Jason Nazar was nice enough to run a free day-long workshop at UCLA Anderson on "How to Start a Business," and I checked it out. I find Jason to be a passionate, hard-working, and wise entrepreneur, and I wanted to see what I could learn from him.

Overall, I was astounded by the immense breadth and depth of resources he and his team at DocStoc have put together to help businesses. They basically have an e-book, video course, and "quick start guide" for every single topic/issue a business faces (pretty cool stuff).

Below are some of my notes and takeaways.

I. intro

II. Why start a business

a. Must have big burning why
i. If don’t have it, will use the “what” as excuses

b. Today is sharing what and how but won’t help if don’t know the why

c. He has huge sense of urgency for life
i. Sees big clock ticking down

III. Ideation
a. Fallacy of the “good idea”
i. No such thing as great idea; there are bad ideas and good businesses and good business owners/teams/execution
ii. Ideas don’t matter, execution does
iii. Don’t need a “good enough idea” to start
iv. Best ones start w/ something else someone else doing and do it better
v. Worst is when you want to start biz no one else is doing
1. We already know people’s problems and ways that work
vi. By sharing your ideas with others, you get feedback
1. You also make mental contract w/ others to commit to doing what you said you’re going to do, puts pressure on you to work on it
2. Secret reason of not sharing ideas w/ others: to not get ppl asking you what’s going on, want way to back out
vii. If someone shoots down your idea, it motivates you more
viii. Just take something you’re passionate and go with it

b. Idea checklist
i. to analyze if idea right one for you
ii. checklist
1. does it solve others’ problems
2. do a lot of ppl have it
3. am I passionate about the idea
4. am I willing to commit the next 5-10 years of my life to this idea
5. are others successfully doing something similar
6. does it have too many competitors
7. can I do something substantially different or better than others
8. can I build the business on my capital resources or what can raise
9. could I have an MVP and customers in 90 days or less
10. are potential customers giving overall positive feedback > 75% of time
11. do I have background/skillset compatible w/ biz
12. do I have acopmetitive advantage on how to get customers
13. if I don’t start this will someone else
14. can I court mentors who have been successful doing something similar
15. does it have a high likelihood of success
16. does the risk/reward match my person r/r
17. does it help me fulfill my purpose

iii. when evaluating many ideas, score each on how many points it has from this list

c. lifestyle vs. liquidity biz
i. lifestyle biz: live off profits now
1. $1M rev, $400K profit, sole owner
ii. liquidity biz: don’t take out money, go for exit
1. focus on growth, not profit

IV. protecting your idea
a. copyright
i. for work of authorship
ii. written work
iii. automatic

b. trademark
i. for logo/mark/short phrase
ii. do a search when naming your business
1. trademarkia
iii. process for filing is easy
iv. he’s a big fan of legalzoom for basic stuff like incorporation
v. value of attorney is analysis is whether something is infringing or not

c. patent
i. unless something highly specialized and technical, won’t make biz successful
1. if u genuinely invent a new process, then do it
2. if anything online, do not worry about getting a patent
a. likely unpatentable and won’t make diff
ii. first objective is getting customers

d. trade secret
e. NDAs
i. Most investors won’t sign
ii. Use for mergers/partners/complex deals
iii. Has entire course online about how to use them

V. Business plans
a. 3 things will make you successful as small biz
i. good product
ii. figuring out how to get customers
1. #1 biggest challenge
iii. making sure you have enough capital for biz

b. uses of bplan
i. raise money
ii. get partners
iii. get others interested in idea

c. crappy ppt can be enough for a bplan for these purposes

d. 10 key questions to address
i. what is prod/service in 30 seconds, explainable to a 5th grader
ii. what is unique value prop
1. what makes better/diff
iii. what is market opp

e. best format
i. powerpoint, not 40 page doc
iii. create ppt w/ about 15 slides, each one addresses one of the main questions
iv. for product, show multiple examples on slides
v. no more than 15-30 words per slide
vi. investors like picture books, not docs
vii. his is great example of visual deck w/ key info

f. financials
ii. what are core metrics
1. how long to reach profitability
a. restaurants want to achieve profitability w/in 1st year
iii. must be able to explain basic assumptions behind model
1. price per unit
2. how many orders
iv. also: use of funds

