More often than not these days, I am meeting and greeting folks whose lights are shining much more brightly than yours truly. While not necessarily dimwitted at this point in time, I am lacking knowledge in a surprisingly diverse number of areas. Thankfully, these apparent shortcomings have not hindered me terribly. (Although, admittedly, I'm fearful that the knowledge police will soon identify and imprisoned me with the other dolts that masquerade on the Internet as authoritative bloggers.)
In this regard, I have an upcoming meeting with one of the country's most esteemed member of the medical profession, whose most pleasing and understated demeanor nonetheless belies an intellect that dwarfs us commoners. This introductory meeting was facilitated by a New York childhood physician friend. This esteemed medical professional and I share common roots, albeit separated by a decade in age. Selfishly, I enjoy meeting human beings who are highly accomplished in their chosen fields. In this case, in connection with one of my latest ventures, I need support from medical professionals, preferably those with great credentials and a dynamic presence. After a fair amount of searching my network, I managed to identify three such individuals, but getting them to visit with me to hear my pitch is no picnic in the park, that's for sure.
So, as I prepare for this meeting, I find myself ill at ease in attempting to express why I need this type support in connection with my healthcare venture. While money is always nice, I'm not really interested in raising capital at this point. I'm actually looking for verification of the idea that better health care awareness is a necessity for the public consumers' good. I'm no expert in health care or in medicine (although I do make sure I have my annual physical). The following question is somewhat rhetorical, but: "How do you engage someone in a topic that you are clearly inadequate to speak about when conversing with an expert?" I should add, to do so without looking like an imbecile.
Any suggestions or approaches would be welcomed.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
New York State of Mind
In our last post, we explored dealing with the issues of starting a new venture based on an idea, not necessarily a protectable one, and the challenges and risks facing me in an uncertain and unfriendly economic environment. As the head of a boutique investment advisory firm, which was founded more than 20 years ago without any real business plan, I have managed to somehow survive, and even at times prosper, despite the inevitable ups and downs of the global business world. Most recently, after reading this review on the power of twitter. I have made a concerted effort to understand how to best "tweet "while complying in a manly fashion. I also seek to understand the needs that Twitter serves to satisfy, something that had escaped me until recently. More importantly, perhaps, I can yet become a contributing member to a social network community not yet fully known to me.
I have been recently enamored with an old love, broadcast radio, on the FM band, which is currently underutilized and unappreciated in many respects. Much of the statistics presented here are provided by my partner in crime, Bill, who has successfully managed his stations to serve as a new media bridge to the broader, but locally targeted audience, available market offered by the Internet sites that he created and hosts. Amongst Bill, the radio and new media maven, Ed, our authoritative expert on the health care, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and related FDA compliance and myself, we form the basis of a highly accomplished and successful executive team that should by all accounts be taken seriously. You can read the importance of the team here on my examiner.com column.
Thus, through networking with a childhood doctor friend, I have made contact with a very distinguished semiretired department head of a major San Francisco teaching hospital who now provides health care information with an emphasis on cancer education and drug ramifications via his podcasts. During our lengthy introductory telephone conversation, the length of which was uncommonly generous for someone so accomplished in his profession, we were able to enjoy a common bond of growing up in the Washington Heights section of New York. We both laughed at the absurdity of a hit musical Broadway show, The Heights, given the knowledge that we knew of the neighborhood during the stretch of time both he and I attempted to survive in an environment. Hardly, it would seem worthy of the subject of a hit musical, but it remains a fact and we both have to live with it. After exchanging some biographical information as well, we seem to agree that we share a common goal and attempting to educate consumers by providing more accessible and digestible health care and drug information. One of the goals of this adventure is to provide such information in the most consumer friendly manner, entertaining in nature, leading to greater education and a more informed public. There are many websites available for people to consider, so we need to distinguish ourselves in some manner.
In any event, I'm looking forward to the meeting and seeing if I can gain his support in moving this project forward; having him on board, from my perspective, will give us much needed credibility in the medical profession in his subject matter expertise, cancer, as well as, establish a high standing for us. Hopefully, we will then be able to attract other distinguished medical specialists, as well as, hospitals, insurance companies, other health care providers and medical device companies that could serve as substantial financial and advertising supporters of venture.
