Six tips for startup success

We asked Gil Hakim, CEO of Matricelf and competition judge, for his advice to founders who are embarking on their startup adventure.

Gil brings over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry, with a proven track record of identifying promising early-stage concepts across diverse fields and devising the optimal strategy for bringing them to market His key tips for success are:

Develop a strong board

One of the most important things that founders should do is to develop a board that is well-connected. A frequently made mistake is to develop boards that are only made up of investors, many of whom could have very little expertise within that particular field.

Secure smart money

During the early days many startups are financed through friends and family, or a grant here and there. However, moving forwards you need to realise that there is smart and non-smart money. Aim to generate investment of smart money, that is, from investors that are interested and relevant to your field. Also, particularly important in biotech, is to protect your Intellectual Property (IP) rights, the earlier the better, as it’s virtually impossible to generate investment without this.

Build an expert team

My strategy for building a team is to recruit people who are either smarter or have more expertise than myself. People who can do the job better than I can. However, don’t be afraid to question them about their plans and decisions.

Be prepared to change

Be flexible. A friend of mine has a saying that as a founder you should wake up every day preparing for the wall you have built to collapse, being able to dust yourself off and then rebuild it, again and again. If something doesn’t work, change it - don’t marry the first idea that you have. A successful day is likely to be followed by an unsuccessful one, you should expect that to happen, don’t worry about it and just keep on trying.   

Know your market

Researching and identifying opportunities within your target market is essential. For example, in the biotech sector government support is available for Orphan drugs, those developed for rare diseases or conditions, with exclusivity provided for those companies that successfully develop these niche products.

The importance of social impact

One thing that is personally very important is social impact. For me this is intrinsically linked with my product, as my company, Matricelf, aims to find a life-changing cure for paralysis and spinal injuries. This is what helps me to get up in the morning. For other founders the social impact they create may come through causes they are passionate about supporting as they become more commercially successful. 

Gil Hakim is one of the pitchday judges for the 2024/25 Future of Capitalism competition.

This tech startup competition is an opportunity for you to secure investment of up to $1m USD.

All you need to enter is a pitchdeck and a business plan, entries close 30 September 2024.