1. Notes from the East Woods September 2009
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.
Eastwoods Consulting Translating Innovations into Profits for the
278 Mile Hill Rd. Life Science Industry™
Boylston, MA 01505
508-869-2303 ©2009 Eastwoods Consulting.
www.eastwoodsconsulting.com Eastwoods is a registered service mark of Eastwoods Consulting

2. Notes from the East Woods September 2009
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• 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.
Eastwoods Consulting Translating Innovations into Profits for the
278 Mile Hill Rd. Life Science Industry™
Boylston, MA 01505
508-869-2303 ©2009 Eastwoods Consulting.
www.eastwoodsconsulting.com Eastwoods is a registered service mark of Eastwoods Consulting