Next Phase Newsletter

By Rory McCann, Marketing Manager & Conference Producer, LSN

Before buying a ticket to a digital partnering event, make sure your goals are realistic and achievable, and those will differ depending on where you are at in the funding universe. (Click here for a free copy of Life Science Nation (LSN)’s Fundraising Manifesto.) The good news is that LSN is hearing from investors that, after a brief slow-down in the early months of 2020, they are closing deals and allocating funds. The big question many are asking is, “Really? Even without face-to-face meetings?” Investors give a resounding, YES!

LSN is tracking 400+ early-stage companies in drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital health in a diverse range of indications who have raised between $150K – $33M in various funding stages as a direct result of connections made through the Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) partnering conferences. While old-school partnering says in-person yearly meetings are the ticket, RESI disagrees, and the numbers don’t lie.

Partnering is an ongoing conversation from pitch to capital allocation, which can often take between 9-18 months. These deals are made through first establishing the fit and then creating an ongoing dialogue that turns into a relationship. This means that it is essential to communicate and meet often via whichever platform is available, which in 2020, is online. Before committing to buying a ticket to a partnering event, it’s important to understand your chances of success, as well as what success looks like for your company, and which investors are truly qualified.

LSN gives early-stage companies a helping hand by having one-on-one interviews regularly with its global investor network to ensure every investor is vetted, as well as runs conferences and an accelerator program, manages databases, and offers a trove of free resources (Next Phase Newsletter, Bootcamps, etc.). LSN has everything an early-stage company needs to get in the game and play to win. Next week’s Digital RESI July dedicated partnering event is one of those resources we hope fundraising CEOs will take advantage of and will join our growing list of innovative companies funded through RESI. Find out more and register for next week’s 2-day dedicated partnering event at https://resiconference.com/digital-resi-two-day-dedicated-partnering-event/.

By Gregory Mannix, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President International Business Development, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN)’s newest 2-day dedicated partnering event begins next week, July 27-28. The Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference series has been a leader in global partnering events for years, and since digital events have become the only way to connect buyers and sellers, RESI has grown in popularity for its partnering platform, particularly with early-stage companies in the drugs, diagnostics, devices, and digital health (4Ds).

Check out the featured companies at RESI July. Click the logo to learn more about these companies innovating healthcare and life science across the 4Ds. RESI enables early-stage companies to reach a global audience of investors and strategic partners right from their home office, and at an attainable price point for fundraising CEOs. Check out our list of featured companies and remember that there’s still time to register for next week’s event if you want your logo and company story available to eligible investors and strategic partners!

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation; Creator of RESI Conference Series

In the world of web-based meetings and partnering events, the digital handshake is more important than ever to get in front of the right investors and strategic partners. The introductory message requesting a partner meeting needs to be Step 1 of a 4-step plan to secure meetings with the right people.

In order to fill up your dance card at a partnering conference, you must first and foremost do your homework and read all the profiles of the potential partners. Make sure you only select the ones that are a fit for your company’s stage of development and product set – The Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference model makes this task very easy because you can search and select these firms by simply clicking through the investor profile filters and produce the target list. That is good news, but the great news is that, at a RESI conference, all the investor profiles are updated and full, meaning that all fundraising CEOs need to do is understand their target investors, review investor profiles based on their criteria, and create a list of potential fits.

Once you get the list of all your target investors, you then must send your first introductory message requesting a meeting. The message is a simple narrative which introduces your firm, with a hook to draw the investor in. This message should include:

• Your company’s tagline, which nets out in 5-6 words what the firm is and what you do
• Your elevator pitch that succinctly describes your company and the technology
• What differentiates your technology or product innovation, and how that will affect your target market
• Information on your raise and target milestones
• Any other noteworthy net/net items about you or your team

Put this together and press send. It doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out document, just a crisp message that provides enough info so that the reader can determine if you are a fit and that they should say yes to a meeting. By making your message short and concise, you show the recipient that you respect their time, understanding that they are receiving hundreds of requests, and that you did the work to make it easy for them to decide to meet.

Following up is crucial in securing partnering meetings. Each follow-up message should be short and a “quick ping” in nature. Life Science Nation (LSN) recommends that you follow this order:

• Your second message should be on the product/technology you have created, why it is different and how your IP is a game changer. Once again, net out your differentiated value.
• Your third message should be a quick ping on key management, highlighting you or a noted team member’s experience that has moved the needle and made your company unique.
• Your fourth message should include your one-page tear sheet, which has all the previous messages on one page.

This is a process LSN has developed and knows works – We have the metrics to prove it. Countless times, through the coaching that LSN provides to CEOs from our Focus on Cures Accelerator, we have seen the meeting numbers jump from 4-6 meetings to 8-12 per day. It works, and there is still time to sign up for the next RESI dedicated partnering event, July 27-28. Click here to sign up and to practice that digital handshake!