The Process Podcast is hosted by Jeff Sherman
“Success isn’t about having the right set up, it's about having the courage" - Cindy Eckert
Today our guest on The Process Podcast is Cindy Eckert ( @cindypinkceo ). A self-made serial entrepreneur and a vocal advocate for women.
With over a distinguished 25-year career in healthcare, in the last 10 years she has built and sold two businesses for more than $1.5B. First Slate Pharmaceuticals, which redefined long acting testosterone treatment for men then Sprout Pharmaceuticals which broke through with the first ever FDA-approved drug for low sexual desire in women - dubbed "female Viagra" by the media. After selling the company for $1B in 2015, she successfully fought to get the drug back and launch it on her own terms.
Her work today in The Pinktubator continues to break barriers by investing in and mentoring other women to get to the same outcomes.
KEY TOPICS
- Creating Value And Ownership
- Building A Track Record
- Choosing The Right Investors
- Passion And Perseverance
- The Pinkubator Program
SHOW NOTES
- It started with me wanting to own a piece of value that I created [01:35]
- Getting experience and paying my dues [04:11]
- Building a track record to get get investors [04:40]
- The “Paper Towel” principle, a determination to build value for myself, and a belief that there were other people who were self-motivated, but uninspired [05:20]
- The winning combination of an incredible scientific team and my understanding of what could have commercial success [06:20]
- The most important skill is being able to Sell [06:40]
- My biggest mistake was accepting money from the wrong investor [07:20]
- My biggest setback was when my product did not get FDA approval despite meeting all the criteria [08:40]
- The road less traveled to take on the government [09:30]
- Success is about courage [09:45]
- I sold my company for $1 Billion Dollars and the company that bought it shelved the product [10:10]
- I fought to get it back, relaunched it, and it's out in the market today [10:40]
- If you do it just for the money, it doesn’t flow the same way [11:05]
- The real motivation behind the drug was to break down cultural stigma for women, open dialogue and choice [11:30]
- The Pinkubator Program [12:20]
- When hiring a new team member what I look for is the “it” factor. Do they believe in the cause, will they have what it take to see it through [13:10]
- Life is a choice, you wake up and decide what kind of day you are going to have [13:30]
- It’s my responsibility to make my team owners [14:20]
- When selling a business, make sure you are proactively always on everyone's radar, but let the buyers come to you [16:10]
- Be obsessed about creating value [17:10]
- Betting on the underdog and getting them to the exit [18:00]
- The real opportunity is the one that most people run away from [20:00]
- My new special needs dog @moelickity [21:00]
- Success isn’t about having the right set up, it's about having the courage [22:00]
For more episodes of The Process Podcast visit us at www.theprocessshow.com
