Lessons from a Master Class

Perhaps you’ve heard of the streaming platform MasterClass.com. I took my first class this week – with Mark Cuban sharing how to “Win Big in Business.”

He focuses on commercial phase businesses and particularly on their profitability. The examples he provides about companies putting themselves at risk of failure by focusing on building revenue instead of increasing profit would be valuable for anyone commercializing a product or service.

However, development stage companies like Right Brain Bio need to focus on profitability in the future. Without that perspective the company can’t be built in a way that attracts professional investors. For Right Brain Bio, this process is simple. Once we demonstrate important clinical benefit of RB-190, doctors will prescribe it, patients will take it and insurers will pay for the drug. And considering that there are so many people suffering from Parkinson’s, the market is big enough for those investors to see the value in making an investment.

The hard part is getting to the commercial phase where profitability becomes the focus. To do so requires building value – and the primary value of a drug development company is driven by the data. If the data show that the drug is worth entering clinical trials, the corporate value goes up. If the data show that the drug is safe for clinical use, the corporate value goes up. If the data show that markers of disease in people prove the drug is the right one to pursue, the corporate value goes up. And of course, once the data show that the drug works to stop and/or reverse disease progression, the corporate value goes up.

While Mark’s master class is focused on commercial stage companies, he shared a lesson relevant to Right Brain Bio.  As the founder, paying people to complete tasks that you can do yourself is money poorly spent. And it is critical to conserve cash in any start up. He paints a picture of a founder more likely to succeed as someone who can fulfill several roles. Right Brain Bio relies on several amazing experts, for operational, financial and scientific roles. But part of the reason we are in good shape financially (though still need to raise funds to complete our trials) is that many tasks were completed (or at least advanced) with relatively little cash spent. And while I fill several roles, the key for the company is our lean staffing model. We have experts engaged and committed – but not as full time paid employees. We will continue this model for as long as possible. That means our monthly expenses are relatively low and we’ve advanced to the verge of starting a Phase 2 clinical trial without spending a lot of money (it usually takes millions to tens of millions of dollars to get to this point – and we are way below those amounts).

Why is this relevant to share?

We’ve raised a significant amount of money from people who found us – through webcasts/podcasts and this newsletter. I’m hoping there are people from the investment world with an interest in Parkinson’s disease who are reading this post and are curious enough to send me an email to chat about our development plan, the compelling data supporting our plan and the efficiencies in our operational, regulatory and financial models. And if you know such people, please forward this email so we can keep the momentum moving forward.