In addition to being the CFO of a venture capital backed start up, I have served the CEOs and investors of numerous start ups. Highlights from these engagements follow.
I met with an entrepreneur who was beginning to commercialize his technology. We discussed his business goals as well as his personal goals. Based on these goals, I described several commercialization options, including designing his own device or simply deploying his technology on another device.
We developed the business model and financial projections. The client received two term sheets from venture capital firms.
One client was commercializing some licensed technology. The client’s original go to market plan was to develop a laboratory medical device and obtain FDA approval. This strategy would require significant capital and virtually no ability to generate revenue prior to FDA approval. After gaining an understanding of the company’s technology, applications, and markets, I suggested an alternative business model. While the company was in the expensive FDA approval process, the company could deploy the device in its own laboratory and have physicians send samples to the company’s laboratory for testing. Since the company was selling test results, not a medical device, the FDA approvals were much easier to obtain. With this intermediate business model, the company could generate revenue, demonstrate efficacy and build demand for the device as it was seeking full FDA approval.
Worked with client to develop commercialization
strategy for technology licensed from a