VI. setting up the business
a. right structure
i. LLC simplest, most popular, $800 to set up
1. Best for service biz
ii. C corp allows more complex ownership/management
1. Only if raising a bunch of money

b. filing and checking
i. LLC: articles of org, operating agmt
ii. EIN

c. licenses and insurance
i. Licenses123 free

VII. Corporate identity
a. Name, logo
i. Do trademark search
ii. Domain name, all social media
iii. Logo: 99designs
iv. Name something meaningful/important for you

b. Physical collateral
i. vistaprint

c. Phone
i. Google voice
ii. Ringcentral
iii. Onebox

d. Website
i. If your website is not your product use weebly, wix, site creator, intuit, wordpress
1. Istockphoto
2. Online commerce: shopify, volusion, magento, google checkout, paypal
ii. Mailchimp, constant contact, sendgrid
iii. Managing social media business presence course they have

VIII. Business operations
a. Location
i. Retail
1. Lock in a great long term space

ii. Office
1. Space not core to business
2. Don’t get locked in to long contract
a. 1 yr leases
3. Try to get option to extend
b. Professional vendors
i. Overcommunicate expectations of deliverable and prices
ii. Be clear of what u expect
iii. Put a cap on hours attorney can work

c. Tools/services
i. Paychex? Payroll, Trinet
ii. SohoOS for customers
iii. Have course on google analytics
iv. Basecamp

IX. Service-based businesses
a. You are your products
i. He did consulting before and developed philosophy of service
ii. Quality fantastic
iii. Understand underlying needs
iv. Agree on, overcommunicate
1. Final product deliverable definition
2. Timeline of delivery
3. Cost
v. Overdeliver on value

vi. Have a great consulting agreement in writing
1. On docstoc
b. Go right to getting customers
i. First bplan he ever wrote was for a paying client (bplan consulting service)
1. Just jumped into it, got 3 clients in 2 days, figured out all else afterwards

c. Scale expenses along w/ demand
i. Grow rev monthly, divert more and more portion of that onto business expenses
ii. As get more demand, charge more
iii. Scale by adding ppl

iv. The more money you charge, the more credibility you have
1. He got certified in hypnotherapy after college but never focused on it; what hypnotists charge affects how popular they are
2. Charge whatever amount you feel good about

X. Building and selling physical products
i. Slideware: PPT deck w/ visual representation of product to get first set of sales
b. Pre-sales contracts to fund initial inventory
i. Get positive terms on when paid
ii. Half up front to pay for initial orders
c. Where to sell products online
d. Selling IRL; Getting partnerships

XI. Building and selling online products
a. 3 golden rules
i. spend 10-50K to get it built
1. enough to get to first version to play with
2. spend this of your own money
ii. spend no more than 3-6 months to get it built
1. narrow feature scope
iii. 1st version needs to have something to be charging for immediately or can start scaling users very fast immediately

b. how to build online product
i. requirements doc
1. long outline detailing all features
ii. wireframes
iii. get a design done
1. 99designs
iv. developers/dev shop
v. hosting
c. getting feedback & users
i. see how ppl use your product
ii. his presentation: 7 ways to drive traffic for free
iii. usertesting.com

XII. raising money

a. 5 P’s
i. people
ii. product
iii. progress
1. momentum
iv. passion
1. we buy things on emotion and justify the logic
2. your passion is a commodity you can trade to get other things done in your business
v. persistence
1. in pushing for meetings

b. sources of capital
i. self
ii. friends & family
1. don’t raise money from ppl who if they lost it, they would give more than a second thought to it
iii. bank loans
1. need long history of relationship and profitable biz or collateral/personal or biz assets
2. start small line of credit and show that repaying over a long time
iv. angel investors
v. venture capitalists
c. how to do it
i. tell them what will do and timeline
ii. reach back out in advance of timeline and show that beat timeline and expectation
iii. show pattern of doing and exceeding what will do and when
iv. get multiple investors to show interest to get leverage
v. find businesses similar to yours that got investment, find out who invested, make contacts with those investors
d. mastering the pitch

