“If you ask for advice, you will receive money. If you ask for money, you will receive advice.” This was just one of the gold nuggets Dr. Pravin Chaturvedi offered to BioPort Atlantic conference attendees during his keynote speech late last month. With over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, multiple successful entrepreneurship endeavors under his belt and as a self-proclaimed “Agent Provocateur”, he was not scared to share his opinions and realities on the entrepreneur/investor relationship and how to successfully navigate them to build life sciences enterprises. I heard a great quote this fall from a speaker at a BioNova Boost session: “Companies don’t succeed, entrepreneurs succeed” (Kevin Talbot, Relay Ventures). According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs fail and Dr. Chaturvedi offered up his list of the top 10 mistakes entrepreneurs make to help you avoid these missteps and create a successful company:
10. Failing to understand the real business opportunity 9. Failing to appreciate and address competition 8. Building upon the wrong structure 7. Assembling the wrong team 6. Being unrealistic 5. Over-valuing the business at critical junctures 4. Allowing mole hills to grow into mountains 3. Failing to maximize your competitive advantages 2. Assembling the wrong investors 1. Failing to manage expectations with investors
A recent Entrevestor article stated life sciences is the second largest innovation sector in our region, with 13 life sciences companies forming in 2016, compared with six in 2014. This shows we have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and we, at BioNova, want to see a strong success rate because success not only impacts each company individually but our economy. If you are a life sciences entrepreneur and have questions on how to get started or how to build your high growth business, BioNova has the expertise and knowledge to help accelerate and drive your business forward. All the best, Scott Moffitt Managing Director, BioNova References Chaturvedi, P. (2015) BioPort Keynote address Moreira, C. (2016). Fostering Life Sciences Companies in NS. http://entrevestor.com/ac/blog/fostering-life-science-companies-in-ns/ Wagner, E. (2013). Five reasons 8 out of 10 business fail. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/#6391a2905e3c]]>