I think that we can use radio to our advantage and am about to test that notion with a medical expert and see if I can get his support. If anyone has any questions I should ask, just drop me a line.
I have been recently enamored with an old love, broadcast radio, on the FM band, which is currently underutilized and unappreciated in many respects. Much of the statistics presented here are provided by my partner in crime, Bill, who has successfully managed his stations to serve as a new media bridge to the broader, but locally targeted audience, available market offered by the Internet sites that he created and hosts. Amongst Bill, the radio and new media maven, Ed, our authoritative expert on the health care, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and related FDA compliance and myself, we form the basis of a highly accomplished and successful executive team that should by all accounts be taken seriously. You can read the importance of the team here on my examiner.com column.
Thus, through networking with a childhood doctor friend, I have made contact with a very distinguished semiretired department head of a major San Francisco teaching hospital who now provides health care information with an emphasis on cancer education and drug ramifications via his podcasts. During our lengthy introductory telephone conversation, the length of which was uncommonly generous for someone so accomplished in his profession, we were able to enjoy a common bond of growing up in the Washington Heights section of New York. We both laughed at the absurdity of a hit musical Broadway show, The Heights, given the knowledge that we knew of the neighborhood during the stretch of time both he and I attempted to survive in an environment. Hardly, it would seem worthy of the subject of a hit musical, but it remains a fact and we both have to live with it. After exchanging some biographical information as well, we seem to agree that we share a common goal and attempting to educate consumers by providing more accessible and digestible health care and drug information. One of the goals of this adventure is to provide such information in the most consumer friendly manner, entertaining in nature, leading to greater education and a more informed public. There are many websites available for people to consider, so we need to distinguish ourselves in some manner.
In any event, I'm looking forward to the meeting and seeing if I can gain his support in moving this project forward; having him on board, from my perspective, will give us much needed credibility in the medical profession in his subject matter expertise, cancer, as well as, establish a high standing for us. Hopefully, we will then be able to attract other distinguished medical specialists, as well as, hospitals, insurance companies, other health care providers and medical device companies that could serve as substantial financial and advertising supporters of venture.
I think that we can use radio to our advantage and am about to test that notion with a medical expert and see if I can get his support. If anyone has any questions I should ask, just drop me a line.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tapping Your Contacts
We're fairly confident that we are taken seriously when we present clients as they are screened as carefully as if they were being introduced to the investment community or to strategic partners. It didn't take us long to learn this lesson, for having been a startup entrepreneur myself a while back, I knew the value of professionals who have been there and done that. Take it from one who knows, choose professionals who are well experienced in the startup world and you'll increase your chances of success exponentially.
The first venture that we have started involves a new way to use radio as a bridge to new media, or the internet. There is no astonishing technology involved, but just plain old talent in connecting the new with the old. The idea came about from my need to relive a part of my youth. With the advent of the MP3 world and the revolution caused by iTunes, I understand that radio has been become a relic to many. Radio broadcasting remains a vibrant local medium, despite the fact that some of the voices you hear in Seattle are really based in New York. In any event, without revealing the plot, suffice to say, I corralled a private equity friend whose firm owned a bunch of radio properties and told him of my desire to be the successor to Al Franken as he left to start his political career. With the appropriate analogy of me seeking a radio career akin to those pursuing their athletic careers at one of those fantasy sports camps. My buddy happily obliged me with an introduction to a fabulous fellow who had been a former President of a larger radio group. Now a consultant, having taken his buyout package with him to the Poconos, Bill, as he will now be referred to, was currently in the business of creating radio formats and new radio personalities to expose to the unsuspecting public.
