Some questuions to get us started
Five things worth talking about if you’re building a biotech and approaching the “valley of death”:
How much runway is actually enough?
Is 12 months really 12 months when trials slip, milestones move and the next raise takes longer than expected?
When do you start raising again?
If you’ve just closed Series A, when should Series B conversations really begin — and what needs to be true before you go back to investors?
Where should you spend the next dollar?
Science, people, manufacturing, clinical development, systems? How do you impose financial discipline without slowing down the program you’re trying to prove?
How do you fund the gap without giving away the company?
R&D refunds, grants, collaborations, milestone payments, venture debt and other non-dilutive funding — what genuinely works for an Australian biotech?
What financial infrastructure do you actually need at Series A?
When do spreadsheets stop being enough? When do you need a CFO, proper forecasting, purchasing controls, an ERP and board-quality reporting — and what can safely wait?
No textbook answers required.
What has worked, what hasn’t, and what do you wish you’d known before the cash started disappearing faster than the PowerPoint suggested?