Next Phase Newsletter

By Candice He, Vice President of Business Development, Global Investment Strategist, LSN

To keep the capital investors and licensing partners meetings numbers up Life Science Nation (LSN) has put together a partnering event bundle for the next two RESI conferences. Register for both Digital RESI March and RESI Boston June until March 13 and save up to $1,000.

Launching and executing a global partnering campaign means getting out into the market and socializing your company with potential partner meetings. Combining the Digital RESI March partnering event with the face2face RESI Boston June event gives our startup companies an opportunity to create some momentum as 2023 progresses.  LSN offers a compelling price point that will able our scientist entrepreneurs and fundraising CEOs a chance to get in front of the players in the market that they need to meet.

The Digital RESI March partnering event is a full-blown virtual conference with investor panels and workshops, as well as the best partnering available. RESI Boston June features all the same compelling sessions in person at Weston Copley Place, June 5-7. Both conferences include an investor and licensing partner database curated by LSN and we fill in all the buy-side partner profiles in our partnering system. This enables the sell-side startup CEOs to search and find the strategic partners they need to establish a dialogue with. This capability makes the RESI events unique and dynamic as they can really match based on fit which make the meetings so much better.

Startup CEOs need to get into the market and the bundle opportunity will increase their odds for fundraising success. For those CEOs who are not quite ready to start partnering meetings you can go and participate in the three-day, two hour a day, entrepreneurial education program from 11-1 which will guide you through setting up and launching a global partnering campaign.  Plus, you can also take advantage of the Audience Access Pass and go to RESI for content and education.  Let’s get busy!

By Karen Deyo, Director of Investor Research, Israel BD, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) knows why startups fail at partnering events, and it is mostly a lack of experience and knowledge, which puts the startup out of context. For example, it starts with very simple things, such as not understanding the importance of the tagline. If you are an investor receiving hundreds of meeting requests, you do not have the time to do a deep dive into every message. The company that nets out who they are with a compelling tagline that can be quickly skimmed and then get an affirmative meeting request clicked is how it is done right. You should be able to get a meeting just by the potential partner reading your tagline. The same rules apply to your company’s elevator pitch. A tagline is 5-7 words that net out who you are and what you do. A potential partner should be able to read your tagline and have enough information to either take a meeting or go on and read more…your elevator pitch is 5-7 sentences that net out who you are and what you do in more detail.  Again, from reading the elevator pitch should be able to decide whether take a meeting or read more.

There are a lot of pitfalls and common red flags that companies can avoid when trying to make a good first impression. These include assuming the investor is completely ignorant of the market, claiming their technology will address a whole market (such as ‘cancer’), claiming to have no competition, and claiming a KOL is involved in their company when they are not. Do not underestimate the investors you meet and expect them to take everything you say at face value – they are well informed, and, if they run into something they aren’t sure about, they will check.

LSN has developed a 4-step process on how to request meetings at a partnering conference.  LSN knows that just asking for a meeting will get you minimal results. We use the subject line of the email as a key starting point because if you use the subject as a tool to get attention and generate meetings if used properly.

4-Step, Subject Line Process that we have pioneered and works with astounding results. We have tested this process hundreds of times. The results are usually going from 3-7 meetings to 12-20+ meetings just by having your story and narrative crisp and using our LSN meeting request process. The 4-Step, Subject Line process that starts with putting the following in the subject line.

• First Attempt for RESI Meeting: Introduction meeting request of XYZ company at Up-and-coming RESI event
• Second Attempt for RESI Meeting: XYZ Companies Founders, Management Team, KOLs, and How XYZ Make a Difference
• Third Attempt for RESI Meeting: XYZ Company Innovative Technology Asset and Market Position
• Fourth and Final Attempt for RESI Meeting: XYZ Company Strategic Partners and Current Projects

Remember that when launching and positioning your company you are going on a journey from regional to global. Sign up for the LSN classes that are available to help with your branding and messaging. LSN curriculum specifically revolves around Global Roadshow Preparation, getting a company’s story straight, developing a compelling narrative, canvassing a global target list of capital investors and licensing partners, and follow-up. RESI partnering events bring the LSN ecosystem to life and afford startups the opportunity to meet strategic partners five times a year which is a crucial aspect as the transaction does not get done by attending 1-2 events a year.

LSN’s Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) Conference series is a terrific opportunity to network and make connections with key players that can help move your company to the next phase. The RESI conference series, because of its unique focus and format, is by far the best opportunity for early-stage companies to meet and partner with investors and strategics. Partnering opens February 21 for Digital RESI, March 14-16 and your degree of success is directly proportionate to the effort you put into it.

By Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series

An entrepreneur’s attitude and ability to execute the plan have an enormous impact on their overall success or failure. Life Science Nation (LSN) has created an ecosystem where entrepreneurs who are seeking capital or licensing deals can identify and match themselves up with partners that are precisely right for their stage of development and product.

Where LSN sees things break down is when entrepreneurs decide to pause their partnering efforts or skip the next partnering event because they are not getting the results they want. They fail to stick with the plan that fundraising is a pure numbers game, and it takes 9-18 months and hundreds of partnering meetings to find the few compelling partners that are a great fit and can lead to transactions. You need to buy off on a process for finding and meeting potential partners and work that process knowing it is always going to be a tough road.

What entrepreneurs forget is that it only takes one good connection, one good meeting, to turn the momentum around and change the dynamic of the partnering campaign and start to pick up momentum.

