Lesson 4: learn your lessons

We all like happy endings, just as we choose to derive meaning from the past through the prism of the present. For Brandon and some of the original members of the Genetraks team – the true believers – the Genetraks experience was merely a prelude to bigger and better things. In many ways, it was the failure they had to have.

Following the demise of Genetraks, Brandon purchased the group's IP assets. In time, she launched a new company – Athlomics Pty Ltd – to apply the earlier lessons and get right what Genetraks had gotten wrong. Athlomics is developing a generic platform of genes for the assessment of immune effort in humans and animals. Brandon has also started another company, Uptake Health, an animal health company exploring opportunities in Australia and through a business partner in the US.

"Athlomics remains a higher risk company than Uptake Health, but it's not nearly as risky as Genetraks was, because we have a lot of IP," she says. "We can never stop making mistakes, but the lessons I've learned are definitely being put into place. It's the only way to grow."

15 INSIGHTS FROM A BATTLE-SCARRED START-UP CEO

1. Be brutally honest with yourself. Be wary of hearing 'what you want to hear' and not 'what you need to hear'.
2. Pay attention to those things that wake you up at night – they are usually important.
3. Have a complete understanding of all the risks at all times (with contingency plans formulated and updated regularly).
4. Keep a low public profile. Stay out of the headlines until you at least have product near to or in the market.
5. Stay humble and open-minded about any advice that is given or offered. You can always learn from anyone and everyone.
6. High quality governance and mentoring is critical. The right independent and commercially-focused Chairman is worth his/her weight in gold.
7. Insist on performance appraisals for individual Directors and the CEO on at least an annual basis.
8. Directors of the Board should be selected for the commercial value each can bring to the organisation's future development and success.
9. All Directors should be required to step-down after one year of service. They may be reappointed by a two-thirds majority for further years, but only on a year-by-year basis.
10. VCs may not necessarily make good Board members and are ultimately faced with a conflict of interest due to their exit focus and excessive workload.
11. 11. Crawl before you can walk. Walk before you run. The first product is important – it has to be "a humdinger" – and all the resources of the company need to be focused on getting product to market as cheaply and as quickly as possible.
12. Hire slowly and fire quickly. When hiring – especially overseas, use a reputable recruitment consultant even though it will cost you more - and listen to their advice.
13. Never agree to a payment ofany up-front fees for the conduct of due diligence. If a VC is really interested in the deal, due diligence will be conducted at their expense until the deal is sealed.
14. Keep in touch with your 'inner voice'. If it feels right, it's right. If it feels wrong, then do not proceed. All the logic in the world can tell you it's right, but if the inner voice is doubtful, don't do it.
15. Some bright ideas are just that – they are too expensive, too risky and too time consuming for a start-up to commercialise (in Australia, in particular).

Thanks go to Anne-Marie Birkill, CEO of i.lab Incubator (where Genetraks was originally located), for bringing Dr Roslyn Brandon's case study to our attention. It took courage and vision and was done with the education of entrepreneurs in mind.

 

Like This Article?

www.australiananthill.com

Australian Anthill has distinguished itself from other business magazines by taking an irreverent and often ‘edgy’ approach to business reporting, to reflect the youthful mindset of its readers — entrepreneurs , private company investors and service providers (the three groups vital to business development).

A core objective of Australian Anthill is to promote and stimulate investment in Australian made new-to-world technologies and fast-growth companies.

Want to subscribe?

Share and Enjoy: