By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation (LSN)
One of the most pervasive problems we see across life science entrepreneurial programs is that Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs) help companies develop executive summaries and pitch decks that emphasize the science and market opportunity. This approach repeats across incubators, accelerators, universities, and entrepreneurial training programs worldwide.
The problem is that the two sides of the table are speaking different languages. The sell side presents science and market potential, while investors and licensing partners evaluate the seven-layer risk stack: market, technical, regulatory, execution, economic, financing, and exit risk. They want to understand which risks have been retired, which remain, and what evidence supports the company’s ability to overcome them.
This is precisely where LSN spends its time preparing companies for global roadshows and RESI partnering events.
We begin with the LSN assessment, which identifies where the company sits within the risk stack, what has been accomplished, and what remains to be de-risked. We then reconstitute the executive summary and pitch deck to speak the language of risk, supported by evidence rather than simply promoting the science and market opportunity.
We also develop a milestone-driven Gantt chart that shows the development milestones already completed and the value created, the one, two, or three critical milestones ahead for the remainder of the current year, and the subsequent development and de-risking milestones planned for years two and three.
The capital ask becomes the financial expression of the de-risking plan. By calculating the cost of the current and future milestones, the company can explain precisely how much capital it needs, what that capital will accomplish, which risks will be retired, and how achieving those milestones is expected to increase the asset’s value.
This is the fundamental distinction between a conventional pitch deck and a de-risked deck. One emphasizes the promise of the science and the size of the market. The other demonstrates a credible, milestone-driven, financed pathway to making that science investable.
That is the missing commercialization discipline LSN brings to the table, and it is what investors and licensing partners are looking for.
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