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Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 3:29 amAnother DCT company that's had multiple layoffs in one year. Just had a massive RIF yesterday and their CCO and CTO are "stepping down." Doesn't seem like they've had any traction this year compared to other competitors.
It is just odd that it's the same old story for most DCT companies. Poor leadership seems to be the unifying thread.
Another DCT company that's had multiple layoffs in one year. Just had a massive RIF yesterday and their CCO and CTO are "stepping down." Doesn't seem like they've had any traction this year compared to other competitors.
It is just odd that it's the same old story for most DCT companies. Poor leadership seems to be the unifying thread.
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 2:39 pmCan you define massive? My understanding is they only had ~90 employees.
Also, what team(s) and/or products are remaining?
Can you define massive? My understanding is they only had ~90 employees.
Also, what team(s) and/or products are remaining?
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 5:12 pmJust like so many other companies that jump on the life sciences bandwagon - they see an opportunity to make lots of money without understanding the regulatory landscape for the industry.
Just like so many other companies that jump on the life sciences bandwagon - they see an opportunity to make lots of money without understanding the regulatory landscape for the industry.
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 6:03 pmQuote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 5:12 pmJust like so many other companies that jump on the life sciences bandwagon - they see an opportunity to make lots of money without understanding the regulatory landscape for the industry.
and for the senior leaders and executives to fund their escapades - expensive dinners, first class flights to conferences, unnecessary perks. and the boards of these companies struggle to make money.
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 5:12 pmJust like so many other companies that jump on the life sciences bandwagon - they see an opportunity to make lots of money without understanding the regulatory landscape for the industry.
and for the senior leaders and executives to fund their escapades - expensive dinners, first class flights to conferences, unnecessary perks. and the boards of these companies struggle to make money.
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 6:51 pmi'm not sure i agree with the sentiment that the leaders in lightship are not experienced in the industry. the CEO worked for more than 20 years in CROs and at Pfizer too. The cofounder was at a site for many years and at CROs. not very fair to generalize as in the comment above.
i'm not sure i agree with the sentiment that the leaders in lightship are not experienced in the industry. the CEO worked for more than 20 years in CROs and at Pfizer too. The cofounder was at a site for many years and at CROs. not very fair to generalize as in the comment above.
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 6:56 pmQuote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 6:51 pmi'm not sure i agree with the sentiment that the leaders in lightship are not experienced in the industry. the CEO worked for more than 20 years in CROs and at Pfizer too. The cofounder was at a site for many years and at CROs. not very fair to generalize as in the comment above.
I would argue that years of experience does not equate to competent leadership. You can put in the time but not be able to run a company. And you have to consider what their role was.
I've heard accounts of the culture there and I can conclude that the years of prior experience doesn't mean that it's a well-run company.
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 6:51 pmi'm not sure i agree with the sentiment that the leaders in lightship are not experienced in the industry. the CEO worked for more than 20 years in CROs and at Pfizer too. The cofounder was at a site for many years and at CROs. not very fair to generalize as in the comment above.
I would argue that years of experience does not equate to competent leadership. You can put in the time but not be able to run a company. And you have to consider what their role was.
I've heard accounts of the culture there and I can conclude that the years of prior experience doesn't mean that it's a well-run company.
Quote from brad on September 7, 2023, 7:37 pmI'm not really that smart but I have to start wondering if there is some common thread with these companies who raise a shitload of money only to flounder. These are smart people (presumably). They have experience. They have connections. But they still can't execute. I have a hard time understanding how. I feel like if a dummy like me can bootstrap a small site network that can gross a few million every year they could do much better with tens (sometimes hundreds) of millions to work with.
What gives?
I'm not really that smart but I have to start wondering if there is some common thread with these companies who raise a shitload of money only to flounder. These are smart people (presumably). They have experience. They have connections. But they still can't execute. I have a hard time understanding how. I feel like if a dummy like me can bootstrap a small site network that can gross a few million every year they could do much better with tens (sometimes hundreds) of millions to work with.
What gives?
