BIOT5219 The Biotech Enterprise – On Ground
Business Pitch Team Project: Specifications
INTRODUCTION
A primary objective of this course is to demonstrate your ability to synthesize your learning and apply it to a real-world scenario. Further to that objective is the critical aspect of effectively working in a team. There is nothing more critical to a Biotech Enterprise’s success than a team’s ability to work well together and produce consistently good outcomes in the face of uncertainty and stress.
The goal of this project is for you, as a team, to construct and then present a well-crafted business pitch that provides me, a potential investor, with a briefing of your business. Most times investors will provide specification sheets to guide companies seeking funding, especially early on. This helps the company prepare the right information for the investor. This spec sheet is designed in a similar way, though it will include academic expectations also.
Aside from demonstrating your learning with a thoughtful, well-constructed presentation, you are also expected to work effectively and respectfully with teammates while assuring that everyone is delivering what is needed for collective success.
To that end, every team member must participate in the build and presentation of the team assignment. I will periodically ask about your teamwork and offer class time for your efforts, though you are also expected to work outside of the classroom together for the majority of your work.
• This Team Project is 30% of your grade. It will be scored on a 25-point scale according to the
rubric. Typical range for this project is 21-23 points (B, B+, A- range), with an average of 22 (B+). There are four consistent errors teams make that detract them from getting high scores:
1) They delay starting the project, then rush their work into the last few weeks of the term
2) They do not practice 6-8 times before presenting, and therefore go over their time
3) They do not raise questions or concerns to the Professor in time for the Professor to offering guidance
4) They think this is much easier than it is and become overwhelmed by complexity as they begin to draft.
The last two items are areas your Professor can help you with, but you must raise your questions in time for help to be provided (at least 3 weeks before you present).
• The deadline is strict. You are required to be in person with your team for your presentation, and all are required to contribute. All must also speak during the presentation.
• Scoring. A rubric is used in alignment to this specifications sheet. Projects that meet the
requirements will receive a “Competent” range (B-, B, B+). This is a challenging assignment, and the average score is 22 (considered “Competent,” a B+). To earn the highest score
(“Proficient”), you must align to the rubric, follow all specifications, work together as a respectful, dependable team, and provide to us a well-organized, highly polished presentation within the time limit.
o Proficient: 23 – 25 points (A range grade)
o Competent: 20 – 22 points (B range grade)
o Novice: 18 – 19 points (C range grade)
“Novice” is rare and only given when projects meet the requirements but do not finish on time, most commonly from lack of preparation and practice, or there is gross plagiarism.
Anything below an 18 means you did not present, failed to collaborate with your team, or demonstrated significant Academic Integrity Issues, including lack of appropriate citations.
Your score for your team presentations is based on a “raw” overall score that the team receives on the assignment. I may then adjust your individual score up or down based on my assessment of your participation in the presentation and based on what I observe when meeting with the team and whether there is ample evidence of your contributions.
Please review all sources available to you so that there are no surprises when your work is
graded. You have full access to me from the time your project is assigned up until the evening
before you present. Use and leverage me as much as possible. Teams that meet with me
throughout the semester in a well-prepared way tend to do much better than those who do not.
• Submission. Canvas has this specification document and a submission link. Submissions will include a Turn It In review, and we will both receive an originality report as well as a reporting showing proper citations. The teams are setup in Canvas as Groups; therefore, only 1 person from each team needs to submit your assignment.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Audience and Objective: Investors & Invitation for a formal Pitch
• Your audience is me, a member of an investor group who is scouting new potential biotech companies to strengthen our portfolio. I will have my Associate Investors with me (the class team).
• I am interested in learning about your biotech. Your objective is to get me interested enough in your biotech company that I ask you to come back in two months to present to a panel of investors with a full pitch.
• Important hint: the better crafted your presentation is and the more time you work together as a team (and leverage me with questions throughout the semester), the more efficient and effective your presentation will be.
Content Specifications (this framework is very strict)
• This assignment is a culmination of each week’s research, learning and discussion points. The learning is to glean specific insights from each week, decide how to reduce that down into concise slides, and tell a compelling story as a team.
• You MUST adhere to the specifications below. Any deviations will result in point deductions. I strongly recommend you use it as a check list to quality-check your presentation’s content. If you think you need more slides, create a “Back Up” or “Addendum” section for after Slide 9 and before your Team Reflection.
□ Title Slide: Course name and ID, your team’s “Company” Name, date, title of your presentation (not the title of your assignment). Please include your selected Topic from the end of this spec sheet also. You are free to include optional content as you wish.
□ Content Slide 1: Describe the unmet need. Who is the patient or consumer? What is their life like? What is the unmet need? What is the patient population and/or physician-buyer landscape or other market that you are looking to enter? What about competitors? [hint: use graphs when possible]
□ Content Slide 2: How will your product fulfill or solve or meet what you describe in Slide 1? (remember from Module 3: it should not be deeply technical, you have limited time)
□ Content Slide 3: Describe your team: who will solve it? Critical: why is this team qualified to
solve it? (you will learn that this isn’t about everyone being a C-level leader, and being qualified has A LOT to do with experience, not just degrees and academic pedigree)
□ Content Slide 4: What does the overall business timeline look like, from when you were founded to an expected approval and funding exit? Only list 8-9 key milestones: business milestones (ex: founding, previous funding round if they exist); regulatory milestones (this should not be ALL clinical!!), pre-commercial milestones (ex: patient access considerations and/or any alliances), expected launch, exit activity. Remember to make your slide readable, and only show your audience what you want them to see (see “Tips to Do Well”)
□ Content Slide 5: What is your specific funding ask? How will it be used to advance your goals based on Slide 4? (this should be an easy, simple slide; the hard part is actually asking for it)
□ Content Slide 6: Summary (similar to our classroom KTAs), Q&A Time
□ Content Slide 7: References. (hint: also use footnotes in slides that include graphs, charts)
[there is no limit to “back up” slides if you want to include slides with additional detail]
• Timing: Strict Duration: Most investors meet with several companies during a specific time of day. It can be very tedious for the investors, so there are always set specifications and time limits to assure efficiency and effectiveness. We will do the same here.