XIV. getting customers
a. #1 reason why businesses fail
b. no classroom will teach; it’s experiential
c. if you’re committed, you can do it
d. if not motivated to start biz in next 3 hours, there’s nothing he can do
e. you can’t outsource sales & marketing
f. this has to be your #1 priority
g. the businesses that succeed are those that are the best marketed, not the ones with the best product
h. if you have demand for your service, you can always get capital for it
i. exercise
i. write down the #1 thing that if you got done today/this week/this month would be the most important for the biz
ii. track how much time spent
1. usually not much because it’s the hardest thing
j. in 1st 6 months, spend 50%+ of time getting customers

XV. sales
a. 5 step sales process
i. gain interest
1. talk to them about them
2. give compliment
3. show you listened
4. never start talking about self; start talking about other person
5. 3 topics they care about: health, wealth, relationships

ii. establish credibility
1. past accomplishments
2. willingness to want to help
3. genuineness, transparency
4. ability to speak clearly and give metaphors others can apply to their lives
5. nothing more compelling in biz than one’s own certainty
a. currency like money that can be used in exchange for value/getting people to do things

iii. establish need
1. first actually understand the person and get them to know you understand
2. prospect must feel like you know what they need

iv. offer solution
1. my product is what fulfills the need you’re looking for
2. when they say “what do we do from here”/”next steps”/etc., you finish immediately w/ transaction

v. system to establish easy transaction

b. prospecting
i. 1 out of 10 who have an interest in your service, will actually buy when offered and qualified
1. need wide enough funnel
ii. way to talk to lots of ppl
iii. no’s get you 1 step closer to yes
iv. if you don’t believe in your product/service, really hard to exchange value

c. methods & types of sales
i. inside
ii. outside
d. sales is exchange of value; marketing is getting someone interested in exchange of value and driving ppl to u; PR is building awareness of product
i. key is exchange of value
e. reason we’re so adverse to getting sold is because ppl are always trying to give us something we don’t want instead of learning what we do want/need
f. when someone figures out what you want/need, much more impactful

XVI. Marketing & PR
a. Online marketing
i. "7 ways to get traffic online"
1. search engines
a. SEO
2. Referring traffic/press
a. Top blogs w/ contacts in his PPT
3. Social media
a. Infographics
4. Viral loop
a. Gamification
5. Solve a compelling need
6. Online partnerships / distribution deals
7. Refreshing content
b. Local guerilla marketing
c. Leveraging PR

XVII. Building a team
a. The bar for partners, employees, investors
i. 3 criteria
1. they are the best at what they do
2. no asshole policy
a. 1 bad person will kill the biz
b. must go extra mile to help someone else
3. work harder than everyone else
a. 12 hour day
b. in office until 11
c. work on weekends
ii. AGPIE values: accountability, growth, passion, integrity, excellence

b. Recruiting
i. Interviewing
1. What is the ideal position you’re looking for?
a. If not what you have, it’s a red flag
2. What do they do better than anyone else?
3. If I talk to 10 people you worked with before and what things about you bothered them, what would they say?
ii. If anything comes off as pompous/arrogant, one strike rule (done)
iii. Time to improve an employee is detrimental

c. Issues w/ partners, early employees and equity
i. Must have process in place for how to make decisions when you disagree
ii. Must discuss up front
iii. Prepare lots of if-then situations
1. If someone wants to leave, etc.
2. Gets pregnant
3. Not enough money earning
iv. Vesting
v. Paying equity for work
1. If typical rate is 10K, and my valuation is 1M, you can give 1%
a. But give 2% by valuing the risk higher
2. Board of advisor on 3 year vesting schedule
3. When getting service or value over time, don’t give equity all up front
d. Hiring/firing docs on docstoc
i. Job descriptions
ii. Job application
iii. Consent form for background check, criminal check
iv. Non-binding offer letter
v. Employment agreement w/ IP transfer
vi. Release of claims for termination, offering consideration
vii. Should have documented feedback over time
viii. Last day: vacation time, final day, etc.
e. Employees vs. contractors

XVIII. Financial planning/accounting

XIX. Business dashboard
a. KPIs
b. Key metrics
c. Benchmarking success

XX. Primary legal considerations
a. Working w/ biz attorneys
i. Get referral to someone who has dealt many times w/ ur situation
ii. Personality get along
iii. High level of competency in  your situation
b. Preventing and managing lawsuits
c. Enforcing your rights

