Thoughts from a Start-up Entrepreneur: The Sun Always Rises, Enjoy Every Day!

Well, it’s been just over one year since we officially launched my first start-up: Medley Genomics, built from a shared vision and passion for driving genomic knowledge and innovation to make a better life for patients. I want to provide others with a sense of what this adventure is like and to provide moral support to those who contemplate the plunge into true start-up life. For me, it's been all about purpose and place.

In my case, there are two specific conditions that have helped to frame my experience.

First and foremost, I am a woman – kind of an anomaly in this high-tech world of Life Sciences start-ups. I don’t have to provide all the data on just how rare a creature I am. Lifestream/MassBio have done a great job setting the table with data and recommendations for how we bring more women to the head of the table. It is clear - I need more women here with me. Let’s hope I can inspire you all!

Second, I don’t have one of the top-tier venture firms waiting for my next move, as many of the nearby Cambridge start-ups seem to have these days. Would be nice – but definitely not a requirement, just makes fundraising that much more interesting.

So – why did I do this? Perhaps more than anything, I did it to build a company, my company, that I truly believe will change the way cancer care is delivered for all the patients who seek better outcomes when they hear the word cancer from their physician for the first time. I have always been a hopeful, optimistic person.  I want to share that along with my passion for making a difference in patient’s lives – something I have been doing now for over 20 years.

But there were other reasons, too. After decades commuting from my wonderful Edgewood community here in Rhode Island, to neighboring states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, it was time to make a difference in my place. It was time to bring my work close to home, to reap the benefits of proximity to the amazing talent at Brown University and, most importantly, make a difference in the Life Sciences ecosystem we are building together here in Rhode Island. After watching from a distance over ten years while I rode Amtrak back and forth to Cambridge/Boston, more than ten years driving back and forth to Connecticut (as least I could enjoy books on tape), it was time to live my life in the driver’s seat – which meant taking a huge risk, leaving a fantastic salary, knowing I had to try setting my own terms on how to spend the next ten years of my career. And so I am DOING IT MY WAY and making a difference in my community for those that will follow in our footsteps. I have joined the MedMates Board of Directors, the RI affiliate of Bio. And from my office window – next to the hole in the ground that will be the Wexford Science and Technology Innovation Center and CIC, it feels very…close.

What’s it been like over these past twelve months? Well, exhilarating, scary, filled with self-doubt, times of great confidence, successes and failures, bad decisions (but decisions nonetheless), good decisions, loneliness (I miss my team), hard work, great people who support you when asked (a key take-away – build your support network always) but most importantly – I and my-co-founders have a shared sense of purpose. What more can one ask for – I guess (OK, $1M would be nice)! What’s so important is to make sure little victories are savored, remembered and held onto during the times when everything seems futile – because you know the next ever-so-small victory is waiting around the corner.

A few highlights to share: when I put our first Seed investment in the bank, when I opened our bank account statement – I felt so strong – I did this, someone believed in me, I can do this. And sure, it’s not a guarantee that you’ll achieve your end goals – but it means you can give yourself the best shot possible. 

When I won the Rhode Island Bridge to MassChallenge after spending several days with entrepreneurs like myself – I was shocked! I know that’s not what you’re supposed to say…but all of a sudden someone else believed in me, saw my purpose, and pronounced it loudly to my utter surprise. Again, it goes to the strong understanding that you have to believe it yourself and it was so god-damn exciting that others did too! Of course, when I pitched before the broader MassChallenge Semi-Final Round – the judges had a different opinion – but so what…not everyone will believe.

But the truly hard part – especially as a woman, has been the struggle to find funding while being so starkly different than those around me. I’m as accomplished in business and science as they are, but I’m not a man.

A few months after starting the company, I was exhilarated about the thought of approaching early stage investors (and yes, they have all been men) to tell our Medley Genomics story – how could I not be successful in raising additional funds for the company? Oh my goodness – looking back 9 months later and still pitching to investors, I now truly appreciate how hard the process of early seed investment is – there are so many amazing ideas to be heard, so many great management teams doing this for their third or fourth time. You have to remind yourself that raising money is damn hard – your rejection can feel very personal but you can’t let that distract you from the task at hand: building a company.  Particularly when you also see some equally early start-ups getting funded for reasons that are unclear. Yet, with purpose and determination and the learnings from your experiences - you just have to find the next investor, the next pitch, the next angel and continue on.

I was very fortunate to present to the New York Angels investment group – on the day I pitched the room was filled with well over 75 investors (once again mostly men – sorry). It was an amazing experience – it was one of those out-of-body experiences where every word flowed and I felt so good when I finished, as I engaged eagerly with the questions that flew at me and remained on an amazing high the whole day. Even though they made the decision not to invest for many reasons, I was proud. I still believed in myself and our purpose. 

So where am I now? Still raising money, but I have several partners who believe in our vision and our platform, I just received a fantastic score on my NIH SBIR Grant, and we are looking to the year 2018 ahead. 

Will we ultimately be successful in building a company to change the world of cancer care? I can’t answer affirmatively today – but most importantly I will always know that I didn’t sit back and think about what’s possible – I actually moved forward and made it possible – both for me, my Rhode Island Life Sciences community and most importantly for cancer patients across the globe. 

As I say at the end of my pitches these days – I welcome you to join me in Medley Genomics quest to change the future of cancer care for all who are impacted by these devastating diseases.