By Laura Chess, Research Analyst, LSN
If you have just read the “East Meets West: By the Numbers”, I would like to provide some additional commentary from a canvassing perspective.
As a research analyst at LSN, one of the reasons I am able to get through to investors is that the purpose of my call is to find out what an investor’s interests are so that I can provide them with qualified dealflow. I am not trying to sell them something. During Asian night, June 18, I was pleasantly surprised with how open and receptive the investor candidates we canvassed were. My goal was to conduct a one-on-one survey that reveals the needs of investors that I had targeted from the Far East. Upon explaining that LSN can help them source and filter global life science companies that are a fit for their current investment mandates, the call becomes a pretty free-flowing conversation.
Below are the two observations I made that may be of help to the reader when canvassing the Asia Oceania region:
1) Many investors in Asia are open to considering western companies and actively seeking deal flow.
Many investors in the Asia-Pacific region don’t have offices in the U.S., which is sometimes misconstrued as a lack of interest in western-based start-ups. In our conversations, however, many Asian investors said they were open to cold calls, interested in establishing relationships with western biotech and medtech companies, and seeking deal flow. These investors were especially interested in companies looking to expand to Asia.
2) To make the most of late-night outreach, choose large cities, be organized, and add a sense of urgency.
If you have the ability to reach out internationally, choose large cities, such as Hong Kong or Beijing, where investors are well versed in English. Sort the list of investors by time zone, with start times for each. And in the weeks leading up to your outreach, consider contacting investors by email to let them know the date and time when you will call. Taking such steps will help you achieve your primary goal: making as many calls as possible.
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