A reflection around the importance of aiming high in times of economic turmoil.

Selling. Damn, it’s hard. Especially with capital markets going south. Business Development Professionals around the globe targeting biotech’s as their customer base would probably agree with me. We are all connected and the ripple effect of sharpened competition in raising capital is impacting all parts of the industry by now, not least service companies. Times are tough. That’s the simple takeaway message from C-level staff interviewed in the two regions of the world I call home, California, and The Nordics¹.

But pressure makes diamonds. And now is the time to distinguish yourself. To aim even higher, up your game on partner outreach and make your sales pitches with an even stronger voice. Make sure you are seen!

In Sweden, we are already suffering from ridiculously short investment rounds as is, resulting in top management being constantly occupied by raising capital with little time to build the company.”

It is certainly not the time to be overly cautious in asking for what you need, to lower ambition, or understating what you are capable of. In Sweden, we are already suffering from ridiculously short investment rounds as is², resulting in top management being constantly occupied by raising capital with little time to build the company.

The humbleness runs in our DNA, you should raise your ambitions and add a zero to your claims, a US-panelist told me once, as I was moderating a session on how to cut through the noise and make international VC look our way. Which is just a diplomatic way of saying we are not very good sellers. The Danes, however, are not as subtle. At a workshop on how to attract business to the growing ATMP capacity we have in Sweden arranged a few weeks ago at the Hub, the one Dane in the room told it to our faces. “You Swedes have Jantelagen. We don’t.”

He was referring to the infamous social rule of not promoting yourself. To not be a show-off. It has no place in brand building or sales, he argued. And he is right, as the valuation of world class innovative companies is far below what would be accepted by US peers. But there are always two sides to the coin. There is a feature in our society that I believe is a distant relative to Jante. But much nicer to accommodate. It’s our belief in accuracy. Not to overstate anything or make a claim that is not fully backed by facts and figures. We are the home country of Hans Rosling after all. And this in turn generates something that, in combination with our almost religious appreciation of innovation, is behind our small nation’s economic success. Trust!

We, in the biotech industry in Sweden and the Nordics, need to get the balance right here between being trustworthy and not listening too much to Jante.”

This is not me girl-splaining you all, it’s the reasoning of Kjell A. Nordström, professor at Stockholm School of Economics, a Finnish Swedish man owning the stage without a trace of Jante for a full hour at a conference recently. I believe he is right. And we, in the biotech industry in Sweden and the Nordics, need to get the balance right here between being trustworthy and not listening too much to Jante.

The quotation you get from a Swedish service provider in Biotech is highly likely to be accurate, down to every technical nitty gritty detail. Same goes for the company pitching to a panel of investors. That’s very honorable. And it should stay that way. But we should be aware of it. That we rarely voice the same grandiose ambitions as our US peers, although we might have every right to aim just as high. So, stick our chin out. Partner with the best. Be creative!

 

“So, stick our chin out. Partner with the best. Be creative!” advises Helena Strigård.

 

With that philosophy at heart, The National Innovation Hub for Advanced Biologics in Matfors, a small village North of Stockholm, is to be inaugurated this fall by the Minister of Industrial Affairs with a big international conference gathering the best, ranging from BioNTech Germany to Biocom California. We don’t do this alone. The whole event aim to bring Nordic ATMP infrastructures closer to each other, to raise awareness of what we are capable of together and tell it to the international ATMP scene with one, strong voice.

Don’t ask why. Ask why not. It’s time to bury that old relative called Jante.

 

This column was originally written by Helena Strigård, CEO, NorthX Biologics, for NLS magazine No 02 2023, out in May 2023.

 

References:

1: This chronicle was inspired by the article ”Biotech funding: times are tough, maybe for the better´ in Life Sci VC and interviews with a broad range of KOLs in the industry, among others Roger Lias, WheelerBIO, Joe Panetta, President Biocom, Johan Kördel, Sound BioVentures.

2: Bridging the gap – A survey based report on financing activities in the Swedish life science sector, page 10.