XXI. Mentors, advisors, and boards
a. What you don’t know, you don’t know
b. Courting advisors
i. Find ppl you like, ask them to coffee, say what want to learn
c. Working with a board of directors

XXII. Buying and selling businesses
a. Finding businesses to buy
i. Franchisegator
ii. Bizbuy
b. Valuing
i. Multiple of net income

XXIII. Strategy
a. How to make right decisions
i. Docstoc matrix
1. “How to make decisions: 4 factors”
2. A: potential upside
3. B: likelihood of success
4. C: effort involved
5. D: strategic value
ii. Entire book/presentation on this on docstoc
b. Stay in the game: protect your downside risk

XXIV. Philosophies
a. Entrepreneurs’ dilemma
i. Stay attached to problem you’re trying to solve but flexible in solution you use
1. Be passionate about the problem
2. Don’t let ppl dissuade you from that
b. Entrepreneurs sell ether
c. Mistakes people make before starting a business
d. The one most important thing

I attended a fun talk at UCLA recently by Vint Cert, who is Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, and considered by many as one of the fathers of the Internet. Through humor, interesting stories, and wise perspective, he shared his thoughts on the history and the future of the Internet. You can watch the full video at the CNSI website.

Cerf actually studied at both Stanford and UCLA and was a co-designer of TCP/IP, a foundational protocol for the Internet. Of his many honors, he received the Alan Turing award for his influential work.

Below are my notes on the talk.

• Al Gore wrote the bill that funded the backbone and created an organization to connect all government funds for networking and IT research.
  
• Key was convincing private sector of business use case.
  

• First 4 nodes of ARPANET: UCLA, UCSB, SRI, Utah
  
• Military needed satellite and radio nets to interconnect with wired
  

• Internet completely voluntary
  
• No one required to connect or use TCP/IP
  
• Completely distributed
  
• Not designed for anything specific
  
• Huge flexibility
  
• Not over-designed
  

• 888 million machines
  
• 5.5B mobiles
  
• 1.2B PCs
  

• Asia and Europe have more Internet users than North America
  
• Asia 1B
• Eur 500M
• North America 273M
  
• Latin America 235M
  

• IPv6 critical
  

• New generic and internationalized domain names (non-ascii Latin script like Arabic, Cyrillic)
  

• Origins of security weaknesses
  
• Weak OS
  
• Naive browsers with too much privilege
  
• Poor access control practices
  
• Improper configuration of hosts and clients
  
• Compromised clients and servers
  
• Hackers, organized crime, state-sponsored cyber warfare
  

• Security problems of the Internet not all cryptographic
  

• Security responses
  
• Improved OS and browsers
  
• Software defenses reinforced with hardware
  
• BIOS signature
  
• Internal and external firewalls
  
• Stronger auth inside net
  
• DNSSEC and RPKI
  
• User training
  
• StopBadware
  

• Trends
  
• All media digital
  
• Increased collaboration in all contexts
  
• Increased info sharing
  
• Online digital publication
  
• Bit rot hazard (keeping around binary files without the apps/versions to read them)
  
• Need for revision of intellectual property concepts
  

• Google Translate
  
• Google Goggles
  
• Google self-driving cars: no accidents in 200K miles; not autononous, use Internet and feeding back to Google and other cars what seen; allow other cars to use data/experience gained from each car
• Medical diagnosing: pulling context back in from other experiences
  
• Refrigerator on Internet: uses RFID to know what's inside, fetches you recipes, tells you in grocery store not to forget milk
  
• internet bathroom (connected to Internet fridge to caution/lock you out on diet)
  
• Internet-enabled light bulb, LED: monitors usage
  
• Internet-enabled surfboard: surf while surfing
  
• Internet sensor network in house: sampling room temperature, data on how well A/C works; Arch Rock PhyNet Server to monitor wine cellar example
  

• Medical apps
  
• Continuous monitoring now enabled by tech
  
• Temp, blood pressure, pulse can be feasibly measured all the time
  
• Remote diagnosis using handheld devices; can project medical diagnosis through the net
  
• Less skilled techs/nurses can do test remotely while analysis done centrally
  
• Google pandemic analysis through query analysis
  
• Google can detect flu outbreak 30 days before CDC gets doctor reports
  
• Virtual drug trials enabled
  
• If we had adequate med records, could select from population automatically and simply analyze the data
  
