Starting Ingredients

I attended an excellent panel discussion last week organized by the American Chemical Society in which three CEOs of biotech start-ups shared their experiences of establishing new companies.

The three key ingredients to a successful start-up are: great science / intellectual property, experienced people and of course, financial backing. Each company had started out with a different one of these three ingredients, and then sought out the the other two.

Food for thought - in today's world, new companies build a core team as soon as funding is first received, almost always with former coworkers whose experience and capabilities are a known quantity. As product development progresses, these companies plan on using expert consultants and outsourcing to handle specialized, but non-core activities, rather than hiring and building these capabilities in-house.

Main take-away: if you are interested in joining a start-up company the best place to start is re-establishing contact with former coworkers and those who know what you can do. The evening finished on a very upbeat note, encouraging entrepreneurs to take courage and take the plunge now, at a time where start up costs, rents and used equipment are low, and dream teams are ready, willing and available.

Women's Side Businesses

Maybe the reason is Girl Scout Cookies, or perhaps it's bake sales or lemonade stands. But the fact is many women have side businesses in addition to a full time job (or being a stay-at-home Mom). Many of these are sales positions with franchises like Mary Kay, Tupperware, Pampered Chef or Usana, to name a few. Others are novel ideas for customized personal services, for example creating memories, preparing taxes or organizing. A key success factor for many of these businesses is leveraging the networks that women have - at work, at school, in the neighborhood.

What is it that makes us devote our precious spare time to a side business? Is it that we still need to earn extra pin money to cover the cost of child care? Is it a hobby that generates personal gain as well as satisfaction? How long do side businesses typically last before they give way to other more pressing occupations?

Paths to Entrepreneurship

"Yoraba taiju no kage" - "Select the big tree for your shelter". I heard this Japanese proverb yesterday at a panel discussion organized by the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, from Dr. Hiroyoshi Horikoshi, for many years head of Sankyo Research Labs in San Diego. It can also be translated as "if you are to serve, serve the powerful for your own good".

Dr. Horikoshi was seeking to explain why Japanese culture discourages entrepreneurship - to get on in life people are advised to go work for big companies or the government rather than take a risk and work for a small company or start-up.

How many entrepreneurs got started out of necessity, after a lay-off? Are there others who have tasted life in a major corporation and decided it is not for them - opting out for their own reasons? Is there a trend for students fresh from universities to reject the corporate path and head out on their own?