Well, one thing leads to another after our chats and we start talking inevitably about how to make money in this business. For the time being, much to my chagrin, we have not yet started the arduous process to make me a radio personality. With all the new media opportunities on the social net works, I am confident that stardom awaits me, or eludes me, as the case may be. For sure, however, the best advice he had was to tell me that I had to have a "shtick" or a theme, like conservative Rush or the outrageous Howard or the forgiven Imus. I shelved the idea of playing off my "Jewish kid stuck inside a Chinese body" persona as I wasn't sure how it would play in a syndicated format in Iowa.
With the much-needed help of my dear lawyer buddy who is a FDA authority and radio personality in his own right, I settled on the subject of drugs and healthcare since reform was soon in the making and I probably was not far from needing both myself. For sure, as a baby boomer with all the attending ailments, I could certainly relate and boy, given the success of Dr. Oz and others, who doesn't like to complain about all that plagues them both physically and mentally?
Thus, the idea of making me a radio celeb morphed into the creation of the Local Health Networks. As of the time of this writing, the signs of the venture appear to be, at least, don't stop, but I will recount both the challenges that we have faced, as well as those that we still need to overcome in order to make this venture viable. As they say, "let's get it started."
The first venture that we have started involves a new way to use radio as a bridge to new media, or the internet. There is no astonishing technology involved, but just plain old talent in connecting the new with the old. The idea came about from my need to relive a part of my youth. With the advent of the MP3 world and the revolution caused by iTunes, I understand that radio has been become a relic to many. Radio broadcasting remains a vibrant local medium, despite the fact that some of the voices you hear in Seattle are really based in New York. In any event, without revealing the plot, suffice to say, I corralled a private equity friend whose firm owned a bunch of radio properties and told him of my desire to be the successor to Al Franken as he left to start his political career. With the appropriate analogy of me seeking a radio career akin to those pursuing their athletic careers at one of those fantasy sports camps. My buddy happily obliged me with an introduction to a fabulous fellow who had been a former President of a larger radio group. Now a consultant, having taken his buyout package with him to the Poconos, Bill, as he will now be referred to, was currently in the business of creating radio formats and new radio personalities to expose to the unsuspecting public.
Well, one thing leads to another after our chats and we start talking inevitably about how to make money in this business. For the time being, much to my chagrin, we have not yet started the arduous process to make me a radio personality. With all the new media opportunities on the social net works, I am confident that stardom awaits me, or eludes me, as the case may be. For sure, however, the best advice he had was to tell me that I had to have a "shtick" or a theme, like conservative Rush or the outrageous Howard or the forgiven Imus. I shelved the idea of playing off my "Jewish kid stuck inside a Chinese body" persona as I wasn't sure how it would play in a syndicated format in Iowa.
With the much-needed help of my dear lawyer buddy who is a FDA authority and radio personality in his own right, I settled on the subject of drugs and healthcare since reform was soon in the making and I probably was not far from needing both myself. For sure, as a baby boomer with all the attending ailments, I could certainly relate and boy, given the success of Dr. Oz and others, who doesn't like to complain about all that plagues them both physically and mentally?
Thus, the idea of making me a radio celeb morphed into the creation of the Local Health Networks. As of the time of this writing, the signs of the venture appear to be, at least, don't stop, but I will recount both the challenges that we have faced, as well as those that we still need to overcome in order to make this venture viable. As they say, "let's get it started."
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
All You Have To Do Is Dream
I have been working on a number of projects this year, some for clients and some for our own account. Nevertheless, in the current environment, even those most seasoned entrepreneurs, of which I am considered one by the silent majority, have a rough go of it. Innovative startups still generate a lot of excitement and an outlet for our creative technical juices, so long as some sage advice is followed as demonstrated by Rosalind Resnick and yours truly.