• Da Vinci robot helping surgeon do surgery
  
• E-911: dialing a phone when you need help is archaic; sensors around you should detect you have a problem (or you just push panic button on your phone); call is automatic; having much more info for emergency call
  
• Individualized treatment; genetics
  
• Craig Venter, Harvard films of cell function; have changed cell DNA from one species to another successfully
  

I attended an interesting talk at UCLA by Susan Wilhite on lean UX research. She approaches UX design from the standpoint of ethnographic research and talks about ways to do it in a "lean" fashion, emphasizing quick iterations, small batches, prototyping, etc. Her video and SlideShare are above, and my notes are below. I only wish the talk had more real-world examples of projects and research phases she went through for them so we could see it more explicitly (it was somewhat high-level and academic).

Focus on value

Compile your knowledge
What do you know
How do you know it
What does it mean

Build a spine
What is your core
What is unnecessary
What is your niche

Lean != launch crap

Put rubber on road instead of generating documentation
Cafe testing

Arguing without making it personal is important
"Strong opinions, weakly held"

Field trip coordinator
Immersive journalist

Psychotherapy + acting exercises

Ride the chaos, little documentation

Researchers vs. designers; is it ok for a researcher to not be a maker?

Build, measure, learn (lean ux)
Think, make, check (LUXr)
Learn, measure, build (lean startup circle)

Lots of UX research for medical instruments 

Balsamiq < Axure < Omnigraffle
Know vizio well
"Clearly"

Books:
Jeff Gothelf, Lean UX
Rachel Hinman, The Mobile Frontier
Scott Berkun

Sites:
UXMatters
SmashingMag

I recently attend a UX design event at UCLA, which included a presentation by Joselle Ho, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Miso Media, a music education company that got its start in mobile in 2008. It was a fun event as we got to hear Joselle's thoughts on design, and then a panel of judges critiqued some screenshots of real designs others were working on. Below are some of my notes and takeaways

Joselle

UI != UX

Focus on user's wants, assumptions, emotions.

Design for main use case, bury functionality.

Every excess click reduces engagement 90%.

Replacing "Sign up" with "Learn more" increases sign-ups 350%.

What you say matters.
When you say it matters.

Animations make a big difference (continuity and breaks).


UX critiques

Outside pages need to communicate 2 things: why and how.

Login/Sign up/Help in upper right corner

Call to action must pop out when you squint.

Photo-based navigation preferred over text in studies

Discovery of activity in app: make it a widget, reduce the content amount, make it like a ticker
"ppl who added XYZ also added ABC"notification indicator in menu bar

Tools mentioned:
Blueprint for iPad
Invisionapp
Keynote (has hotspot/click targets)
Axure

Explainer video as sole thing in homepage: not great

I'm excited about having graduated on Friday from UCLA Anderson. Our commencement speech was entertaining and inspirational, and I wanted to share the top 10 list that Guy Kawasaki shared with us.

Guy shares alma maters with me (Stanford followed by UCLA Anderson), so I identified with him immediately. He was the chief evangelist at Apple and author of ten books (two of which I've read and really enjoyed: Enchantment and The Art of the Start).

You can watch his speech in the video above, and my notes are below.

Guy's Top 10 Practical Tips for Succeeding

1. Aspire to jump to the next curve.
Instead of working on a better sameness

2. Don't worry, be crappy.
When you're on the next curve, it's time to ship.
Ship and then test.

3. Never ask people to do something you wouldn't do.
Whether it's asking customers or employees
Importance of ethics

4. Obey the absolutes.
There's a hard line between right and wrong.

5. Default to yes.
Positive attitude
Always thinking "how can I help others?"

6. Drop everything when your boss asks you to do something.
Make your boss or wife look good.

7. Become a baker not an eater.
For baker's, life's not a zero sum game.

8. Hire people better than you.
A people hire A people. B people hire C people (and so on).
Hire people better than you to prevent a "bozo explosion."
(See my notes on the book Who.)

9. Change your mind.
It's a sign of intelligence.
Steve Jobs changed his mind all the time (and convinced you he was right before and after).

10. 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint
Optimal slides: 10
Optimal time: 20 minutes
Optimal font size: 30
Figure out oldest person in room and divide age by 2 and that is the font size.

