Month: September 2022

HOW MUCH STOCK TO GIVE IN EARLY TECH COMPANIES? The issue is most key for non-founders, since the founding team typically split the pie. The key is to give enough, but not too much. A hired-gun CEO can earn 5% post Series A; a CFO 1%; a CMO or CSO 4-5%; a COO 2-3%. Board members 1-2%, and SAB 1-2%, typically with double for the Chairman. It is important to give annual MBO based awards to keep them current, and always vesting straight line over 3-4 years. Try and leave enough in the SOP for future hires and distribution. View in LinkedIn

GRAVEYARDS CAN SPOOK INVESTORS. Where an industry segment has had a history of several well-known failures, most investors will run a mile, regardless of whether the failures were different from your invention. Graveyards spoil fresh markets and are very difficult to enter. It is your job to know these histories, and it is prudent to avoid them. You do not need controversy to plague your funding. This is a shame because most graveyards have untapped markets and significant opportunities. View in LinkedIn

IN M&A NEGOTIATIONS, VALUATION IS USUALLY A HOT TOPIC. You may elect to avoid the topic entirely by structuring your deal as an EARN-OUT. This structure is silent on valuation, except implicitly in the percentage allocations, but a small percent of a large future sum is often more palatable than a tiny valuation at the start. View in LinkedIn

IT IS TIME FOR EARLY STAGE BIOPHARMA TO THINK GLOBALLY, since there is an appetite in developing countries to use this economic jumpstart to stimulate their job growth and wealth creation. View in LinkedIn

PICTOGRAPHIC OF SURVEY OF 3.000 EARLY STAGE COMPANIES and reasons why they fail. Quite a useful read to see data on failure. Worth studying carefully, with the provision that it's hard to mix tech companies and non-tech companies. http://lnkd.in/XGdZWa View in LinkedIn

MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY OPTIMISTIC IN LARGE SURVEY. This is a good sign for the healthcare sector. I am waiting to see more confluence between devices and drugs, and devices and diagnostics in the coming two years. There are great opportunities to use the tremendous advanced in handheld iPhone devices to marry with a range of diagnostic applications. One small Barcelona company has a cancer breath test, that uses a small plug-in to the iPhone to analyze the data; and a TED series entrepreneur developed a urine analyte iPhone readout system. Watch this space, as I am wont to say. http://lnkd.in/BQEwC7 View in LinkedIn

A NICE HISTORY OF THE RISE OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN B SCHOOLS. Most B Schools have been surprisingly slow adopters of these changes, but once a few key schools were charging, the floodgates opened up. In a world so dominated by social media, no credible school could be without a program today. This history lets you see the early innovators vs the late adopters, and may inform your choice of B School. http://lnkd.in/pdW2mi View in LinkedIn

NANOPHARMACEUTICALS have been at the bench level for decades, despite often compelling data about lower dosing, solving insoluble API issues, getting increased dissolution, and higher bioavailability. As Elan's dominant nano IP has been expiring, and which launched the most marketed nano drugs, there are no obvious contenders in this space today. Elan's business model had fees that excluded all early stage Biopharma companies. There is room for a new entrant with a different model. http://lnkd.in/--VJGn View in LinkedIn

WHEN PARTNERING OVERSEAS, spend tine selecting the right in-country consultant to help with all levels of the project. Allow time, as it will not occur quickly. Do your homework on second or third tier targets with an interest in your therapeutic category. View in LinkedIn

TECHNOLOGY AFFECTS HOW WE LEARN, for sure, as this article amply points out. Mobile Apps enhance our geographical and historical awareness, and Distance Learning is becoming an alternative to classrooms. Perhaps the day is approaching when learning content is tailored to an individual's learning style. Beyond the reach of traditional classrooms, this would be an exciting development. http://m.fastcoexist.com/?m=fastcoexist/node/1681507&url=http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681507/the-future-of-education-eliminates-the-classroom-because-the-world-is-your-class View in LinkedIn