When I founded my consulting practice in 1989, I knew I wanted to broadly address the commercialization of new medical products on behalf of industrial clients. I entered the business with certain skills but there were (and still are) many skills and important knowledge domains missing. So I gradually affiliated with other senior practitioners to complement their practices and my own. That approach has worked out extremely well for me and, more importantly, for our clients; it's a superb business model. Trilogy Associates operates as a small cadre of generalists and specialists who together can access a large number of other experts whom we trust with our clients' money.

     We also take this model to another level. I'm affiliated with a consulting collaborative based here in the Research Triangle called Innovalyst, an organization that has built a network of senior consultants and domain experts called the Intellectual Capital Network (ICaN). So I can literally access the skills, experiences and domain knowledge of well over 100 specialists within a few days based upon my combined Trilogy and Innovalyst connections.

     I'm not telling you this to brag or solicit business; well maybe I am. But my real message to all of you who will someday seek very specific domain knowledge, or need to build a substantial team of service providers to get a lot of work done efficiently with minimal missteps, or anything in between, is: Seek out the people who know the right people who can help and can assemble an effective team to adroitly address your problem. There's no need to simply tap your usual sources and hope for the best; chances are you can do better.