Toby Reid, Managing Director at BioCity Scotland, was the keynote speaker of the Graduation Cerimony of d·HEALTH Barcelona 2017. BioCity is UK's largest bioscience incubation centre. Over 200 companies are based in a BioCity Group business incubator, with a 91% survival rate of companies.

1. MOEBIO GRADUATION
Toby Reid, BioCity Group

2. ● BioCity Nottingham
● MediCity Nottingham
● BioCity Glasgow
● MediCity Scotland
● Biohub
INCUBATOR – ACCELERATOR – INVESTOR
40,000m2
250 companies
1,000+ employees
90 companies through Accelerator Programme
91% survival rate at BCN
50+% occupied by companies supported since start
BioCity Group

3. Can you manufacture successful businesses?Challenge

4. Success / Failure

5. Statistic Brain –
Startup Business
Failure Rate
(2017)
Top 20
reasons
startups fail
(2016)
Success v Failure
Startup
Genome
Report
(2011)

6. • Founders with general and domain-specific business
knowledge
• Develop the right mentoring relationships
• Willingness to observe, listen and learn
• Balance of technical and business knowledge
• Commitment to stay the course and stick with a
chosen path
• Willingness to adjust, but not constantly adjusting
• Implementing “Lean Startup” principles
• Raising just enough money in a funding round to hit the
next set of key milestones
• Lack of focus
• Lack of motivation, commitment and passion
• Too much pride and arrogance
• Lacking good mentorship
• Lack of general and domain-specific business
knowledge
• Raising too much too soon
Success Failure

7. Top 20 reasons startups fail (2016)
Success v Failure

8. Product Market Fit
Business Model
Management Team
Top 20 reasons startups fail (2016)
Success v Failure

9. Management Team Business Model
• Product Market Fit
1 2
Success v Failure
Success
depends on…

10. Management Team
/ Experience
1

11. UK University Spin Outs
• 72.5% first-time entrepreneurs
• 6% serial entrepreneurs; having previously
founded 3 or more USOs
Enterprise Research Centre,
2015 Study
Technology Transfer Offices:
• Universities prefer experienced founders/executive
leadership
• However difficult to recruit talented/experienced
entrepreneurs
• Lack ability/bandwidth to assess market/investor
readiness of technologies
BioCity Group,
2017 interviews
Management Team
Value of
Experience

12. No Evidence
Nuanced
Inconclusive
Management Team
Value of
Experience

13. Problems
• Drawing on experience with only one reference point makes it difficult to extrapolate to other contexts
• Serial entrepreneurs can act based on “superstitious comfort”
• Serial entrepreneurs are overly-optimistic which may be a barrier to learning
• Entrepreneurs with multiple reference points may learn better – especially if they have experienced
failure
Ucbasaran et al. 2010; 2011
Toft-Kehler, 2010
Management Team
Value of Experience

14. Ucbasaran et al. 2010; 2011
Toft-Kehler, 2010
The strongest predictor of future success resides in
ability of entrepreneur to learn from experience –
i.e. Derive insight from knowledge
Management Team
Value of Experience
“ “
Industry experience helps build a network
(customers, mentors) that increase likelihood
of success
“ “

15. What does improve the
chances of success for the
Management Team?
• Balanced Founding Team
• Participate in an Accelerator (Lean Start-up)
• Access to a relevant and connected network
• Build entrepreneurial EXPERTISE
Based on
interviews with
BioCity companies
2017
Management Team

16. Business Model
/ Product Market Fit
2

17. Business Model
Product
Market Fit
Design ExperimentInsight
Test
Hypothesis

18. WHO?
WHY?
HOW?
Business Model
Product Market Fit
Value Proposition: Relationships:
Key Resources:
Key Activities:Strategic Partners:
Channels:
Revenue Streams:Costs:
Customer Segments:

19. Business Model
Business Model Innovation

20. Business Model
Business Model Innovation

21. What
does an
investor
want to
see?
Business Model
Securing Investment

22. Business Model
Securing Investment

23. Business Model
Securing Investment

24. Most
startups
jump from
Stage 0 to 2
and then
slide
backwards
….
Startup Growth Phases

25. • Balanced Founding Team
• Participate in an Accelerator
• Access to a relevant and connected network
• Experienced advisory board and/or connected Chairman
• Maintain flexibility to pivot to larger market need
• Recruit top talent
• Engage early with potential acquirers
• Conduct Customer Discovery
• Test ideas and be prepared to pivot
• Launch with a Beachhead customer – early revenue generation
How do you improve chances of success?
Based on interviews with
BioCity companies 2017

26. Get a balanced team
Learn how to listen -
Really listen!
Get connected
Be scientific &
cynical
Be prepared to run
through brick walls
Get supported
Overvalue
experience
DO’s:
Believe your own
hype
Test ideas
Launch early
Get early revenues
Be prepared to pivotTrust facts over
opinions
Confuse raising
investment with
success
BUT
DON’T:
How do you improve chances of success?

27. “Get connected and find true
validated product market fit
and everything else will get a
lot easier”