11. Suck it up
Need to pay dues.
Do the dirty job.

12. Have children.
True success is happiness in life.
Children are his greatest joy in life.
Nothing came close in his life in joy.

As part of a class I took on biotech, we were assigned to read Science Business by Gary Pisano. I learned a lot from the class and this book, and it really answered a question I've had for a long time: Why does science/medicine move so much more slowly than technology in general?

I learned that the biotech industry as a whole has been barely profitable since its inception, and that there is a severe productivity crisis (productivity as defined by cost per successful drug has been dropping over time, which is very different from something like computer processors which have been dropping in price over time). There is a big "valley of death" between discovery of a compound or process and commercialization. It takes 10 years and $1 billion to get a drug to market, and 1 in 5,000 drugs makes it. WHOA.

People are always optimistic about biotech revolutionizing health, and it hasn't lived up to this potential yet. The book explains many reasons for this and suggests some different approaches and solutions, none of which seems easy or straightforward.

My full notes are below. I'm curious to see how the industry evolves in the future, as many lives could be saved and improved if things change drastically.

I. Preface: The rise of a new industry and a big question
a. Big hopes but disappointing financial returns over time
b. Biotech firms not more productive in R&D than big pharma
c. Fundamental business problems created by science
d. Functional requirements of sector; performance comes from how well it’s managing these (poorly)
i. Risk management
ii. Integration
iii. Learning
e. Monetizing IP leads to bad info flow, fragmentation, proliferation of new firms
f. Biotech can’t just adopt same methods as high-tech
g. Can sci be a biz?
h. Some businesses doing basic sci; some universities treating sci like biz (selling IP, starting co’s)
i. 30 year history of biotech sector data analyzed

II. Ch. 1: the science-based business: a novel experiment
a. Biotech is convergence of 2 separate realms
b. Science biz one that tries to advance sci, not just use it
c. Sci biz needs unique mgmt
d. Sector profits near zero historically
e. Different norms, values, metrics between sci and biz
f. 3 main factors
i. Profound and persistent uncertainty => needs risk rewarding and mgmt
1. Long time horizons for risk to be resolved
2. Appropriability: ability of biz to capture value from an asset
3. Openness vs. secrecy
ii. Complex and heterogenous nature of scientific knowledge => needs integration
1. Cross disciplinary
iii. Rapid progress => cumulative learning

Part 1: The Science of the business

I. Ch. 2: mapping the scientific landscape
a. Locks and keys
b. Random screening
c. rDNA
d. mAb
e. combinatorial chem
f. SNPs
g. Proteomics
h. RNA interference
i. RDD
j. HTS
k. Growing size, complexity, heterogeneity

II. Ch. 3: the complex anatomy of drug R&D
a. Can save or kill you
b. So much still unknown
c. So many places where drug can work wrong
d. Target identification and validation: find enzyme
e. Lead identification and optimization: find molecule to inhibit it
f. Preclinical development: check safety and effectiveness before humans
g. Human clinical trials phases 1-3
h. Reg approval

III. Ch. 4: drug R&D and the organizational challenges
a. Not like processor design; very little knowledge about entire system and overall spec
b. Process very complex and can’t be broken into pieces: uncertainty and integrality
c. Most R&D on losers
d. Active ingredient and formulation both matter
e. New scientific advances increase uncertainty; show more what we don’t know
f. More choice means more uncertainty
g. More advances mean harder integreation

Part 2: The business of the science

I. Ch. 5: the anatomy of a science-based business
a. Many separate technologies
b. Cyclical entry
c. Genentech started industry
i. Close links to universities
ii. Biz model innovation: contract w/ big pharma for funding development of drug and royalties in exchange for manufacturing and marketing rights
1. First time pharma did R&D through external for-profit co
iii. Pursuit of broad range of opportunities/diseases
d. Second generation used more chemistry and focused on research, allowing pharma to commercialize
e. Third gen: human genomics, industrialized R&D, platform strategy
f. Market for know-how
i. More collab w/ biotechs than w/ univ

II. Ch. 6: the performance of the biotech industry: promise vs. reality
a. Long lag times
b. Zero industry profits
c. Huge skews for Amgen and Genentech
d. R&D productivity, revenue-adjusted