Entrepreneurs with a positive attitude and a relentless willingness to stick with the process will be more motivated to take risks and push themselves to go the extra mile. They must remain focused on their goals and be open to feedback and criticism and always move forward as a global partnering campaign ebbs and flows. None of this is news but at the end of the day persistence is what will make the difference and that is why LSN has 5 RESI events a year, with options for in-person, hybrid, and virtual, to provide an ecosystem that will allow the buyers and sellers to meet and get matched up, create a dialogue that can lead to a relationship and eventual transaction.

The Digital RESI, March 14-16 event is a fully virtual conference, and will offer 300+ investors and licensing partners, Innovation Pitch Challenge, Entrepreneurial Education, funding and partnering panels and workshops.  I submit that if you are a startup looking for global partners you must keep up the effort through digital and face2face events and not let chances slip by.

By Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN

Life Science Nation’s next conference, Digital RESI March, is coming up in just over a month. We are excited to continue facilitating meaningful connections between early-stage life science companies and investors/strategic partners through this 3-day virtual conference, which will include a robust agenda of investor panels, workshops (including a new educational track), and the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC), through which we will have life science companies present live pitches in front of a judging panel.

We expect 300+ investors to join the upcoming event. With a 24-hour meeting capacity, attendees will be able to join the conference at the comfort of their home and schedule meetings based on their availability, regardless of what time zone they are in.

Below is a selected list of participating investors that you can expect to meet at Digital RESI March. If you are actively fundraising and looking to get in front of more investors, make sure to register by tomorrow to save $200 on your registration!

Partial List of Digital RESI March Confirmed Investors

As Feb. 8, 2023

By Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series

Digital RESI March will feature a novel entrepreneurial education track, the LSN Global Partnering Campaign and Roadshow Preparation course, which will include six classes total, two classes that will be delivered each day of the 3-day virtual event. This education focus will be for entrepreneurs who are starting to plan for their fundraising and licensing partner search and how LSN can help. An important theme of the education will concern how to plan and execute a global roadshow efficiently, which can greatly determine an early-stage entity’s success when moving from their regional environment to the global competitive landscape. The education sessions are highlighted below:

Participating in the classes will allow the attendees to hear firsthand from LSN Founder and CEO, Dennis Ford, on issues including the importance of getting your company story straight, cogently weaving this narrative through multiple modalities (tagline to pitch deck), and how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls that catch first-time CEOs off-guard. Throughout the sessions on Wednesday (3/15) and Thursday (3/16), participants will hear from members of LSN’s Business Development and Investor Research teams on how to develop a professional set of marketing collateral, what the 10 myths of fundraising are, and strategies to boost partnering success in the global arena.

Attendees of RESI will be able to access the educational content in two methods: either through 1-day and 3-day partnering registrations ($695 and $995 respectively) which include the ability to book meetings with the capital investors and licensing partners who are attending Digital RESI March, or through the Audience Access Pass ($295) which grants full access to all of the education content & panels at Digital RESI March, but with no partnering.

By Antoinette Lowre, Manager of Business Development, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) is now focusing our efforts towards planning our upcoming fully virtual conference, Digital RESI, March 14-16. Digital RESI March will include all of the RESI favorites – Investor panels, Innovator’s Pitch Challenge, and workshops. In addition, a NEW entrepreneurial education track, the LSN Global Partnering Campaign and Roadshow Preparation course.

The LSN team hosts virtual webinars leading up to Digital RESI March to help our community of startups prepare for meeting with investors and strategic partners alike. Check out the recordings and sign up for upcoming webinars.

February 1, 12 PM EST

Delivering a Successful Virtual Pitch

The Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) returns across the upcoming 3-day digital conference, Digital RESI, March 14-16th. Being able to successfully deliver a powerful and compelling pitch to portray why your company’s unique technology should be an investor’s top interest. This workshop gives you tips from the application process, execution of the pitch and preparing for investor-led Q&A.

February 7, 12 PM EST

Tech Hub Exposure at RESI

This webinar is designed for tech hub organizations ranging from accelerators, incubators, non-profits, universities, tech transfer offices, regional organizations, and more who set up their early-stage life science startup constituents for success with their entrepreneurship and fundraising journey. It will showcase the tools and resources that LSN makes available for Tech Hubs to help their startups who’ve raised less than $2M USD in capital expand their outreach from Regional to Global, build a target list of investors, get involved with the RESI conference series, and more.

February 15, 12 PM EST

Tagline & Elevator Pitch

Distilling your company identity into a 5-7 word tagline and then expanding upon that in a 5-7 sentence elevator pitch is one of the most fundamental business development skills that early-stage entrepreneurs must master when launching global partnering campaigns. Join us to learn how to develop a compelling tagline and convincing elevator pitch to grip the attention of your target investors and licensing partners.

March 1, 12 PM EST

Strategies for Successful Partnering

Take a deep dive into your outreach campaign. Learn more about our proven successful strategy and how to craft your messages from your initial outreach and each follow up message after that.

By Erika Wu, Business Development Manager, Global Tech Hubs, LSN

Mansfield Bio-Incubator Chief Operating Officer, Alexander Margulis has been in the Life Sciences industry for over 20 years and is passionate about creating a robust and accessible entrepreneurial community among local universities, startups, and investors. Less than 1-hour away from Boston and Cambridge, the facility provides mentorship, networking opportunities and affordable private and shared spaces for research labs. In addition, they offer several resources such as access to professional advisors and assistance with government and private funding research applications. Currently, Mansfield Bio-Incubator hosts over 20 early-stage startups ranging from therapeutics to medical devices in the life sciences areas of oncology, women’s health, animal health, biomaterials, and more.

Listen to our conversation to learn more about how Alexander and his team are creating, growing, and ensuring the success of the next generation of life science companies at Mansfield Bio-Incubator.

Contact Erika Wu, Business Development Manager, Global Tech Hubs of LSN to learn about tech hub offer.