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US PUBLIC COMPANIES operate in a very hostile and Machiavellian environment. I have served on two NASDAQ listed boards, one for 14 years, and have seen all the dirty dealings of this very hostile environment, from disreputable law firms, sleazy takeover artists, greedy service providers, heavy-handed regulatory agencies, and analysts on some mind-altering drugs, to name but a few. Young entrepreneurs, I entreat you to know that this is not for you. If you do go here, find professional management and go back to the fun stuff. http://lnkd.in/Mc6cNg View in LinkedIn

IPO WINDOWS OPEN and we all get excited because it means that VCs will once again swim into the sector, because of a higher liquidity probability. But between costly and meaningless Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements, analyst timeframes of quarter by quartet, shareholder class action lawsuits, activist shareholders and hostile bids, there is very little to recommend about being a public company. It skews management focus from long-term to short-term, distracts management with tiresome housekeeping chores, and gives secrets to competitors. This is a very undesirable path to liquidity. http://lnkd.in/Mc6cNg View in LinkedIn

HOSTILE BIDS for public companies, like the Royalty Pharma bid for Élan, get ugly quickly, and resemble activist shareholder tactics by voting against management initiatives, and then trying to replace the board to wrest control away from the owner. In the end, if successful, most dismember the acquired company and sell off the parts. These scrapyard dog tactics are rather uniquely American and are powered by the same type of bottom fishing class action lawyers who plague public companies. This is the huge downside of the IPO path to VC liquidity and why Dell buys back stock for billions. http://lnkd.in/Mc6cNg View in LinkedIn

CLINICAL TRIAL design advice that is a must-read if you are involved in this area. http://lnkd.in/2HnbAq View in LinkedIn

THOUGHTFUL SUMMARY OF VS recent history and possible solutions for getting out of the low performance jam that they are in. What is clear is that the old VC model is having to change. It is ironic that many of the older guard of gatekeepers of innovation, as they were for a long spell, are reluctant to innovate themselves. That said, there is a new generation of younger VCs who are creative and innovative. http://lnkd.in/SmeNgA View in LinkedIn

BREATH SENSOR for acetone being developed for diabetes screening. Already similar technology is being developed to replicate the suggestion that animals can smell diseases, such as cancer, in humans probably though the volatile organics in breath and skin scents. http://lnkd.in/wj2sd7 View in LinkedIn

INTELLIGENT DRUGS are coming, especially from nano plus drug. View in LinkedIn

EUROPEAN TECH companies are greatly undervalued and have not been combed through and over-shopped like those in the US. The valuation gap is significant. Investors looking for good deals would be smart to investigate these opportunities. It is also true that most are the tangible fruits of a very significant investment by the EU and member countries into research that led to the IP at the heart of these companies. View in LinkedIn

THE END OF BLOOD DRIVES? Blood stem cells grown in vitro. View in LinkedIn

GENE PATENT REPORT affirms the important role that IP played in innovating commercial products, more in the past than now, and importantly, including use not composition of matter patents. I have licensed dozens of these patents during my career. I can absolutely affirm that IP was critical for securing VC funding and for creating a leading diagnostic venture. Unfortunately, players like Myriad pushed the limits so blatantly that the whole debate has been skewed. The compromise may be use patents which even purists should have no objection to, unless they fail to grasp Biz 101. http://lnkd.in/4eCD5J View in LinkedIn