Here's how you can contribute to the growth of startups as a late career professional.

Be bold in your dreams, what you can change and challenge in the current equilibrium. Be kick ass in describing what problem you solve and how you solve it. Rehearse your pitch 100 times in front of the mirror to set it perfectly. Then meet potential clients. Also be bold in reaching out to possible partners, clients and potential colleagues. The worst thing you can get is a no.

One of the common problems for startups is the lack of money and competence. In the life science sector, it is a big challenge for small companies to afford all the necessary lab equipment. One solution is sharing labs, much like sharing office spaces. When it comes to competence, many are afraid of recruiting PhDs, but this is a misguided and dogmatic view. PhDs bring significant value with their expertise and advanced knowledge, and hiring them can be crucial for driving innovation and growth within the company.

Minha experiência demonstra que o maior valor da mentoria é minimizar o efeito tendencioso do empreendedor, reduzindo o teor de paixão e trazendo à realidade outras perspectivas relativas à tese de qualquer startups. Não é incomum que a visão inicial na concepção do negócio venha "carregada" de otimismo, visões superestimadas ou até mesmo premissas equivocadas. A mentoria consistente antes de tudo "confronta" e "questiona"! Notei que muitas vezes ajustes de rotas de forma precoce possibilitam ao empreendedor reduzir investimentos, queimar etapas e avaliar possibilidades. A experiência pregressa da mentoria sempre é bem-vinda.

More importantly, knowledge about the intricacies of the industry helps de-risk a new venture. When you attentively listen to the value proposition through the lense of an operator, you can find loopholes, redflags, and in general prevent companies from "building a product / service that is not approachable by the market". Most people underestimate the huge value of preventing spending time, capital and resources in general in the wrong approach.

Always say yes to a coffee with an early on founder. I struggle with saying yes to coffees with people to give them free advice, but if you're an early stage founder and you really need advice from someone successful, ask for a coffee or a few minutes of someone's time. BUT, don't go into it pitching your idea. Just simply say you need some help.

Especially in the B2B pharma business area a lot is based on trust by trusted people. Therefore the active network of a seasoned person can be of great help for a startup. But watch out for the quality and engagement within the person’s network. A well known but not engaged KOP might help less than an engaged one who is not a KOP but activates the stakeholders in his/her network.

This can be one of the most important assets an experienced professional can bring to a startup: access to the right people, in the right positions.

Leverage your extensive network to support startups by connecting them with potential investors, mentors, and industry experts. Your established relationships can open doors, provide invaluable insights, and accelerate growth, helping startups navigate challenges and seize opportunities more effectively.

Partnership Development: Facilitate strategic partnerships that can drive growth and open new markets. Industry Connections: Introduce startups to key players in the industry who can offer support and opportunities. Event Participation: Represent the startup at industry events, conferences, and seminars to raise its profile.

Accessing a strong network as a Founder can save months off your launch time. Having somebody in your team who has built an expansive network of relevant and trusted contacts can be a game changing asset. Add to that, if one of your primary channels to market is partnerships (which it should be in todays market), then that network can give you access to the contacts who could turn your business from a pebble in the ocean into a rocket ship to the stars!

Leverage your experience and insight to mentor startups, offering strategic guidance, industry connections, and problem-solving skills. Your seasoned perspective can help navigate challenges, drive innovation, and accelerate growth, ensuring the next generation of entrepreneurs benefit from your wealth of knowledge and expertise.

Continuous Learning: Encourage a culture of continuous learning and professional development within the startup. Resilience and Adaptability: Share strategies for building resilience and adaptability in the face of business challenges.

Global startups when entering a new market can greatly learn from the experience of the previous startup founders, about the market dynamics, key stakeholders, and the role of existing rules and regulations. Also from implementation of new products or solutions viewpoints, the experience of what worked, how much success was achieved in scaling up, what did not work etc can help startup management immensely in gaining the in-depth industry knowledge and insights.

Experience is often described as the knowledge through various skill sets that one has gathered over a period of time. When one adds wisdom on top of it, it is like a cherry on the cake. This is how seasoned professionals or experienced business coaches help startup owners to guide, coach or mentor them to help them take their leap of faith. One of the key lessons here is resilience and adaptability. The biggest challenge for startup owners is fear of failure and judgement. The key here is to know when to accelerate and when to slow down to speed up.

Late career professionals bring something invaluable to startups - pattern recognition from decades of experience. You've seen what works, what fails, and why

Business Strategy: Assist in developing and refining business plans, market strategies, and growth plans. Financial Planning: Offer advice on financial management, fundraising, and investment strategies. Risk Management: Help identify potential risks and devise strategies to mitigate them.

Strategic guidance is by far the most important inputs which can be provided to startups for a comprehensive perspective of the business domain. The mindset shift is to focus not only on their own resources, capabilities and competencies but also on establishing a significant competetive advantage. Strategic guidance helps in advancement of innovation by integrating various aspects of business domains to create a leadership advantage and startegic harmony in the startup.

