O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare
Last night I attended an packed networking and discussion session for local CEOs organized by PA Consulting. Most of the audience were in biotech, pharma or cleantech. Their first speaker described a zombie half-living, half-dead economy: banks too weak to lend, governments who cannot fund expansion, consumers unable to consume and companies unable to grow. PA think winning companies will be those that maintain liquidity, adapt to a funding desert and stay flexible. The investors and CEOs in the audience voting between the talks certainly didn't seem very optimistic that 2010 would be a much better year than 2009.
Perhaps some of the downbeat response was due to a high mix of post-bubble biotech companies dependent on long investments before getting product to market, keen to see a trade sale. In contrast, a positive message came from Hermann Hauser, who spoke of the quality of the deals coming across the desk and the high proportion of serial entrepreneurs leading their latest investments.
Sitting at dinner afterwards with founders of local companies including Biowisdom and Owlstone, I heard a less depressing story. They have product in market, and short-term plans on what they need to do to sell more. While they are a long way from the de facto standard native companies Hermann cited like ARM or Illumina, they have real customers. Some have recently secured more funding. It will be good to see them again soon - and hear more about the lively bit of the economy locally!
Comments