No. 1: REINVEST YOUR PROFITS – When you first make
money, you may be tempted to spend it. Don’t. Instead, reinvest the
profits. Buffett learned this early on. In high school, he and a pal
bought a pinball machine to put in a barbershop. With the money they
earned, they bought more machines until they had eight in different
shops. When the friends sold the venture, Buffett used the proceeds to
buy stocks and to start another business.
Many medical
and life science technologies are R&D based. So if you sell your
company, re invest in a new venture. Don't blow it!
No. 2: BE WILLING TO BE DIFFERENT - Don’t base your
decisions upon what everyone is saying or doing. When Buffett began
managing money in 1956 with $100,000 cobbled together from a handful of
investors, he was dubbed an oddball. He worked in Omaha, not on Wall
Street, and he refused to tell his partners where he was putting their
money. People predicted that he’d fall, but when he closed his
partnership 14 years later, it was worth more than $100 million.
You
will come across investors and companies looking at your technology and
might say, " your technology is not a fit or does not attract us" you
pursue your technology, make sure you are realistic about the growth
and outcome of the company. If one investor rejects it, another will see
value, nobody knows! better Eg; Facebook.
No. 3: NEVER SUCK YOUR THUMB -
Gather in advance
any information you need to make a decision, and ask a friend or
relative to make sure that you stick to a deadline. Buffett prides
himself on swiftly making up his mind and acting on it. He calls any
unnecessary sitting and thinking “thumb-sucking.”
Sometimes
in the medtech sector the outcomes depend on the user too. Have they
followed your instruction to use the medical device or product, was the
patient qualified to get your treatment, did you provide adequate
training...all this consumes time, Don't make hasty decisions, take a
break and get back at it! harder and more tactfully, this time with a
new strategy.
No. 4: SPELL OUT THE DEAL BEFORE YOU START - Your
bargaining leverage is always greatest before you begin a job – that’s
when you have something to offer that the other party wants. Buffett
learned
this lesson the hard way as a kid, when his grandfather Earnest
hired him and a friend to dig out the family grocery store after a
blizzard. The boys spent five hours shoveling until they could barely
straighten their frozen hands. Afterward, his grandfather gave the pair
less that 90 cents to split.
As a life science
entrepreneur, your bargaining starts with the investors and ends with
the acquirer. So be on your toes! learn ..learn ...learn
No. 5: WATCH SMALL EXPENSES - Buffett invests in
business run by managers who obsess over the tiniest costs. He once
acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet
toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a
friend who painted only the side of his office building that faced the
road.
Many startups make a mistake of spending. I think after the recent recession, lessons have been learned.
No. 6: LIMIT WHAT YOU BORROW - Buffett has never
borrowed a significant amount – not to invest, not for a mortgage. He
has gotten many heartrending letters from people who thought their
borrowing was manageable but became overwhelmed by debt. His advice:
Negotiate with creditors to pay what you can. Then, when you’re
debt-free, work on saving some money that you can invest.
In a life science company, debt free is better.
No. 7: BE PERSISTENT - With tenacity and ingenuity,
you can win against a more established competitor. Buffett acquired the
Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983 because he liked the way its founder,
Rose Blumkin, did business. A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from
a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her
strategy was to undersell the big shots, and she was a merciless
negotiator.
#1 Rule of the game. Be Patient! Persistent & Passionate: Everything takes time.
No. 8: KNOW WHEN TO QUIT - Once, when Buffett was a
teen, he went to the racetrack. He bet on a race and lost. To recoup
his funds, he bet on another race. He lost again, leaving him with close
to nothing. He felt sick – he had squandered nearly a week’s earnings.
Buffett never repeated that mistake.
I think Buffent
meant "don't gamble". If you have the right recipe, give it your best
shot, in life sciences, the patient outcomes will direct you to quit or
stay in the game, don't quit too early. You might be able to change the
game with small modifications to your technology.
No. 9: ASSESS THE RISKS - In 1995, the employer of
Buffett’s son, Howie, was accused by the FBI of price-fixing. Buffett
advised Howie to imagine the worst- and best-case scenarios if he stayed
with the company. His son quickly realized the risks of staying far
outweighed any potential gains, and he quit the next day.
As
a life science entrepreneur, you know better the risk and benefits of
the product and the risk and benefit of sticking around and building
value.
No. 10: KNOW WHAT SUCCESS REALLY MEANS - Despite
his wealth, Buffett does not measure success by dollars. In 2006, he
pledged to give away almost his entire fortune to charities, primarily
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He’s adamant about not funding
monuments to himself – no Warren Buffett buildings or halls. “When you
get to my age, you’ll measure your success in life by how many of the
people you want to have love you actually do love you. That’s the
ultimate test of how you lived your life.”
Success is not about winning or losing, its how you played the game.!
Medical
technology is booming world wide, sometimes funding the company is
challenging, cast a wider net, you will prevail! have faith, believe in
yourself, and believe in the technology you created or represent, be
real with your team, keep them engaged and treat them like family. Once
the life science boom occurs in a couple of years, the valuations of the
company will be all time high and all parties involved with the company
will be rewarded.
