In this issue...

·  From the Executive Director

·  Upcoming Programs

·  PR/Marketing Committee Activities

·  Membership Corner

·  Members In The News

BioStrategy Partners’ mission is to provide a continuum of services and infrastructure to young life sciences companies, enabling them to thrive in the Greater Philadelphia region. We are virtual, regional, and expert. A nonprofit 501(c)4 service organization founded in 2004, BioSP functions as a nursery, cultivating good business practices in young companies and helping them access the services they need to survive the critical early stages of development.

From the Executive Director

BioStrategy Partners is growing! Membership and program attendance are increasing, a new slate of Directors will join the Board in January, our committees are doing fine work, and our young companies are moving forward. BioSP fills a niche in the Greater Philadelphia region, and our commitment to building a young company community and focusing on the needs of first-time life sciences entrepreneurs is attracting attention.

To celebrate this momentum and our recharged organizational purpose, BioSP has a new logo. Dynamic primary colors, a DNA model, a pipeline, mechanics-we hope you agree that our new look reflects the new BioSP. Coming soon is a revamped web site with enhanced capabilities, better information, and better value for you-our members.

With thanks to all who’ve supported us in 2007-our benefactors, sponsors, KIZ Partners and members, we look forward to 2008.

My best wishes for a safe and joyous holiday season.

Karen J. Hanson, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Upcoming Programs

February 2008--Finding Top Level and Top Drawer Management Team
Looking for CEO, COO, CTO or any other C-level for your emerging company? Learn what qualities to look for in candidates to fill those positions and who can help you seek out those candidates.

March 2008--Effective Outsourcing For Start Up Companies
Learn about selecting and working effectively with the outsourcing community, which may be the determining factor in the survival of emerging companies.

May 2008--Patent Rule Changes
If and when new rules are adopted, this program will keep you current and help you understand the impact on life sciences start ups.

July 2008--Recruiting For/Structuring a Board of Directors
The name says it all!

September 2008--Clinical Trials: Do It Right The First Time Around
This program will offer perspectives and practical advice about what you can do today to position your company for success tomorrow. With stories from companies currently navigating the process and the insights of experts who can help you understand what to expect, the seminar will cover trial design, partnering/financing trials, and how successful trials will affect your company’s valuation.

PR/Marketing Committee Activities

PHILADELPHIA SCIENCE JOURNALISTS ANSWER THE QUESTION "WHEN IS MY SCIENCE NEWS?"

On November 16, at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, a panel of three local journalists tackled the subject of "When is My Science News?" for an audience of more than 30 small company CEO’s and staff, service providers and investors. Moderated by Christina Pagano, president of Pagano & Company Public Relations, panel members Richard Gallagher, editor and publisher of THE SCIENTIST, John George, healthcare reporter for the PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL and Trish Wilson, science and medicine editor for the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER outlined their interests and described where some of their stories originate.

Gallagher, the only scientist on the panel, whose SCIENTIST magazine has a print circulation of roughly 75,000 in the U.S., but which reaches more than 600,000 readers from around the world on its web site, described its coverage as focused on research and development in life sciences and biotech, largely as it is developing in the academic community. THE SCIENTIST likes to uncover trends, and as a result, Gallagher said, he and his writers are frequent attendees at medical meetings around the world where early stage science news is breaking. Their audience is a blend of scientists and researchers, C- level executives in life sciences and pharmaceuticals.

George, who has covered Philadelphia ’s growing biotech and health care industries at the PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL for more than twelve years, writes for the area’s business community. For that audience, George pens a weekly healthcare column and a life sciences column, as well as covering breaking news. He described four types of stories that he writes: money stories, having to do with money raised, large research grants, licensing technology, etc.; interesting partnership agreements; stories having to do with product development-where Phase 1 can be a column item, and Phase 3 makes the news; and finally conflict stories.

At the INQUIRER, the "goal of the science and medicine coverage is to help people understand how science is disrupting life," Wilson said. Using Philadephia-area companies and research institutions as their source, section reporters cover pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and the business of hospitals. Stories can originate through a call from an area pr person, or from beat reporters looking for a local angle to a national or international story. Wilson noted that early stage companies can merit a mention on the INQUIRER’S science pages in small sidebars or boxed columns that accompany larger stories.

Panelists said that though blogs and other forms of new media are not necessarily sources for their reporters, they do augment the discussion of science at their publications. For example, Gallagher observed that THE SCIENTISTS’ blog can often prompt an online conversation-another venue for introducing a company’s news, Pagano noted.

Once a company issues a press release, they must be prepared to respond to the interest it generates, panelists cautioned. All agreed that allowing access to the appropriate scientific "expert" produces a more accurate, and informative story.

Finally, each of the panel members encouraged the audience to start a conversation with them early on, even if it does not initially result in a story. Once a company’s news does merit coverage, there will be a base of knowledge. So in response to the question "When is my science news?", the answer is, when you are ready to talk about it.

