START IT UP

Ram Sasisekharan is a professor of biological engineering at MIT. He is a co-founder and director of start-ups Momenta Pharmaceuticals and Tempo Pharmaceuticals.

In many ways, getting a biotechnology start-up off the ground with a business plan resembles securing a federal research grant. Moreover, the grantsmanship strategy that turns an idea into research funding can also sell an idea for a company. In both cases, however, only a clear strategy can sell an idea.

In a grant application, a scientist describes background and the potential significance of testing an idea. The researcher also provides preliminary data or evidence that supports that idea. The preliminary data make a case that the scientist has the knowledge, expertise, and some level of demonstrated ability to deliver. Following this, a grant application must include specific aims that clearly outline the approach to testing the idea. To be successful, most of those aims should be based on solid approaches with a high likelihood of yielding unambiguous answers. A good grant also outlines pitfalls, limitations, and time lines, as well as how an investigator will address these challenges. Overall, a successful grant application focuses on an idea that is clearly significant in advancing knowledge, provides convincing evidence that the approach is rigorous and innovative, and shows that the investigator, the environment, and the collaborators are more than likely to deliver what they promise.

Likewise, a business plan must clearly articulate the technology or approach and its significance. What can the technology do? Why is it important? This is analogous to the background and significance in a grant application. Explaining the application of the technology is analogous to testing your hypothesis or the specific aims. Very simply put: Think of what problem the business will tackle with its technology and the realistic viability of a timely success. Many grants today include a multidisciplinary section, and a business plan can too. There, an aspiring entrepreneur can blend different approaches to addressing the problem. Often, scientists go after everything that a technology can do, similar to seeing every problem as a nail to pound with this technological hammer. Instead, ask what kind of nail, or problem, the technology can hammer in successfully.

Successful start-ups also depend on strong intellectual property. This can show how a start-up could stay ahead or not have serious competition. Intellectual property applies to the technology and the business strategy. Thinking through these concepts carefully enhances the overall strategy.

Finally, as with a research grant, the intended team can make or break the funding of a start-up. Simply put: Assemble a dream team. Also, a start-up requires a diverse range of expertise and personalities. Create a balance of big thinkers and doers.

Once a start-up receives funding, always remember that one big difference distinguishes it from a laboratory. With a grant, people focus on the science over years, until it's time for renewal. With a start-up, the first months can determine a start-up's success or failure. Once a company starts, it must come out of the gate fast and never stop chasing its goal.

Sasisekharan's Fine Tuning Tips

1. It's not about you; it's about the team. This is a crucial mantra for a successful start-up.
2. Do not think that only you control when your potential start-up can raise funds. Successful entrepreneurs remember this saying: Raise money when you can, not when you want.
3. Focus, focus, and focus to make sure that you deliver what you promise, which establishes your credibility.
4. Think through a strategy and do not rush pitching it to venture capitalists. There is no second chance for the first impression.
5. It's not just the science or the business; it's how both come together to define the start-up concept. So don't get carried away by your science or the money.