Spotlight: How to turn failures into success

Dr Rudi Pauwels has come a long way since he worked as a pioneering HIV/AIDS researcher, dedicating several decades of his life to the search and development of anti-HIV drugs.

He currently serves as the CEO of Biocartis, a company he founded in 2007 which has been Euronext listed since 2015. Dr Pauwels also co-founded several other biotech companies- including Tibotec- Virco- Galapagos Genomics and Janssen Infectious Diseases-Diagnostics BVBA. In 2012- he received the Global Technology Pioneer award from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

His career has always driven by medical needs and the passion to advance and significantly impact medicine. For his achievements in the innovation and enterprise space- he was awarded the 2016 A*STAR’s Distinguished Technopreneur Speaker (DTS). Here are some interesting excerpts about his experiences when he spoke at the DTS Forum in October 2016.

On the difference between being stubborn and having perseverance – an essential trait for an entrepreneur

If you only listen to yourself and don’t talk to anyone else- that is an example of being stubborn. I am successful because I was fortunate to have colleagues around me who were always challenging me. When I left the academic world and became an entrepreneur- people were always telling me that this or that would fail- which enable me to make more informed decisions. Tapping into the insights from failures and successes of others- and to learn from them is essential. Do not give up easily- and always stay resilient.

On minimising the risks of failure

Most entrepreneurs tend to underestimate the time and money it takes to execute their programmes. It takes 90% of time and money to fix the last 10%, which has a consequence on the financing strategy- because entrepreneurs have to answer to the investors.

Pick your companions strategically, have long conversations with your investors and find out what their agendas are. You must understand every agenda clearly or run the risk of your company going down. I’ve seen many companies fail because there are too many cooks in the kitchen- and that’s not good.

On the journey to become a serial entrepreneur

I was 9 years old when I watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon in1969. I come from a generation where people had dreams and have a positive outlook for the future- and I remembered my grandfather brought me to the field one day and explained how a seed isn’t going to grow just by looking at it. You have to nurture it and work hard to make it happen. We have a short period of time on Earth. If you can do something for future generations and make a difference, then do it.

Sometimes- being too comfortable is a risk. Because you don’t realise what is at stake- and you think that it’s someone else’s money. In my case- it was my family’s money that went into backing my business- so I had a big stake too. That helps me- as an entrepreneur- to be extremely focused on the mission.

For full videos of his lecture and Q&A session- please visit here.

The DTS Series was launched in 2008 as part of ETPL’s – A*STAR’s commericalisation arm – initiatives to seed innovation and entrepreneurship in Singapore. The DTS Forum aims to engage the local research and enterprise community – including entrepreneurs- industry professionals- researchers- scholars or students – and inspire them to explore the potential of enterprise based on innovative technologies.