Quote from Guest on September 7, 2023, 8:53 pmQuote from brad on September 7, 2023, 7:37 pmI'm not really that smart but I have to start wondering if there is some common thread with these companies who raise a shitload of money only to flounder. These are smart people (presumably). They have experience. They have connections. But they still can't execute. I have a hard time understanding how. I feel like if a dummy like me can bootstrap a small site network that can gross a few million every year they could do much better with tens (sometimes hundreds) of millions to work with.
What gives?
to me, this is a "you had to be there" type of thing. from the outside, it doesn't make sense as to why these companies fail. people only see what these leaders are like in conferences or social media posts, but they have no idea what they are like behind closed doors. A lot of putting trust in the wrong people, poor decisions (like scaling way too fast), splurging on their business trips or conferences on the company's dime, not wanting to listen to the people doing the work who tell them to temper expectations. If only people could hear the discussions behind closed doors, then nobody would be surprised at how these companies fail.
Not doubting their intelligence and experience, but people have to realize that does not mean they are competent at leading and building a company. Most of these leaders say they're patient centric, but at the end of the day only care about the bottom line.
My guess to your success is that you actually care about what's important. And the decisions you make operationally and strategically are actually patient centric and staff centric. The management at these companies probably don't care as much...
Quote from brad on September 7, 2023, 7:37 pmI'm not really that smart but I have to start wondering if there is some common thread with these companies who raise a shitload of money only to flounder. These are smart people (presumably). They have experience. They have connections. But they still can't execute. I have a hard time understanding how. I feel like if a dummy like me can bootstrap a small site network that can gross a few million every year they could do much better with tens (sometimes hundreds) of millions to work with.
What gives?
to me, this is a "you had to be there" type of thing. from the outside, it doesn't make sense as to why these companies fail. people only see what these leaders are like in conferences or social media posts, but they have no idea what they are like behind closed doors. A lot of putting trust in the wrong people, poor decisions (like scaling way too fast), splurging on their business trips or conferences on the company's dime, not wanting to listen to the people doing the work who tell them to temper expectations. If only people could hear the discussions behind closed doors, then nobody would be surprised at how these companies fail.
Not doubting their intelligence and experience, but people have to realize that does not mean they are competent at leading and building a company. Most of these leaders say they're patient centric, but at the end of the day only care about the bottom line.
My guess to your success is that you actually care about what's important. And the decisions you make operationally and strategically are actually patient centric and staff centric. The management at these companies probably don't care as much...
Quote from Guest on September 8, 2023, 2:23 amThey probably have good enough leadership but venture capital from outside of clinical trials industry can be problematic.
When they give you money they expect you to spend it. There's pressure on startup leadership to project confidence in their growth potential and then pressure from venture capital to scale up to fulfil that potential. All in the while it's forgotten about actually delivering a good product/service that fits into a market need.
It goes like this:
Tech VC: Health is a big market, want some money?
DCT startup: Sure, gimme
Tech VC: You have money, go and hire everyone and spend the money, grow quickly just like Facebook did! Coz all tech companies work like that and you are a tech company.
DCT startup: Sure, I can bring on 50 people to go out and sell our half-baked solution; let's grow!!!
Tech VC: Why aren't you growing fast enough?
DCT startup: Because the industry moves slow
Tech VC: Well why did we spend all that money?
DCT startup: Because you told me to
Tech VC: 😬
DCT startup: We're going to run out of money in 3 months
Tech VC: Here's another $2M to ensure you don't fail and we look bad. Don't tell anyone. Fire 70% of your team and cut costs until we can find another sucker VC to bail you out.The scary thing with this approach is that it works 1/30 times in tech and that is enough to pay for the other 29 failures. I'm unsure if this translates to clinical trials...
Source: I have worked in venture capital-backed startups for 15 years and one in the clinical trial space for the last 3.
They probably have good enough leadership but venture capital from outside of clinical trials industry can be problematic.
When they give you money they expect you to spend it. There's pressure on startup leadership to project confidence in their growth potential and then pressure from venture capital to scale up to fulfil that potential. All in the while it's forgotten about actually delivering a good product/service that fits into a market need.
