At Heragen, we feel that we are at the most challenging and exciting phase of our journey so far. We have now moved on from the initial euphoria and the formalities of company formation to a phase of design and implementation of our strategies, especially the near-term ones.
In contrast to the days when we were iteratively designing our logo, we are now already through several rounds of iteration of our business strategy and this process I must say is much exciting than the former. As I reevaluate, I made three observations that I think reflects almost any start-up journey.
Firstly, the process and methodology of strategy optimization has shifted from that in the first few rounds of iteration to the more recent ones. This is because, earlier, our decision making was primarily driven by the mined data from internet and then by other sources like leveraging our first-degree network. However, the more recent iterations were governed by the take-away from our discussions and deliberations with industry leaders, scientific experts and potential investors. This shift I think is unavoidable for anyone that is establishing a venture in a field that they are no expert. In a way, it reflected our progress in learning and understanding the cancer molecular diagnostics domain. As we understood the domain better, we held realistic views on the subject in our discussions with people in the know-how and were also able to appreciate the nuances and intricacies involved. This I think not only gained us the much needed good will from the experts that we were scouting for various engagements but also expanded our network significantly.
Secondly, qualitative refinement of views and opinions that we receive from people that we talked to played a major role in setting the direction for Heragen. This refinement of opinions and ideas deserved a 360o view of the situation. It meant not only analyzing the potential implications of implementing a particular thought or idea but also understanding the apriori biases of the source involved. Well, one may say that the biases of the source should not matter as long as the potential implication is beneficial to the startup. To some extent that’s true in the short term but I feel that understanding the biases reveals a better picture of the long-term implication.
Finally, as clichéd as it may sound, a start-up journey has its fair share of both highs and lows. Sometimes, the lows are prolonged. But hang in. Reassess. Optimize. Bite the low until the next high.
Cheers
Naveen Chandramohan
P.S – Actually, it’s more like this and I am with the trumpet ;-)
In contrast to the days when we were iteratively designing our logo, we are now already through several rounds of iteration of our business strategy and this process I must say is much exciting than the former. As I reevaluate, I made three observations that I think reflects almost any start-up journey.
Firstly, the process and methodology of strategy optimization has shifted from that in the first few rounds of iteration to the more recent ones. This is because, earlier, our decision making was primarily driven by the mined data from internet and then by other sources like leveraging our first-degree network. However, the more recent iterations were governed by the take-away from our discussions and deliberations with industry leaders, scientific experts and potential investors. This shift I think is unavoidable for anyone that is establishing a venture in a field that they are no expert. In a way, it reflected our progress in learning and understanding the cancer molecular diagnostics domain. As we understood the domain better, we held realistic views on the subject in our discussions with people in the know-how and were also able to appreciate the nuances and intricacies involved. This I think not only gained us the much needed good will from the experts that we were scouting for various engagements but also expanded our network significantly.
Secondly, qualitative refinement of views and opinions that we receive from people that we talked to played a major role in setting the direction for Heragen. This refinement of opinions and ideas deserved a 360o view of the situation. It meant not only analyzing the potential implications of implementing a particular thought or idea but also understanding the apriori biases of the source involved. Well, one may say that the biases of the source should not matter as long as the potential implication is beneficial to the startup. To some extent that’s true in the short term but I feel that understanding the biases reveals a better picture of the long-term implication.
Finally, as clichéd as it may sound, a start-up journey has its fair share of both highs and lows. Sometimes, the lows are prolonged. But hang in. Reassess. Optimize. Bite the low until the next high.
Cheers
Naveen Chandramohan
P.S – Actually, it’s more like this and I am with the trumpet ;-)
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