~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trilogy Tidings
September 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
Fixing Financial Markets
Collaborating for Advantage
Exploiting Manifold Sources
What does Trilogy do?
Resources from our Archives
     You know, I'm beginning to feel like we're about to enter a period of American history when "doing the right thing" will become increasingly important and pervasive.  (That's pretty high-minded stuff, but maturity has that effect!)  Anyway, that notion certainly applies to my lead story.  And, if you will indulge me a bit, it also applies to the business we're in: Providing relevant information and objective advice to suppliers of life science products and services.

Regards,
Joe

Trilogy Logo

Fixing Financial Markets
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      
     Interesting month, eh?  Observing the strongest nation on earth being brought to the brink of financial collapse.  By what?  Greed, governmental incompetence, "innovative" securities, or simply an overdue shortage of investor confidence?  Who can really be sure?
 
     You know, it really doesn't matter.  We just need the system to be rescued - now!  Forget about overcompensated CEOs and speculators.  Forget about political posturing.  (The four of you taken together understand less about the U.S. financial system than Mike Bloomberg -- who needs to be the next Treasury Secretary -- so be quiet and leave the fix to the experts.)  Focus instead upon the great majority of Americans who have played by the rules for decades  -- like, for example, me!
 
     OK, I'll get off my soapbox.  I'm a pretty simple guy, as folks who know me can attest in great measure.  I know next to nothing about derivatives, flipping companies, and creative financial vehicles.  ("Securities" is an interesting word choice, don't you think?)  Like you - I hope - I have spent most of my working life building things: technologies, useful products, better healthcare, even a few companies.  I feel good about that, and I suspect you do too.  So, lets keep doing what we do best and hope that our elected and appointed officials in government exercise wisdom in extricating our nation from this mess.  End of rant.
 

Thoughts to share?
Collaborating for Advantage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
     I'm completing a consulting engagement in collaboration with an experienced colleague who is expert in many things, notably in vitro diagnostics.  Nothing terribly unusual about that; we do it all the time.  In my view, it's the optimum consulting business model for all concerned.  But this project, which happens to be focused on point-of-care testing in the hospital and physician-office markets, just reminds me how important collaboration can be in this business of mine.  When a client hires two of us, s/he gets the equivalent of 3.5 experts because we bring out the best in each other and greatly expand our perspective.  And the client (If that's you, listen up!) is the beneficiary.
Exploiting Manifold Sources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     This current project of ours also reminds me that one is most effective as a trusted advisor when one is turning over multiple "rocks" to get at truth.  To be specific, we're using three channels to collect and distill information in our attempt to assist our client in deciding whether or not to enter a new business: desk (secondary) research, clinician interviews and supplier (competitor) interviews.  Now, I suppose it's obvious that the more information channels you exercise the more accurate your assessment is likely to be.  But here's something that's not so obvious: Many, perhaps most, investigators limit their tools to the channels they know best, often ignoring additional sources that can greatly enhance the accuracy and credibility of their findings.  If you're a consultant, don't do that; either reach out to more sources yourself or partner-up.  If you're a client, think twice about hiring a one-trick pony if the findings of a pending investigation are likely to be truly influential in a future business decision.

 
What does Trilogy do? 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Trilogy Associates facilitates business growth and renewal through commercialization of new products, providing the following services:
  • Opportunity assessment
  • Business planning and enterprise growth strategies
  • New-product conceptualization, commercialization and marketing
  • Market research and competitive assessment
  • Business development and partnering
  • Market and technological due diligence
  • Assessment of the therapeutic and diagnostic potential of novel technologies
  • Design of efficient and effective development strategies for early-stage biomedical products
  • Business and technical writing/publishing

     Inquiries to establish whether and how we might support your business initiatives are always welcome.  Contact us.
Resources from our Archives 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Check out our Reading Room to view my published articles, presentations and white papers on a variety of topics.  Let me know if you find one or more of these useful, and feel free to share them with others with appropriate attribution.
 
     And, if you're considering engaging our services but wish to increase your comfort level before taking that first step, check out our FAQs to learn about the mechanics of working with Trilogy.
 
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ContactInfoJoseph J. Kalinowski, Principal
919.533.6285
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~