01
Take the cash
02
Become an anthropologist
03
Break bread with potential candidates
04
Make sure your team knows the value of their time
Who is Michael?
Fereydoun’s decades-long career in biotech and finance has taken him across the globe, allowing him to live and work worldwide. With each new position, he made it a priority to live and embody the culture of every country he worked in, as he strongly believes that studying the culture of each region where you plan to work is crucial for success. With this strategy, he achieved a number of challenging objectives. Coming from a non-scientific, commercial background, Fereydoun has managed R&D organizations and spent 5 years as president and CEO of EMD Serono, the healthcare business of Merck.
Here he shares why you should worry less about dilution, why cultural context is key, his prerequisites before hiring, and the value of spending time with your team.
Many startups have to think about raising more capital every one to two years, but that is a huge distraction from your product development. This is a key reason why startups are often pressured to partner with pharma early, to show validation or bring in revenue. The problem is, partnering too early may make you enslaved to big pharma. More often than not, big pharma companies believe they know more about each area of development, often stifling a startup from having any breathing room.
If you have the funds at the table, take more cash early on (especially in this market) and worry less about dilution. This enables you to stay singularly focused on development and allows you more leverage when you are ready to partner with pharma. It also gives you more freedom to exit at the right time with the best deal.
That’s not to say that there aren’t massive benefits from co-promotion and co-marketing with big pharma. As a startup, you won’t have the same marketing budget as the bigger players, and they will likely have more experience with marketing treatments. The key is really knowing when you are ready for a large partnership because if you go too early you could sacrifice all your breathing room for your development plan.
01
Take the cash
If you have the funds at the table, take more cash early on and worry less about dilution.
02
Become an anthropologist
Whether you want to partner, sell, or hire internationally, you must understand the culture and history of each country you intend to work with. The most successful leaders and managers are anthropologists who look at a bigger picture of how someone’s culture may play into their wants, needs, and style of negotiation. I learned this the hard way.
Early in my career, I went to Israel, a country that has always been at war, but I wasn’t thinking about what that might mean from a business perspective. I found myself in a room with four majors and colonels of the Israel special forces - and I was asking for WAY too much. I ended up getting butchered in that meeting, but it turned out to be a great learning opportunity because it taught me that you have to really study the people and culture of those you want to work with in any capacity.
You don’t need a master’s degree in history for this - even an abbreviated version will suffice. Ask someone, “What book would you recommend I read to better understand your culture?” The key is to be open to each country’s culture and recognize that it WILL play a part in your business dealings.
Be open to each country’s culture and recognize that it WILL play a part in your business dealings.
When hiring, consider spending time with a potential candidate outside of the formal interview process. Any executive I’ve hired, I try to have lunch or dinner at their home, meet their family, and get a better understanding of them as a person. When you hire someone, you are making a big bet on them financially, in terms of bases, bonuses, and benefits, but also culturally, you’re betting this person will positively impact your business and your mission. Break bread with your potential hires and look more deeply into the value the person will bring to your team.
Don't just look for their capabilities, look for their courage and ambition. A creative person is usually also courageous because having an idea you believe in takes courage. These qualities are hugely beneficial to an organization.
03
Break bread with potential candidates
04
Make sure your team knows the value of their time
Good leaders create amazing teams by getting in the trenches with them. Listen to your employees' perspectives and show them that their input is valued–I’ve never seen genuine people only be motivated monetarily. As a leader you have to give them room and share YOUR weaknesses as well - the human psyche, even in a professional way, is to show the other person how important they are. In a relationship it’s called love, in a professional way, it’s being there and providing feedback. Above all else, good leaders remind people why they are there, the mission they are working toward, and the aspiration of what they want to become. Sit down and spend the time – that’s how you create success.
Above all else, good leaders remind people why they are there, the mission they are working toward, and the aspiration of what they want to become
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