Category: Uncategorized

TRY AND ONLY WORK WITH GREAT PROPLE. Life is short, and nothing is worse than working with unethical, egotistical, or dishonest people, be they investors, staff, or board members. The experience will go south, the relationship deteriorate, and you will be tainted by association. Remember the Sniff Test: If it is not fun don't do it! Of course, hard work can be less than fun, but it better not be ghastly. View in LinkedIn

THE BARCELONA ACCIÓ CONFERENCE at the end of January was full to capacity with entrepreneurs and investors: lively speakers, elevator pitches from companies ranging from specialty Pharma to IT, and full-on networking. Among the thousand or so attendees was a Boston entrepreneur, originally from Mumbai, who had moved to Barcelona with his family, because of the dynamic entrepreneurial environment. Barcelona has given birth to a tremendously dynamic and imaginative culture of young companies, and is no longer just a hot vacation destination. View in LinkedIn

MANY DEALS REQUIRE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING and mutual respect to proceed, unless one of the key players is to depart. http://lnkd.in/i8NJM9 View in LinkedIn

GREAT ADVICE, about exits, liquidity and the personal goals of entrepreneurs and investors alike. If these goals are congruent, less problems will emerge. However, if the entrepreneur has misread (or ignored) the exit timetable of the investor, significant conflict and unhappiness will arise. Always check the exit expectations of an investor BEFORE YOU PITCH so as to save everyone time. Never take money that is not aligned with your exit plans. . http://lnkd.in/zZPgKV View in LinkedIn

STRESS TEST YOUR IP BEFORE YOU FILE IT. Some Big Pharma reportedly had patent cracking departments designed to stress test IP before it was filed; but alas, large swathes of Big Pharma IP are being overturned in court due to obviousness or prior art. The concept, however, is a great one. Use an expert patent litigator in your field to throw nuclear bombs at your IP before you file it, so you can fix the breaches before it goes to court. It will also add value, as investors will have additional comfort about the IP. View in LinkedIn

LINKEDIN IS ALSO GOOD FOR BD, be it strategic alliances, licensing, or raiding money. Not long ago one was forced to go to conferences to make that key contact, or try and find somebody to make an introduction. Now it is as simple as a few clicks. An easy prediction is that that these kinds of corporate interactions will increase, especially globally. http://lnkd.in/5DPQS8 View in LinkedIn

CAN ENTREPRENEURING BE TAUGHT? The jury is still out on this. My bias after working in and with startups all my working life is that it ultimately comes down to PERSONALITY. I have seen many examples of very smart people who simply were disasters in startups. Smarts is not enough. This sandbox requires people who are smart as well as having the right temperament. This includes being extremely personable, because this is ultimately a game of relating, interacting, convincing, and selling your ideas. It is all about relationships. You cannot teach personality. View in LinkedIn

CANCER TREATMENT CONTINUES TO GET SMARTER as more companies pursue a marriage of molecular diagnostics and available therapies. This same trend is emerging beyond cancer, as diagnostics are refining patient subsets in a wide range of diseases, and matching them with new drugs. While this approach got off to a slow start, it is gathering popularity at last. http://lnkd.in/sDAMia View in LinkedIn

SKUNK WORKS CAN ENHACE CREATIVITY. Famous examples like Edison and others discovered that putting creative people in large groups, with levels of bureaucracy, nearly always kills creativity. When these people are put in small groups unencumbered by baggage, they shine. I have seen this work in some of the companies I have worked with. I am led to the working hypothesis that big organizations are inherently crippled in this sense, and that it may simply be unrealistic to expect bold innovation from them. View in LinkedIn

THE NUMBER OF VCs ARE HALF WHAT THEY WERE during boom times, and their criteria are tougher. However, counties like Turkey and others are trying to stimulate entrepreneurship, and it is expanding in unlikely places. The Crisis is imposing discipline and rigor and that is no bad thing. More carefully thought-out biz plans and more attentive investors have to be a step forward. http://lnkd.in/4SkZEQ View in LinkedIn