Category: Uncategorized

UNDER-PROMISE AND OVER-DELIVER is sound advice for CEOs. A BlowHard CEO who gives overly optimistic predictions will quickly wear thin on boards and investors alike. Be balanced in predictions and forecasts, disclose concerns and problems, and never try to play the field by telling one thing to one group and another to the next. The world is small, and people talk. Once your credibility is compromised, it is gone forever. 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

WEI-CHI IN CHINESE MEANS DANGER AND OPPORTUNITY. Chaos and ferment open doors that were otherwise closed. There are signs that The Crisis, as awful as it is, does have a flip-slide. Fixed ways of doing things are shifting under the pressure to find new solutions in so many areas. I see new creative solutions finding new receptivity. This is the time for gifted people to apply their ideas. View in LinkedIn

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS LEARNABLE? If this is indeed true, then everybody should be happy. More opportunity is better than less. Let us say the jury is still out, and let's see the data from great colleges like Babson who are training entrepreneurs. http://lnkd.in/ACHJVV View in LinkedIn