III. Ch. 7: monetizing IP
a. Txr of IP from univ -> private new firms
b. Capital markets (VC) and public equity
c. Market for know-how (small firms trade IP for funding from big firms)
d. Go public much earlier for funding
i. Only 20% of public co’s today have ANY product on market, so basically R&D entities ) (GAAP not as useful)
e. Univ research -> startup w/ VC -> IPO for more funding -> license to big co to bring to patient
f. 3 requirements for risk mgmt.
i. Many options for diversification
ii. Adequate info
iii. Abilty to reap reward
g. Market for know-how -> integration
i. But biotech less modular and codified than software
ii. IP protection murky

IV. Ch. 8: organizational strategies and business models
a. Few examples of success, high uncertainty, luck plays big role
b. Financing critical for industry and its main measure, but wrong measure because it’s input, not performance
c. Alliances/IP monetization are important but not endgame
d. Movie studio model for big pharma: produce ideas of independent writers

V. Ch. 9: The path ahead
a. Venture philanthropy
b. Rethinking the publicly held biotech firm (doesn’t match 10 year investment cycle)

In the spirit of catching up on overdue blog posts, I wanted to share some of my impressions from my trip to Hong Kong. I was able to take some classes from Chinese University of Hong Kong professors, and I found it fascinating how the "One Country, Two Systems" approach is working and enjoyed learning about all the various accounting problems with Chinese publicly-listed firms and meet with some local companies over there. It was my first time in Asia, and I loved the old temples and eastern architecture. The food was, to put it mildly, a bit too exotic for my taste (details below), but besides that, I had a great time. Definitely can't wait to go back and see other countries in Asia sometime in the future.

Arrival impressions

• Huge distances in airport and driving
  
• Huge number of people
  
• Tall ceilings in airport
  
• Super modern city
  
• Literally a concrete jungle
  
• Weird juxtaposition with beautiful harbor
  
• Bridges lit up by colored lights
  
• People very systematic, strict (taxi line, baggage in trunk)
  

Day 1 impressions

• 10,000 Buddhas Monastery awesome
  
• Lots of greenery
  
• Mix of traditional pagodas and modern apartment buildings
  
• Wong Tai Sin Temple
  
• Lots of religious observers
  
• Huge urban sprawl
  
• Clean subway, efficient
  
• Reminds me of Batman/Gotham City, The Matrix (modern, concrete)
  
• Feel suprirsingly comfortable though
  
• Dim Sum @ Maxim's (good)
  
• Most people speak English
  
• Interesting, exotic foods (bird's nest soup made of bird saliva, squid legs, deep fried baby pigeon, ox stomach, sesame ball, broiled crocodile cheek)
  
• Many eat soup for breakfast
  
• Asian bakeries in subway
  
• Victoria Peak cool ascent
  
• Beautiful harbor
  
• Dinner at harbor, light show
  
• Ladies' Market (hundreds of vendors selling the same counterfeit luxury goods and tech items, hundreds of copies of the same place)
  

Day 2 impressions

• Campus beautiful, modern, like Anderson (same classroom format)
  
• Problems with corporate social responsibility in China (corruption, other countries like Vietnam competitive, government not enforcing laws like work hours and overtime)
  
• How to enter Chinese market and transitions over last 30 years in openness of China
• Cash is king, equity and bonuses less trusted at start-ups
  
• Saving for healthcare expenses, buying houses and cars because no one borrows
  
• Healthcare system a mess, have to give bribes to surgeons, over diagnosing due to bribes for surgery, too many c-sections, have to pay entry fee in cash to enter hospital, births on street
  
• Weddings very different: 3 dresses, no eating, shots at each table, no seats for bride and groom, have to be walking around toasting, must do lunch or else think it's second wedding if do dinner, no dancing but karaoke
  
• Lightshow not as good as at Epcot
  
• People in China not aware of what's out there in terms of freedom so don't care about government control; it's how they grew up
  

Last few days impressions

• Mainland China green
  
• Shenzhen similar to Hong Kong
  
• Mao propaganda everywhere: special line for communist party members at customs, every currency bill has Mao, face appears above stage in theater
  
• Not too much fun people having there
  
• Working hard
  
• Big industry, old buildings
  
• Did see however a customer satisfaction survey at Chinese customs (whoa)
• Freeways right above roads, like Gotham City