Provide strategic guidance by leveraging your industry experience to refine business models, identify market opportunities, and optimize operations. Your insights can help startups navigate challenges, make informed decisions, and scale effectively, ensuring sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

Having somebody who has been through the trenches, experienced both success and failure, and has learnt from their experience, is an amazing asset for any team. Add to that, if they have great communication skills and are personable, they can be an amazing strategic advisor for you as a Founder and can also act as a mentor and guide for others in your team, enabling you to focus more on business growth and strategy.

Based on my personal experience within Fintech, strategic planning is essential for startups to navigate the complex regulatory environment, innovate with financial technologies, and scale operations efficiently. I've guided startups in setting realistic goals, identifying regulatory risks, and leveraging market trends to capitalize on emerging fintech opportunities. This hands-on experience enables me to offer tailored strategic guidance, ensuring startups in Fintech establish a solid foundation for sustainable growth and market leadership.

As a startup grows, maintaining a strong culture that aligns with the company's values becomes critical. Late career professionals can help shape and reinforce the culture, ensuring that new hires are a good fit and that the company's mission remains clear. The skills needed to launch a startup and get initial traction are often different from those required to scale a company. Late career professionals can provide the leadership and expertise to navigate the challenges of scaling. Founders & early employees can become too close to the business, making it difficult to make objective decisions. Late career professionals can provide an outside perspective and draw upon their past experiences to guide the company through growth challenges.

The startups in Japan have the distinct advantage of being able to solve social problems and at the same time follow a flat hierarchal structure, which is distinctly different from both the hierarchal and 'salaryman' Japanese corporate culture. From a diversity viewpoint, startups again have the advantage to be able to hire and engage with International talent based on capability more freely and quickly as compared to the formal Japanese recruitment system which emphasizes JLPT certification more over ability.

From a personal experience, I can safely say that with the passage of time, professionals have seen more types of people and have learnt to adapt to different working styles, diverse opinions and the multitude of aspirations of co-workers and bosses. A late career professional can help a startup build a thriving work culture that can blend youth and experience, innovation and prudence, risk-taking and gravity all together.

Share Your Expertise: Guide founders and team members through the challenges of building a business, offering insights drawn from your career. Leadership Development: Help shape the next generation of leaders by providing mentorship on management, strategy, and decision-making. Network Expansion: Introduce startups to your professional network, opening doors to potential clients, partners, and investors.

Late career professionals can enrich startup cultures by mentoring, offering seasoned advice, and fostering a sense of stability and resilience. Their experience cultivates a balanced perspective, encourages innovation, and guides younger teams through challenges, promoting sustainable growth and long-term success in dynamic entrepreneurial environments.

Experience is the best teacher, and young entrepreneurs often lack it. Having on board an experienced Professional with good Financial Acumen opens up different avenues of keeping the business well funded. Multiple times we have experienced businesses being able to generate sufficient cash from within their systems with slight tweaks in their systems. Alongside, a lot of startups think of getting External Investment as their goal, whereas, for successful businesses, its just the beginning. Experienced professional would find innovative ways of funding with a long term vision, starting with Managing own Receivables/Payables, Partnerships, Angel Investment, Equity Investors, and issuing Bonds/Shares at a later stage

Angel Investment: Consider investing in startups that align with your interests and expertise. Fundraising Support: Use your knowledge of the fundraising landscape to help startups prepare for and secure funding rounds. Investor Relations: Assist in managing relationships with current and potential investors.

Creating a sustainable business model involves focussing on all aspects of business model, especially the revenue streams and the cost structure. Key understanding of the cost structure involves assessing the business model of the startup to make strategic decisions for sustainable profitability, by optimizing expenses with value creation for customers, and all stakeholders. As an experienced professional, I always emphasize to all young startup founders to create their product/solution offerings which are of far more substantial superior value by focusing on their customers, deeply, keenly and empathetically.

By offering strategic insights and mentorship, they can help young companies navigate financial challenges, optimize resource allocation, and make informed decisions for sustainable growth and profitability.

Sua ideia é viável se resolve um dor do seu cliente de forma inovadora? É escalável? Tem em seu cerno o uso de tecnologia? Se todas as respostas forem sim, muito provavelmente seu empreendimento empresarial possui uma boa tese de investimento. Para o acionista de uma startup fica claro que ele está cumprindo um papel transitório, com previsão de entrada, alavancagem do seu investimento e saída programada. Sabendo disso, o empreendedor deve procurar o parceiro certo. Muitas vezes envolvido na operação e execução do modelo de negócio, faltam aos empreendedores competências financeiras, gestão de fluxo de caixa e as melhores práticas para gerir o capital do investidor garantindo-lhe o retorno esperado.

The startup’s are not something that you need to learn you always end up trying your luck into it, I started my business back when I was already doing a 9-5 didn’t know what will happen if I continue, I took some learnings from my companies and started with Stanley, there always will be ups and downs but your mentor needs to be strong willed so that you look up to them and learn from them.