In the spring of 2010 I was minding my own business, doing a bit of consulting, board work, lollygagging around, when I received a call from Chris Rivera, the president of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association. The WBBA had had a strong focus on capital appreciation and on helping its members grow and prosper, and in that context had created a position of commercialization consultant. The consultant at the time, Dick Haiduck, had done a phenomenal job in this capacity, but had grown tired of commuting up to Seattle from the Bay Area. Hence, an opportunity: a one day a week gig to interact with the area’s entrepreneurs, helping them deal with strategic issues, financing issues, etc. One day a week, at the end of which I could leave THEIR problems at the office.

Chris inquired as to my interest. I said yes. My parents, of the generation that can’t believe anyone would NOT want to work 80 hours a week if they were less than, say, 85 years old, misunderstood the resulting press release and thought I had taken a full time job. “Hallelujah, our derelict daughter has finally found gainful employment,” my mother rejoiced. Her misunderstanding corrected, she still credits the WBBA with saving her daughter from a life of sloth with disastrous consequences. (And maybe she’s right…)

So, thus began an amazing several months of meeting and interacting with a plethora of life sciences entrepreneurs. And here is what I learned:

1. The entrepreneurial spirit is incredibly alive and well in the Seattle area. The fabric is rich, diverse, and exciting. I worked with more than 50 emerging companies over the several months at WBBA. Their areas of focus included medical devices, point-of-care diagnostics, consumer-oriented healthcare products, re-engineered therapeutic products, and basic biological drug development, among others. Some of these “companies” consisted of an entrepreneur and an idea. Others were fairly well-developed, with seed funding. A few were close to product launch and even achieved that in the course of my time there. Some entrepreneurs needed extensive help with their business planning, strategy, human resources, etc.—more than one person can do in a day a week. Others had done yeoman’s work but needed a pat on the back or a sympathetic ear. It’s lonely at the top…

2. There is a really supportive, burgeoning community of consultants and service providers who see the value of supporting early stage projects with services priced at less than market rates. This community is really invaluable to the emerging companies, and the WBBA has been a great “clearinghouse” for such services. Realizing that there is only so much pro bono or less than market rate support these individuals or firms can do, the results indeed are impressive. To me, it speaks of the strategic understanding on the part of the community that individual company success means collective success for the community, and significant benefits can accrue as a result.

3. Similarly, the entrepreneurs I came to know were always willing to share ideas and tips with each other.

4. The angel community has really stepped up in the area and has taken advantage of a number of investment opportunities that in the past might have been made available only to the venture capital community. WINGS and the Innovation Showcase program through the Technology Alliance are enabling angel investors to share diligence and get early insights into promising companies.

5. WBBA’s VIP (Venture Investment and Partnering) Forums are great tools for introducing emerging companies to a variety of investors and business development contacts, as well as opportunities to practice presenting the story in a concise and professional way. It always amazed me that we had to occasionally beat the bushes for candidate companies to present to these audiences, especially since assistance with presentations was offered as a tandem benefit.

And finally, it was impossible not to get infected by the sheer passion and excitement of interacting with these amazing entrepreneurs, and impossible to leave their stories and issues, as it were, at the office after my “one day a week” ended.

So, infected and afflicted with no cure in sight, I chose to move back to a full time position (much to my mother’s happiness!). I still keep in touch with a number of the entrepreneurs I met in the context of my time at WBBA, but the current Commercialization Consultant, Chris Porter, brings an amazing wealth of experience and knowledge, particularly in the device arena, that I’m sure is providing great benefit.

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First of all, don’t be fainthearted. Let’s face it, the Michigan workforce has been trained to perform in very hierarchical institutions, where compliance is rewarded and innovation is not. The old days are gone, but the attitude lingers. It will take serious blood, sweat, and tears to turn this around.

Second, seek out the community leaders in government, communities, organizations, etc., that together can help instill a sense of “we’re all in this together.” If Grosse Pointe cares little about what happens in inner city Detroit (for example), then making the changes necessary to invigorate the urban communities will be next to impossible.

Third, city officials who care about the city (Detroit or wherever) need to be creative about targeting tax incentives for small businesses. It will be the small businesses that bring about change, strengthen the state’s economy, and ultimately improve the tax base, but that’s in the long term and hitting small businesses with big taxes early on will only prolong the problem.

Fourth, encourage more community educational partnerships between local schools and the great academic institutions such as the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, so that educational excellence can be reemphasized and kids have a fighting chance to get an education.

And finally, celebrate your successes. The state and the city of Detroit have been down for so long, it’s easy to forget that there are indeed achievements and visceral signs that change can occur. Celebrate your victories LOUDLY.

[Editor's note: To help launch Xconomy Detroit, we've queried our network of Xconomists and other innovation leaders around the country for their list of the most important things that entrepreneurs and innovators in Michigan can do to reinvigorate their regional economy.]

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For the last 17 years my office at Targeted Genetics looked out closely onto a pretty major intersection, busy with cars and pedestrians going to and from downtown Seattle. For years the pedestrian crossing signs stated “Walk with Light.” Maybe I’m a romantic fool, but I always thought of that phrase, “walk with light,” as a wonderful metaphor for how we should feel as biotechnologists, as we pursue our mission of developing new treatments for incurable diseases, new ways to feed the hungry, new ways to reduce oil dependency, and all the other noble efforts underway. Walk with light. Biotechnology is hard, risky, and full of challenges, setbacks, disappointments. But even if you prove that something doesn’t work, you’ve helped pave the way to understanding what does work. What a great enterprise! Of all businesses, the opportunity to definitely “do good” and maybe “do well” is tremendously compelling.

About a year ago, the “Walk with Light” signs disappeared. Instead, the street Powers That Be added a new feature to assist the blind (when I mentioned this to my sardonic younger brother from North Carolina, he replied “In North Carolina we don’t let the blind drive…”) Anyway, to assist the blind PEDESTRIANS, every 60 seconds from my office for the last year I’ve listened to a loud chiming “CUCKOO, CUCKOO, CUCKOO”…It’s impossible to ignore, and impossible not to relate to the toil and turmoil we’ve been experiencing in biotechnology lately. Lack of capital, an uncertain regulatory climate, the general economic downturn, a backlash against drug developers – as Pogo said, we are certainly surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.

So which is it, are we “walking with light” in pursuing our mission, or are we “cuckoo”?

Maybe a bit of both. It takes a certain type of person to deal with the risk inherent in our business, and to overcome the constant setbacks and maintain perspective. It’s not a profession for everyone.

Having said that, those of us who lean more to the “walk with light” side than the “cuckoo” side are more often than not blinded to the notion that anyone could possibly see our mission as less than honorable. We arrogantly assume that, just because we believe in the goodness of the mission, that everyone else should as well. And herein lies one of our major problems.

Biotech is a great mission, but it is also a business, … Next Page »

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…is coming soon.

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