The company had developed a unique component technology. While their initial product interest had been very broad they had decided to focus on a specific consumer components market. This decision moved one of the markets they had addressed up to then out of the mainstream of the company’s interests.
For several years they had attempted to license the technology to large companies in the market area they wished to divest. This had not worked.
We quickly decided that the most likely licensee would be in the components areas rather than a single vertically integrated corporation.
While in the short term this would probably results in a lower licensing fee the long term licensing fees would be larger since the licensee would address a larger market.
We identified possible candidates and talked to them directly about possible interest. From more than fifty candidates contacted we identified a number who represented both the best opportunity to reach a deal and the best opportunity for generating longer term royalty payments.
We negotiated with several potential buyers and were able to reach the desired agreement. Market and technology transfer were carried out.
We were hired by the licensee to perform business development in one of the licensed markets.
The company, while very well regarded, had been stagnant for a number of years.
We interviewed the staff to determine what they believed was the cause of the stagnation. We find virtually unanimous agreement that he stagnation was caused by the ongoing feud between the primary owner and his main lieutenant. Their bickering impacted morale as well as making it impossible to introduce new initiatives
We worked with the staff to convince the primary owner that he could end the bickering by asking his lieutenant to leave. He did so and also promoted a current member of the staff to the position as Chief Operating Officer, managing day to day business.
We also worked with them to improve their billing practices. As a result they generated an additional $1M in operating capital with three months of our initial work
The company had an almost immediate renaissance. The additional capital was used to purchase a building to replace the one they had rented for years.
Venture capitalists made a significant investment in the company which they now saw as an incubator for developing new products based on the companies intellect property.
We continued to consult for the company and often took interim roles. The company was eventually acquired by Cadence with the investors’ payoff being in the range of 16 to 1.
They had established a growing business in Asia. They were unknown outside of that. They felt that they had products which would sell well in the west but did not know how to proceed.
We first carried out due diligence. We found that the instruments had significant appeal in the U.S. market. They were considered a “value” product due to the combination of quality and price.
We created an e-commerce website. This allowed for easy ordering of instruments and also served as a catalog . We exhibited at conferences and advertised in trade publications, both print and internet versions, We conducted phone and email marketing. We worked with leading surgeons to develop novel new instruments which were then featured in articles in leading eye surgery magazines
The customer base includes the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University Clinic, the Veterans Administration, Tufts University, the University of Kentucky Clinic and by other leading surgery centers and ophthalmic surgeons.
In Progress
"On behalf of my entire staff, I would like to thank you again… for the work with my management team…"
"In the months since then the results of the work… have grown. Sales have increased 70% over the same period last year, turnover has been reduced substantially and what pleases me is our ability to incorporate the new people that we have added to support our growth."
"On behalf of the Board …I … thank you for the process you lead us through… at our board meeting …It was a pleasure to work with you… a powerful vision that will serve the organization well."
