dedicated to brain treatments—to medical organizations worldwide.
Adler attributes part of his continuing success as an entrepreneur to his partnership with TriNet, which provides access to human-resources needs for small- and medium-size businesses. While he stays focused on treating brain tumors other diseases of the head and neck, TriNet helps with benefits as well as payroll, risk management, and compliance—needs that, since they improve the quality of life of his employees, are as fundamental to his business as his inventions are to the world.
“I absolutely need the knowledge and the skills that TriNet brings,” Dr. Adler says, adding that the world of the small business owner can be challenging. “You’re trying to carry out a very important mission, and you’re generally thinly capitalized.” Add to that a complex interweaving of federal and state rules and regulations, and life-saving missions like Dr. Adler’s become increasingly difficult.
Nonetheless, the innovator is determined to deliver next-generation brain surgery to those who need it. “I believe very much in what I’m trying to accomplish,” he says. “Non-invasively and painlessly altering the human body in a therapeutic way is the holy grail of medicine.” And being able to keep his eye on that prize sustains his drive—while TriNet helps to sustain his business.
Learn all the ways TriNet allows businesses to thrive through customized HR solutions—from payroll to benefits to risk mitigation and more.
Samatha Center
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