It goes like this:
Tech VC: Health is a big market, want some money?
DCT startup: Sure, gimme
Tech VC: You have money, go and hire everyone and spend the money, grow quickly just like Facebook did! Coz all tech companies work like that and you are a tech company.
DCT startup: Sure, I can bring on 50 people to go out and sell our half-baked solution; let's grow!!!
Tech VC: Why aren't you growing fast enough?
DCT startup: Because the industry moves slow
Tech VC: Well why did we spend all that money?
DCT startup: Because you told me to
Tech VC: 😬
DCT startup: We're going to run out of money in 3 months
Tech VC: Here's another $2M to ensure you don't fail and we look bad. Don't tell anyone. Fire 70% of your team and cut costs until we can find another sucker VC to bail you out.
The scary thing with this approach is that it works 1/30 times in tech and that is enough to pay for the other 29 failures. I'm unsure if this translates to clinical trials...
Source: I have worked in venture capital-backed startups for 15 years and one in the clinical trial space for the last 3.
Quote from Guest on September 8, 2023, 3:39 amQuote from Guest on September 8, 2023, 2:23 amThey probably have good enough leadership but venture capital from outside of clinical trials industry can be problematic.
When they give you money they expect you to spend it. There's pressure on startup leadership to project confidence in their growth potential and then pressure from venture capital to scale up to fulfil that potential. All in the while it's forgotten about actually delivering a good product/service that fits into a market need.
It goes like this:
Tech VC: Health is a big market, want some money?
DCT startup: Sure, gimme
Tech VC: You have money, go and hire everyone and spend the money, grow quickly just like Facebook did! Coz all tech companies work like that and you are a tech company.
DCT startup: Sure, I can bring on 50 people to go out and sell our half-baked solution; let's grow!!!
Tech VC: Why aren't you growing fast enough?
DCT startup: Because the industry moves slow
Tech VC: Well why did we spend all that money?
DCT startup: Because you told me to
Tech VC: 😬
DCT startup: We're going to run out of money in 3 months
Tech VC: Here's another $2M to ensure you don't fail and we look bad. Don't tell anyone. Fire 70% of your team and cut costs until we can find another sucker VC to bail you out.The scary thing with this approach is that it works 1/30 times in tech and that is enough to pay for the other 29 failures. I'm unsure if this translates to clinical trials...
Source: I have worked in venture capital-backed startups for 15 years and one in the clinical trial space for the last 3.
I think that’s a fair general assumption…but I can also tell you for a fact they do not have a “good enough leadership.” When you can’t sign any deals and get to stay on as head of sales…something is up
Quote from Guest on September 8, 2023, 2:23 amThey probably have good enough leadership but venture capital from outside of clinical trials industry can be problematic.
When they give you money they expect you to spend it. There's pressure on startup leadership to project confidence in their growth potential and then pressure from venture capital to scale up to fulfil that potential. All in the while it's forgotten about actually delivering a good product/service that fits into a market need.
It goes like this:
Tech VC: Health is a big market, want some money?
DCT startup: Sure, gimme
Tech VC: You have money, go and hire everyone and spend the money, grow quickly just like Facebook did! Coz all tech companies work like that and you are a tech company.
DCT startup: Sure, I can bring on 50 people to go out and sell our half-baked solution; let's grow!!!
Tech VC: Why aren't you growing fast enough?
DCT startup: Because the industry moves slow
Tech VC: Well why did we spend all that money?
DCT startup: Because you told me to
Tech VC: 😬
DCT startup: We're going to run out of money in 3 months
Tech VC: Here's another $2M to ensure you don't fail and we look bad. Don't tell anyone. Fire 70% of your team and cut costs until we can find another sucker VC to bail you out.The scary thing with this approach is that it works 1/30 times in tech and that is enough to pay for the other 29 failures. I'm unsure if this translates to clinical trials...
Source: I have worked in venture capital-backed startups for 15 years and one in the clinical trial space for the last 3.
I think that’s a fair general assumption…but I can also tell you for a fact they do not have a “good enough leadership.” When you can’t sign any deals and get to stay on as head of sales…something is up