During the last several years, in particular, I have seen the focus of the business world shift from the States to China, where the market for goods and services keeps pace with the burgeoning middle class. While many folks read about it, I live it firsthand. For example, seemingly, not so long ago, many Chinese companies were interested in a US listing when they wished to go public. Yet, with all the corporate misdeeds well documented, and the avalanche of revamped rules and regulations that were there in the first place but never enforced, it is no wonder that the prestige of listing on NYSE or NASDAQ lost much of its hard earned luster to be much more company friendly that exists in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
What that has meant for my company has been a required change in strategic direction and a rebranding of sorts; we have been in business of awhile now and have managed to survive, if not prosper, as China grew. Blessed with some early insight and luck to boot, we were fortunate to be ahead of the curve, advising eager multinationals in their venture into the right way of doing business in China. But, with the downturn in the US economy, many of the client companies are now well established while the competition for comparable services offered by us is greater than ever. We were never big in terms of numbers of professionals and we remain, thankfully, well regarded and equally well connected. Yet, we are not there physically any longer, having closed our Beijing office several years ago when the air pollution in that city did not seem like it was going to get any better as we got older.
Thus, the turn to reinvent ourselves back into the startup advisers has proved to be daunting. Attracting new members to the team is also a challenge to deal with, as I have discussed here. While we had served numerous startups to success when we first started this venture more than 20 years ago, the Internet had not yet been invented by Al Gore and the Bay Bridge had just fallen down or at least a part of it. Of course, reinvention is different these days as you have so many more tools to get to a larger audience. For sure, the world is smaller, thanks to the internet and our technology friends at HP, Intel, Yahoo and Google, just to name a few of the game changes. In response, then, we (or I, since I am not sure my partners wish to be associated with my observations) opted (not necessarily by choice) to try to find new ventures at various stages that needed our advice.
More importantly, we could offer a source of capital, albeit not VC type money, and better still, a network of professionals with successful track records and who would take our calls. I must say that's a key point. Getting an audience with the right person saves an enormous amount of time and effort, both of which are highly value commodities on both sides. We do not make our network of relationships listen to endless pitches nor do we call ever without a reason. I should say that now they respond to our text as clearly, landline phones are destined to join the VCR world. Let's see what we can find out if my new idea has any legs to stand on.
During the last several years, in particular, I have seen the focus of the business world shift from the States to China, where the market for goods and services keeps pace with the burgeoning middle class. While many folks read about it, I live it firsthand. For example, seemingly, not so long ago, many Chinese companies were interested in a US listing when they wished to go public. Yet, with all the corporate misdeeds well documented, and the avalanche of revamped rules and regulations that were there in the first place but never enforced, it is no wonder that the prestige of listing on NYSE or NASDAQ lost much of its hard earned luster to be much more company friendly that exists in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
What that has meant for my company has been a required change in strategic direction and a rebranding of sorts; we have been in business of awhile now and have managed to survive, if not prosper, as China grew. Blessed with some early insight and luck to boot, we were fortunate to be ahead of the curve, advising eager multinationals in their venture into the right way of doing business in China. But, with the downturn in the US economy, many of the client companies are now well established while the competition for comparable services offered by us is greater than ever. We were never big in terms of numbers of professionals and we remain, thankfully, well regarded and equally well connected. Yet, we are not there physically any longer, having closed our Beijing office several years ago when the air pollution in that city did not seem like it was going to get any better as we got older.
Thus, the turn to reinvent ourselves back into the startup advisers has proved to be daunting. Attracting new members to the team is also a challenge to deal with, as I have discussed here. While we had served numerous startups to success when we first started this venture more than 20 years ago, the Internet had not yet been invented by Al Gore and the Bay Bridge had just fallen down or at least a part of it. Of course, reinvention is different these days as you have so many more tools to get to a larger audience. For sure, the world is smaller, thanks to the internet and our technology friends at HP, Intel, Yahoo and Google, just to name a few of the game changes. In response, then, we (or I, since I am not sure my partners wish to be associated with my observations) opted (not necessarily by choice) to try to find new ventures at various stages that needed our advice.
More importantly, we could offer a source of capital, albeit not VC type money, and better still, a network of professionals with successful track records and who would take our calls. I must say that's a key point. Getting an audience with the right person saves an enormous amount of time and effort, both of which are highly value commodities on both sides. We do not make our network of relationships listen to endless pitches nor do we call ever without a reason. I should say that now they respond to our text as clearly, landline phones are destined to join the VCR world. Let's see what we can find out if my new idea has any legs to stand on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)