Thomas Farb-Horch is the CEO of Thrive Bioscience. He has founded 18 companies. Seven of those turned out to be unicorns (sold at a valuation of >1 billion dollars).
I was curious to know how he had identified so many opportunities correctly. BTW, Tom is not a scientist and has no advanced degrees in case you were thinking that was a requirement.
He credits his success to being observant and inquisitive. That means keeping your eyes open for problems and asking why things are the way they are. The most attractive problem is one where people have been working the same way for a very long time. And if a process can be digitized, even better. As ever more computing power and storage capacity becomes available, more processes are in reach.
Yet good ideas and smart solutions aren’t enough. Tom told me that every one of those unicorns came close to failure multiple times.
How did he manage to dodge the bullet so often? One area where data and computing power won’t solve anything is our interactions with other people. To be successful as an entrepreneur, in addition to solving whatever technical challenges you have identified, you are still left to deal with customers, investors and board members. This is where Tom’s experience struck me.
If you think reproducibility is a challenge in science, no amount of data or computing power can make humans more predictable.
Getting people to change something that has been done the same way for decades is difficult. First, for them to recognize the value and then to adopt new behaviors. Even early and late adopters won’t respond the same way. Your solution needs to appeal to both.
At another level, while all your investors have a common goal of getting a return on their money, how and when they expect that to happen may be different. As you are likely to pivot at some point, it’s worth considering how you will keep them aligned on the new approach.
The makeup of your board is critical and Tom has some essential advice on how you should negotiate their selection with investors. Listen to the episode for details. When it comes to what you are looking for, I’ll share one example here.
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Board members are sometimes (often?) selected for their name recognition as opposed to their domain expertise. Alexander Haig (former NATO Commander and Secretary of State) might have fit that description. Nevertheless, he brought value to the table in other ways. Tom told me that his skill at observing people and making sure everyone was heard to get a decision was off the charts. Given the roles I just mentioned, maybe that’s not so surprising. These skills are applicable everywhere.
Board of directors is one of my favorite topics. It's so incredibly important. Many entrepreneurs don't spend enough time focusing on compatibility across the board. And kind of the profile of what they want.
Every founder is likely to encounter a dark night of the soul moment. Tom said, “Fear is a terrible advisor.” It’s at those times when having chosen the right investors and board members will pay off. Who will stand by you and brainstorm solutions to see you through?
Science is complicated and often difficult. Human behavior is even more so. It strikes me that in science, even if we don’t yet know the answer, we know it’s there and that certainty is comforting. I wonder if we shouldn’t spend more time thinking about how the people around us are going to affect our success and who we choose to work with.
As an example of how humans can make an impact in our interactions, more than once over several conversations, Tom asked me, “How can I make this podcast successful for you?” I replied, “That mindset alone is all I need.”
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Opportunities and Challenges: A Primer for Founders