FountainBlue's July 16 Life Science Entrepreneurs' Forum was on the topic of Your Company's Value Proposition 

• Facilitator Sharon Lewis, President, Strategic Impact, Inc.
• Panelist – Ruth Cavagnaro, CEO, ChorusWare (Astia Portfolio Company)
• Panelist – Chisato Ishii, Investment Partner, JAIC America, Inc.
• Panelist – Ken Macrae, PhD, MD, EVP and Serial CEO
• Panelist – John Reed, Global Operations, Agilent Technologies
• Panelist - Fred Seddiqui, CEO, Avantis Medical Systems, Inc.

Below are notes from the discussion.

Defining value propositions:

• Exchange (generally cash) for something that will help company produce something better, cheaper, faster
• Jack Welch definition: 'Your competitive advantage' - Don't start a company without understanding that.
• Delivery of product or service achieving measurable results based on predefined customer needs and expectations.
• Understand the customer pain and what specifically a product/service can to do to measurably address that pain.

Advice for creating a value proposition for life science entrepreneurs:

• Start with a problem
  • Articulate the problem from the customer's perspective
  • Quantify the problem and what the product/service can do to address that problem in measurable ways (time and results) for whose benefit
• Understand your market size and customer profile, the people who have the problem
  • Evolve your value proposition based on evolving customer and market needs.
• Have a management team with the passion and experience to lead the company.
  • Management team must be passionate about solving the problem, and the experience to understand the pain customers are experiencing.
  • Management team must know the players in that market and industry, and have the types of relationships which would lead to key customers and partners.
• Communicate your value proposition based on the interest of your stakeholders: customers, investors, staff, channel, etc.,
  • Example: It might make sense to first demonstrate life science products first to doctors, as they would recommend it to their patients.
  • Example: When communicating to internal staff, you might speak about operational issues such as quality, availability, margins and cash flow, which may not be of interest to other stakeholders.
• Creating a value proposition is an ongoing task
  • You should have an idea of your customer need, market size/competitive advantage, but you should also refine it as you get more information and as the market changes.
  • Proactively engage in updating your value proposition with your various stakeholders.
  • When communicating your value to internal staff members, it might make sense to talk about the Mission (overall goal, why company exists), Objectives (what group/company is trying to do), Strategy (how group/company will do it) and Tactics (what your/your group's contribution will be) - acronym of MOST.
  • Put careful thought into the words used to describe your company's value as it can be easily misunderstood/misinterpreted.
  • Value propositions evolve as company and markets change.
• When contemplating the value-add your company provides to its target customers, focus first on profitability (how will your product/service help make that company money), then cost-savings (how will your product/service save that company money) and lastly the big picture (why is it good for that company in the short or long term).
• Protect Your IP
  • Investigate licensing/IP ownership and partnership options prior to making a commitment
  • Conduct due diligence before engaging in a deal, and make the diligence process proportional to the size of the deal.