Membership Corner

As the new Chair of the Membership Committee for BioStrategy Partners, I am happy to report that since our inaugural issue, July 2007, we have signed up ten new members, representing nine companies. These companies represent a good cross section of not only potential end users of BioStrategy Partners’ services, but also companies that provide ancillary support services to the ’end users’ as well. This is very exciting news as we have not only attracted a little more than one member per week, since our last issue, but it also confirms our ability to work together to build our brand awareness and expertise. Every member and sponsorship partner we obtain further validates the need for BioStrategy Partners’ services in the tri-state area. We have accomplished this growth through our events, but also through our willingness to ’speak’ about BioStrategy with prospects, clients, and our peers. It is the power of conversation!

Member Spotlight: Jim Geier

What are the biggest challenges to success in your business? Innovation, product development, customer acquisition, process improvement, revenue, and profit growth. Yes, all of these are some of the major hurdles faced by companies regardless of their stage of their business. Yet the greatest challenge for any organization is how to attract-and to retain- great people. Without a great team, a company cannot succeed.

The great companies don’t succeed and then seek out the best and brightest. They find the right people first. Success of any business is predicated on having the right people in the right jobs with the right skills. This is true not only for executive positions but also those on the front line. If you don’t have the right people, you simply will not succeed.

To get the right people you need to follow a process. With more than 25 years of experience in executive human resources positions and consulting, I have advised hundreds of company presidents, CEOs, and board members on attracting and retaining the best talent. With that experience and research, I have honed a seven-step process that takes you from business strategy and recruitment to long-term retention of your best employees and business success.

Step 1: Develop your business strategy.

The first step for any business is to develop a roadmap. You need to define:

• What are you doing?
• Where are you going?
• What is your value proposition to the market?
• How do you differentiate your company from others offering similar products or services?

Step 2: Define your company’s culture.

Culture as defined in the Webster Dictionary means "the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization."

The single most important part of any company’s foundation is determining its culture. Culture defines who you are as a business; it defines what you stand for; and it defines how you want to be known by your customers, shareholders, vendors, and employees.

Step 3: Identify the required people skills, competencies, and experiences.

Steps 1 and 2 were easy; now it’s time for the truly hard part. Identify the people you need to achieve your business goals and who will best fit into the culture of your organization. Having the right "fit" is critical and in my view will determine a person’s future success or failure.

Step 4: Identify, attract, assess, and hire the right people.

Many hiring managers perceive this step to be the most frustrating and time consuming, but it is the most important. To add even more pressure, the successful execution of Step 4 will make or break your business. It is important to focus on the duties, responsibilities, and skills that are necessary for the job, not who you want to fill the empty chair.

When interviewing job candidates, it is important to not just do it by yourself but to involve others in the process. Everyone has weak spots in interviewing. Let others participate. Then make a final selection as a group, choosing the candidate who best fits both the position and the organizational culture.

Step 5: Reward your people.

It is vital to reward the good people in your organization. You need to understand what you are going to do with the compensation package for a given position-the split between base pay and incentives and how competitive you are in the marketplace. In addition, you need to determine if and when you will have bonuses or profit sharing, will you offer benefits, and what would that benefit package look like.

Rewards are not always monetary. Rewarding can be as simple as telling people they are doing a great job. This short statement will take you miles in ensuring that your good performers realize they are making significant contributions to the success of your business and in keeping them engaged.

Step 6: Develop and train your people.

It is essential that you know who the good people are in your organization. You can’t afford to lose any of them. They help drive your business strategy, deal with customers, and drive your success. Do whatever you can to not lose the top performers.

Step 7: Communicate, communicate, communicate!

This seems like such a simple step, but 25-plus years of experience shows that it’s the one universal area where most managers are rated as "Does Not Meet Expectations." Studies done by brand-name consulting firms have shown that organizations that communicate well with their employees have a direct correlation to stronger retention, higher revenues, and increased profitability.

You simply must communicate. Inform your organization about what is happening. Listen to what they are saying. You cannot go wrong if you over-communicate. Be as transparent as possible on the issues. Remember to treat your employees the way you’d like to be treated.

Summary

If you begin to follow this seven-step process, you will attract and retain great people and your business will be a winner. Let me leave you with four key takeaways.

1. Know your business, your customer, and what product you are selling so you can develop a strategy that will make you a successful venture.

2. Determine the people that are the right fit for your business. Without the right people your business will fail.

3. Spend time interviewing. Interviews may seem easy, but you need to really understand their importance. In the end, you only have a couple of hours to get to know someone and determine that they not only have the skills and competencies, but are the right fit for the company culture.

4. Don’t settle. Just because a job has been open a while, don’t rush to fill it. That never works. It will always come back to bite you in the long run. Find the person who is right for the job and is the right fit, and they will help you drive your business success as well as make you look like a genius.

About Jim Geier

Jim Geier, President and Founder of Human Capital Consulting Partners, has more than 25years of global and board-level corporate and consulting experience. During his distinguished career, Jim has proven his ability to drive shareholder value by focusing on business strategy, business issues, and organizational dynamics to design and implement practical and effective human capital strategies. He has impacted business performance by developing and implementing global HR strategy, assisting in the evaluation of acquisitions and divestitures, leading acquisition integration, developing and coaching senior management teams, and designing management development programs in top companies in life sciences, manufacturing, healthcare and financial services. For more information about Jim Geier or Human Capital Consulting Partners: www.hccpartners.c om, jimgeier@hc cpartners.com, 215.244.8110