By Ankit Mahadevia, chairman of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC
A common theme in startup literature is that by cutting a range of unnecessary tasks, a step-change in results will follow. I’ve found most suggestions on achieving this state of prioritization nirvana unhelpful. Most of us know how to prioritize the obvious things, and after that, everything on one’s plate still feels justifiably important. Whether an activity was useful or not is often only evaluable in hindsight.
It’s taken building multiple companies over the years to see the connection between activity and results. This framework has helped me tremendously as I’ve applied it to new endeavors. The most interesting part of this framework are activities that ended up being crucial that seemed relatively less important at the time, and tasks that I thought were really important that were not helpful. I share it below, and hope it starts a conversation that goes beyond the generic to make the most of each day building companies.
Secret weapons – what was even more important to results than I initially thought
Therapeutic positioning for your platform/lead program
I’d argue nothing is more important than figuring out the “so what” for patients of your approach early and refining it often. Companies I’ve advised or run have been tempted to defer these considerations until they progress more technically feasible but less clinically attractive applications. However, where you play therapeutically resonates for years, impacting how often and with whom you can finance, what kind of clinical trials you can run, and what strategic doors are open to you along the way. Further, I’ve observed that investors increasingly require this vision as a prerequisite to invest rather than a deliverable later on . In hindsight, any time I ever spent on these questions wasn’t enough. Practically, it helps early on to use the experience of your investors, board members, and trusted advisors to generate hypotheses, decide, and then iterate over time based on internal and external data. It also helps to commit this to routine – for example, companies I advise tackle refining their positioning at a minimum at each Board meeting.
Planting seeds with future collaborators
Cultivating stakeholders before you need them makes a massive difference (see a great post by Mike Cloonan focused on investors). Such discussions include sharing your story with a prospective partner before the science is mature enough for a deal, or engaging with a great CFO well before you’re ready for one. However, when a hundred things are coming your way, it’s easy to deprioritize such meetings since they are unlikely to drive a near-term deliverable. Also, it can feel awkward to share a story that’s just too early to incite action from your listener. Accordingly, while nobody sets out to deprioritize such discussions, they slowly get eroded by day to day demands.
I’ve been amazed by the “compound interest” these ad-hoc meetings offer when a financing or partnering process gets going. If you’ve set the stage about the “why” of your approach already, the focus can be on what you have and will deliver against that vision. When time is limited, it’s important to set up these seed-planting meetings to be productive. The most productive ones I’ve had are warm introductions from a trusted colleague, where I am giving a prospective collaborator an early look at our work they may not otherwise get, and asking for feedback – what resonates with our approach now and what we can deliver in the coming quarters to make for a future productive conversation. I will note, this intention to meet future collaborators can be taken to the extreme. A “shotgun” approach without prioritizing based on the quality of the input you’ll get or on the company’s priorities can fall into the “time suck” bucket.
Time sucks – Things that felt important early on that didn’t drive results
Premature visibility
Investing in visibility through press releases, social media, and media engagements, in hopes of furthering the company’s perceived momentum isn’t as helpful as I initially thought. It’s human to want to celebrate and publicize your life’s work. However, doing so before your competitive advantage is solid (IP, killer data, stable therapeutic positioning, the best advisors and team members, etc.) only helps your competition before you have a chance to outpace them. Further, in the cacophony of endless posts and tweets, this type of momentum rarely lasts unless it’s backed up by sustained pipeline progress which typically comes as a company matures. The other justification I’ve heard for it is that such visibility brings important potential collaborators to your door. In our hyper-connected world, I’d argue that targeted relationship building (see above) through your Board and colleagues can do more than a nonspecific PR driven approach. Indeed, stealth mode is a gift that I’d advise teams keep receiving until the business tells you otherwise – for example, as the company gets closer to the clinic, or is contemplating an IPO.
Premature process
The life of a biotech entrepreneur is sometimes one of punctuated equilibrium rather than constant action. There is the strong temptation to be “doing something” to further the business while waiting for data, or for investors/partners to get back to you. In the spirit of good governance, I’ve been tempted in the past to invest that pent-up energy creating structure that will be needed in the future as the company scales. Examples include more robust financial systems, or HR frameworks like review templates that may be too top heavy for an emerging company. I work with many talented finance/HR professionals who may throw their laptops at me for this point, and indeed, one may argue – what’s the harm of getting in place while you have the time? I’ve learned that too much process too early takes away precious time that a lean team can’t afford to spare, and at best doesn’t support the nimble mindset companies need to adjust course as scientific and market data accrue. There is definitely a time for process, but especially early on, those that work with me hear “keep it simple“ several times a day.
Starting a conversation
How you spend your time building your enterprise is as personal decision as any. I share my framework in hopes of starting a conversation about what’s important. In all of my company building and board work, I’m routinely amazed by the degree of effort and parallel processing teams will undertake on behalf of patients. With a little foresight, tuning that energy to the right activities can hopefully make the path to patients just a little bit easier.
