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WANTED: SUCCESSFUL MENTORS AND TECHNICAL EXPERTS in Biopharma, IT, and GreenTech, to virtually work as Consultants with Spanish tech companies. You set your fees abd conditions. View in LinkedIn

"HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING" is a useful way to ask legal advice about a delicate personal or corporate issue, because it is the modern analogue of "I have a friend who..." strategy. It does not put the lawyer in any compromised position in giving an answer, and is the equivalent of an academic case study. Use this for those sensitive issues. View in LinkedIn

EASTER IN SPAIN IS BIG: on Maunday Thursday, the small Catalan town of Verges held a nighttime spectacular (La Processó de Verges) with processions through town and an ancient play about Christ and Death that had been held every year since the Black Death (1358) decimated the town (and 25 million others). The thousands gathered was somber. Elsewhere across Spain Easter lively celebrations go until the very earlyhours. It is one of the remarkable charms of this country that it can respect an event in the 14th Century and participate at the cutting edge of technology at the same time. View in LinkedIn

ENTREPRENEURS MUST BE ADEPT AT NETWORKING. Shrinking violets need not apply. That said, most people find it understandably tough. This article has some helpful hints. Join Toastmasters if you want a fuller introduction to not being shy. I met a VC recently who went to a standup comic bootcamp to break his phobia. Admittedly, that is a choice that is pretty drastic, but I was informed that it worked a charm, http://lnkd.in/viCjjk View in LinkedIn

THE GENTLE ART OF PERSUASION is a term of art, or a fuddy-duddy old-fashioned way of saying the Art of Pitching. Personally, the sports metaphor grates, and there is a nasty front-of-the-tongue rancid taste of the used car salesman. The ancient Greeks found oration a noble art, full of strategems and lucid use of the language. For them, it was a high art. If you prefer, as I do, to think of persuasion as different from coercion or some type of trickery, you may want to use an older term to describe the life of an entrepreneur. http://lnkd.in/qddjb9 View in LinkedIn

AN EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAM CAN BE LIFE-CHANGING for busy executives who do not have the time to go back to school. It will challenge you to problem solve by case studies, under pressure in groups, and to think with business logic. Your mind will not be the same after this experience if you have gifted teachers. http://lnkd.in/uUF9RE View in LinkedIn

CAN THIS MAKE GUMBOOTS FOR FROGS? My old chemistry teacher used to pose this nonsense question to jolt young minds. The world's smallest (implantable) chemical detection device that transmits data to a mobile device in real time. Remarkable. What other applications could this brilliant technology have? Acute, real-time chemistry analysis. Of course angina. What about biological and chemical hazards in bioterrorism alerts? Chemical factory leaks? There must be a thousand clever applications. http://lnkd.in/Paxj9a View in LinkedIn

THE WALKABOUT LEADER VS THE BUNKERED LEADER: the leader that makes time in his or her busy life to walk the corridors, have informal chats without an agenda, enquire about the family, will develop trust and really know what is going on. This leader is accessible to all. The shy, paranoid, unsocial, hierarchical, or the disinterested leader will keep the Corner Office door closed, and be quietly distrusted and shunned by his or her staff. It is always worth the time to relate, unless you are in the wrong job. View in LinkedIn

IT IS CRITICAL TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CONTENT AND PROCESS. For example, a company that gets in a bind with a regulatory agency will work really hard to resolve the issue. But if the issue is about perception, and issues of trust, then linear logical strategies aimed at answering content objections will fail. The messy human-warm-and fuzzy business of relating, the act of crossing the isle for a personal meeting, may do more than the mountain of written rebuttals. Always ask yourself if the solution is about content or process (rarely done by boards, and hard for many super-smart executives). View in LinkedIn

CAPITAL FOR BIOPHARMA SMEs may be better sourced from PARTNERS than from VCs in todays world, if you have developed your technology to beyond POC. Partners will not care where in the world you are located, how fancy your board is, whether your capital structure is correct, and will not dilute your stock (usually). You will also be talking to an expert group, who will understand your innovation (assuming you have done your homework in choosing the partner). Partnering is a painfully slow and frustrating process, just like the VC route. Be prepared for this. View in LinkedIn