o You have 15 minutes total. You can use your time any way you would like. I
recommend practicing for 7-10 minutes on the primer, leaving 2-5 minutes for Q&A.
o If you go over your 15 minutes, you will have a 1-minute buffer to close out (complete) your presentation before a 5-point deduction in your score. Going over your time limit indicates poor attention to specifications, negligence in your preparation, and disrespect for those in the room.
Tips to do well:
• Give each other courtesy, respect, and dignity at all times. You will have different schedules, there will be different views, and varying opinions. Some crumble under stress, others thrive. Remain open-minded and take an active part to build a great team.
• Start as soon as possible and learn about each other’s strengths right away. Use those strengths to be efficient. Some teams do not start looking at this spec sheet or talking about their interests until 2-3 weeks after the assignments are complete—you will be behind schedule if you wait.
• Have fun—be imaginative. Start the same way we started: with the patient and the unmet
need. Then create your company around the patient and the solution. Think about what you stand for and your mission. How will you help patients? What are company colors or a logo and why? What unites you as a company (a team)? Who is in your company—how will you introduce each other (Content slide 3)—you can be whoever you want to be, just remember you cannot have a team of all Chief Officers unless it is appropriate for your audience.
• Follow the syllabus’s Course Calendar for a good cadence of this project:
o Module 0: Review this during the first few days of class
o Module 3: Exchange contact information once the assignments are communicated and begin thinking about your business and topic
o Module 9: Your Problem/Solution (Content Slides 1 and 2) should be complete; start drafting your Team slide (Content Slide 3.
o Module 9: Your Draft Framework (the slide deck) should be drafted, with placeholders for areas you are still working on; apply formatting (color scheme, etc)
o Module 10: Your first draft primer should be complete
o Module 11: Your semi-final draft primer should be complete and you should begin
practicing as a team. There may be final placeholders, but plan to complete next week.
o Module 12: Final draft should be completed, practice sessions should be your focus; there will be tech-check in class.
• Practice, practice, practice during Modules 11 and 12, and practice by actually presenting—do not just skim through your slides. Time yourselves as you practice. Use the rubric and this spec sheet to check whether you have met or exceeded the expectations. Aim to fit your
presentation for less than the 15-minute timeframe. and you will likely complete on time.
• .
• Remember to use the most recent APA citation format appropriately, though for graphs and
charts I recommend footnotes or figure-titles directly in the slide so that your audience can view your source in the moment in case additional questions arise. If you create your own figure, table, and/or chart, please cite your “company” in the footnote.
• During your tech check (Module 12), be sure your text is readable, your colors work, and it
presents as you expect. Your audience, even way in the back of the room, need to be able to see your content clearly. It will look different from the laptop screens you are used to.
General presentation tips and techniques:
• Consciously focus on speaking slowly. Whenever we are nervous or excited, we have a
tendency to speak faster. This is especially true when we are timed on our speaking. This is where practice becomes critical.
• If you and your team have worked through this diligently, you will feel very confident. There will also be time in the classroom to practice speaking. It is good to feel nervous before a presentation—it keeps all of us engaged and “on our game.” Being nervous does not always mean you are unprepared—you should feel confident even if you feel nervous.
• Keep your slides focused on the main points. Think of your slides being the KTA’s you want me to have coming out of your presentation: minimize words, maximize figures, illustrations. You are telling a story, not reporting the news.
• Do not read bullets unless a quick line for emphasis. Your job is to tell a compelling story (and you already practiced that with your mid-term Reflection Paper). Your audience can read the bullets in their heads much faster than you can read them out loud.
• You will see in this specifications packet and in the rubric that a big part of your goal is to
manage me during the presentation: keep me on topic, anticipate my questions based on the content specs and our learnings (especially Module 3), etc. One of the best ways to do that is to create “builds” in your slides so that I only see the topic you are talking about during that time in the presentation. For example:
o If you are showing me a timeline where “today” is interesting Phase I data, but four
years from now is your expected approval date, expect me to skip over everything else and ask about your expected approval date. From an investor perspective, that is a key date. To manage this, “build” your presentation so that I only see your Phase I data, then I only see the expected approval date when you’re ready to show it to me.
• Additional presentation resources:
o Here’s a one-hour session for good presentation tips, with multiple sections that are
only 2-3 minutes long—you can select which sections you want to learn the most from:
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/creating-and-giving-business-presentations/use- emotion?u=74653650(you have access to LinkedIn Learning via MyNortheastern)
o Here is a 25 minute session about managing anxiety while presenting:
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/managing-your-anxiety-while-presenting/calm-and- confident-presenting?u=74653650