I had a unique opportunity to sit down and dig the mind of the chairman and CEO of Bionet Corp, a public company headquartered in Taipei. They are a leading biomedical company focused on stem cell therapy and genetic testing.
I’ve distilled down the major lessons I learned as the following.
Lesson 1: Start early
This lesson applies directly to my circumstance. Recently having graduated from university, it’s important to start early and iterate. There is a buffer zone in which failure at my age will not define the rest of my life. So start early, iterate, fail early.
Lesson 2: Focus on opportunities that aren’t “sexy”
There are certain domains in technology and health care where simply mentioning them will get investors perked and ready to invest. An area might be diabetes where there is tremendous market potential to develop a clinically proven solution. However, while the successful market potential is huge, it puts tremendous pressure on the day to day operation of a company. So it is important recommended to have stable cash flow generating businesses that continually support the company and then on top of that divesting efforts to tackling “moonshot” opportunities.
Lesson 3: Focus on the big picture
As a CEO, you need to predict and navigate chaos. Knowing what the future trend will be and being the visionary will define the magnitude of success of the company. Success is largely attributed to tackling a growing market opportunity, with less emphasis on the talent and hard work of a team. Trying to work your way against the flow of a white water rapid is just asking to drown.
Lesson 4: 35 is not too late
Finishing medical school and then starting a company is not too late. While the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now. By then I will have more experience on what the real world is like.
Lesson 5: Always be learning
Even though Dr. Tsai runs a multimillion public company, he still takes time out of the day to talk with his customers and attending conferences that keep him up to date on the latest medical technologies.
Lesson 6: Believe in your company and mission
This might seem like common sense, but you have to truly believe in your company to succeed. Starting a company is insanely difficult, there will be many times where you will want to quit. At the end of day, you have to tell yourself and truly believe that what you are building is meaningful. For Dr. Tsai, he saw the impact his treatments on giving children a new life again with his company’s stem cell therapy. Over time, his company philosophy has come to define it.
Lesson 7: Locations
Taiwan’s economy isn’t the largest in the world. A market capitalization of a US company is many times larger with tremendous potential to grow. But a company in Taiwan is most certainly large enough to sustain a small to mid sized business.
Special thanks to Dr. Tsai who took the time to speak with me.
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Photo: https://pgw.udn.com.tw/gw/photo.php?u=https://uc.udn.com.tw/photo/2019/08/15/99/6693055.jpg&x=0&y=0&sw=0&sh=0&sl=W&fw=1050
