by Scott Hampton on April 30th, 2013
0
I was really interested in attending an event by the Atlanta chapter of the Strategic Planning Association. Then I read the details - start time is 07:30h. I'm sorry, folks, I would love to chat with you and hear the speaker, but that's an absolutely absurd time of day to have a meeting.
This is a metropolis. It takes an hour to get from one side of town to the other, two at that time of the day.
This is a metropolis. It takes an hour to get from one side of town to the other, two at that time of the day.
by Scott Hampton on April 30th, 2013
We've been busting our butts with TWO different fundraises for our companies and helping a handful of companies with their raises in advisory roles. Plus some routine client support and my ongoing effort to fix my house and get it sold.
This has not left me with much creative time or energy to blog.
One thing that's interesting is that most of the talk in the media about innovation and fundraising is about the software world, from B2B to YAPA, or electronic/digitals toys (Shiny Things). The kind of investments that we do - medical technology - is the ugly stepchild (as are materials and manufacturing) because it takes more than a year or two to get to salable PRODUCT.
In the world of actual tangible contributory useful meaninful innovation, there's a very small pool of investors. For instance, last year was the worst year for medical device funding since 1995. Similar trends in other areas where there is real product are equally frustrating. I could rant on a for a bit, but it wouldn't add anything to the conversation.
Yesterday I saw the video of Bruce Sterling's keynote speech at NEXT Berlin. He was talking to a room full of mostly designers, media, and software innovators. First he gave them some thoughts about "fantasy deigns" - those nifty video fantasies about products that do not yet exist which get people really excited about possibilities. Most of the time those are for Shiny Things (consumer electronics stuff). Remember how Google Glass was just a video before it was a prototype?
You should make ten minutes for the whole thing. About five minutes in, Sterling got down to the serious stuff. The broken-ness of the whole model of funding. He's got some serious and important things for you to think about.
This has not left me with much creative time or energy to blog.
One thing that's interesting is that most of the talk in the media about innovation and fundraising is about the software world, from B2B to YAPA, or electronic/digitals toys (Shiny Things). The kind of investments that we do - medical technology - is the ugly stepchild (as are materials and manufacturing) because it takes more than a year or two to get to salable PRODUCT.
In the world of actual tangible contributory useful meaninful innovation, there's a very small pool of investors. For instance, last year was the worst year for medical device funding since 1995. Similar trends in other areas where there is real product are equally frustrating. I could rant on a for a bit, but it wouldn't add anything to the conversation.
Yesterday I saw the video of Bruce Sterling's keynote speech at NEXT Berlin. He was talking to a room full of mostly designers, media, and software innovators. First he gave them some thoughts about "fantasy deigns" - those nifty video fantasies about products that do not yet exist which get people really excited about possibilities. Most of the time those are for Shiny Things (consumer electronics stuff). Remember how Google Glass was just a video before it was a prototype?
You should make ten minutes for the whole thing. About five minutes in, Sterling got down to the serious stuff. The broken-ness of the whole model of funding. He's got some serious and important things for you to think about.
by Scott Hampton on February 20th, 2013
If you are a self-sufficient entrepreneur who hasn't had a big exit yet (like me) then you probably have occasional attacks of Burn Out.
Symptoms of Burn Out include:
Symptoms of Burn Out include:
- fatigue - physical and psychological; loss of sense of humor
- missing consecutive weekends for work, travel, catch-up, etc.
- confusing the names of your children or spouses (or in my case, the cats)
- overwhelming urges to chuck the mobile phone in the toilet, throw the mail in the trash, or otherwise be irresponsible
- missing the exit on the way to an appointment while thinking about a year of goat herding in a distant country or taking up competitive drinking or something else that involves being far away and free of care.....
- and a general inability to figure out what is important (loss of perspective)
by Scott Hampton on February 18th, 2013
Having worked with a lot of companies that are struggling with the FDA, both foreign and domestic, I've learned that there are a lot of misconceptions about the agency's role and processes.
First off, the FDA isn't the enemy.
Secondly, most of what you hear or read about the agency is mostly bogus. They aren't unusually hostile, or an obstacle to innovation, and their requirements are not burdensome and irrational - whenever I hear complaints I start wondering what the real problem is.
First off, the FDA isn't the enemy.
Secondly, most of what you hear or read about the agency is mostly bogus. They aren't unusually hostile, or an obstacle to innovation, and their requirements are not burdensome and irrational - whenever I hear complaints I start wondering what the real problem is.
by Scott Hampton on February 6th, 2013
At the Medical Device Development Group (MDDG) we work with a lot of early phase companies, and the first priority in early phase is ALWAYS raising money.
The image on the left shows an example of the first page of the most effective tool in our collection for this important task: an effective executive summary.
I'm the Senior Strategist, and as such the executive summaries (ES) of many companies cross my screen, and I hate to say this, but most entrepreneurs don't have the first clue about how to write an effective fundraising document.
Please don't write an ES about your technology. Nobody cares about how smart you are.
The image on the left shows an example of the first page of the most effective tool in our collection for this important task: an effective executive summary.
I'm the Senior Strategist, and as such the executive summaries (ES) of many companies cross my screen, and I hate to say this, but most entrepreneurs don't have the first clue about how to write an effective fundraising document.
Please don't write an ES about your technology. Nobody cares about how smart you are.
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