Richard Rodriguez
Trevor Theriot paid visits to a few meetings of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization in Dallas, but he came away feeling as if it wasn’t his crowd.
A friend suggested he try EO Fort Worth.
“Ah,” he remembers thinking, “these are my people.”
Theriot is back as a finalist in the Fort Worth Inc.’s Entrepreneur of Excellence program. He is the founder, president, and CEO of ManaMed, a medical device company based in North Texas.
ManaMed has come a long way in eight short years.
The company, which has eight issued patents and 14 others pending, was recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country as part of the Inc. 5000 in 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, ManaMed introduced more than 20 new original products. Among those was a prescription device to treat the disease of lymphedema. Moreover, ManaMed is tackling the opioid crisis with a proprietary at-home ultrasound device that the company says has been shown to decrease pain by 23% over the placebo group.
“This vision to enter high market caps will enable ManaMed to soar to $100 million in annual sales,” Theriot says.
Since its founding in 2015, ManaMed has sold more than $130 million worth of products. In 2023, it reached 22% year-over-year growth. That despite losing a major customer in 2022.
He was overseas in October on business.
“The most difficult challenge I have faced is managing relationships abroad,” he says. “After doing more than $40 million of business with foreign vendors, it is always a struggle to safeguard our intellectual property, designs, and innovations.”
Theriot prepared himself for the rugged competition of facing off with billion-dollar health care corporations as a fullback at UCLA. He played for Karl Dorrell and Rick Neuheisel. Theriot earned a full scholarship after walking on as a freshman out of Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, California. He is considered one of the most decorated athletes in Orange County history as a tri-sport athlete — football, basketball, and track and field.
Theriot was Trevor inducted into the NFL Foundation and NFL Hall of Fame as an honored high school athlete in 2005.
He played in all 13 games for the Bruins as a fifth-year senior, and three times he was a member of Pac-10 All-Academic teams while double majoring in history and political science.
A teammate, placekicker Chris Griffith, led Theriot to medical device sales.
He started ManaMed with PlasmaFlow, a portable compression device that helps prevent blood clots by stimulating blood flow in the extremities.
“I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish together, but I know there’s still so much more out there waiting for us. I'm excited to see what the future will bring.”