Mandatory Questions –
- Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
- Cell Culture Company is a biotech organization located in Minneapolis, MN. Cell Culture Company offers cell banking, whole cell pellets, cell lysates, custom monoclonal antibody and recombinant protein manufacturing services from development to commercialization. C3 also provides perfusion hollow fiber bioreactor technology and services to the pre-clinical, cell therapy, diagnostic, genomic, animal health, food safety and research industries. Our single location is in Minneapolis, MN.
- Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
- I’ve been with Cell Culture Company since 2015. Prior to my current role, I was Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Quality. My PhD is in biomedical sciences with a background in antibody development and isolation in response to vaccines.
- What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
- Cell Culture Company has existed under various names since 1983. We have continued to grow and expand our services to serve our customers in the research, diagnostic and therapeutic industries.
- What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
- You’ll never know until you try. Don’t discount ideas that you are passionate about.
- Spend time understanding the process from beginning to end. How can you sell and improve something you don’t fully understand?
- Listen. The market tells you what it needs.
- What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
- Passion – if you don’t believe in what you are doing, no one else will either.
- Thick skin – failures are hard and very common. You need to be able to separate your personal value from your business success.
- Mentor – find someone that you can have tough conversations with and be honest.
- How many hours do you work a day on average?
- My role as an entrepreneur is essentially an always on-call position. Rarely do I adhere to a normal schedule. However, there is flexibility on where I work so even if I’m not in the office I am reachable. On average, I typically work 50 hours a week.
- To what do you most attribute your success?
- Flexibility and a desire to learn. In all of my previous roles I would take on whatever was needed, even if it didn’t necessarily fall under my department. This allowed me to learn all aspects of the organization and make myself a true valuable asset to the organization and other members of the team.
- How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
- We attend industry conferences. Our website also drives a lot of customers to us.
- What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
- Have a clear understanding of your long-term goals. I find it much easier to plan and execute if you know the boundaries of what you’re working toward.
- Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
- I see myself continuing to lead Cell Culture Company. We are actively taking steps to expand our current offerings to capture more of the market. Through these efforts, I would expect that the company will have tripled in revenue in the next 5 to 10 years.
- Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
- While I cannot name names, I admire several of the companies with whom we do business. We are able to support their needs so they can make the world a better place through researching disease models and developing diagnostics and treatments.
Recommended Questions –
- How important have good employees been to your success?
- If you don’t have good people supporting you and doing the work, you won’t get far. That being said, a good employee comes from a good leader. You need to empower those around you, listen to their ideas/opinions, take action, and demonstrate the loyalty that you want to receive in return.
For more information visit us at https://cellculturecompany.com