Hurricanes and Catching Waves

Hurricanes – not a typical New England thing – have been on my mind lately.  With two near misses in the last couple weeks (Bill and Danny) the threat is no longer a CNN tour of devastation in the southeast US.  If not for a mound of air pushing in from Canada, the East Woods could have been turned into a pile of kindling.

Fortunately the biggest effect of the storms was waves – the kind that all would-be surfers try to catch.  New England is not known for its surf culture so these folks had their hands full.  It is similar to the efforts of many businesses that are now trying to get a grasp on the wave of opportunities that are starting to roll.

After hibernating for the better part of 3 quarters, it is not easy to jump up to full speed again.  So how do you catch the wave?  I’m sure you remember your fruitless early attempts at bodysurfing, then finally the roaring, frothy acceleration of a properly ridden wave – replete with the broad grin.  It is a similar process.

The essence is this:  don’t stand still.  You must be moving to catch the wave.  You need to have some forward momentum before the wave reaches you.

• Firstly you need to be mentally prepared that the waves are indeed coming and imminent.  It is easy to relax and think that waves aren’t coming yet, but the signs are here – increased R&D spending, production ramping due to reduced inventories, and Uncle Sam pumping in some ARRA cash.  It’s estimated that around $8B will pour into life science coffers over the next couple years.

• Your buddies are already catching these waves so you might as well get in on the action.  Bruker mentioned last week how they have pocketed $10M in new business directly from stimulus funds.  I’m sure others are capitalizing as well, but haven’t let out the secret yet.

• Due to long buying cycles, sales and marketing have to be ramped up months ahead of any waves you intend to catch.  Hopefully you have already started moving here, since those still watching are going to miss some waves.  As the CEO of Nvidia said, “There is no better time to invest…than when the competition in cutting investments.  We know from experience that doing so puts us in a stronger position once the tide turns.”

• When you do want to catch the wave, you need to completely go for it.  A half-hearted effort and you will slide off the back of the wave.  Many pharma and biotech companies are well underway with increased spending on R&D.  Merck, Biogen, Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squib, Gilead, Celgene, Regeneron, Abbott and others are spending over a billion more in the first half of 2009 than last year at that time.

So if there are products to launch – press go; training – start tomorrow; research to do – staff up; sales funnel empty – fill ‘er up.  The wind has blown, and the waves are starting to crash on the beach.  It’s time to catch some waves.