By Stephanie Pasas-Farmer, PhD, Founder and President of BioData Solutions and Ariadne Solutions
Entrepreneurship in any industry is challenging, exhausting, and often full of uncertainty. Yet it’s also exciting and filled with rich experiences – experiences that offer seemingly endless opportunity for personal growth in addition to the normal ‘business growth’ expectations.
As a female founder of two startups working in biopharma development – BioData Solutions® in 2015 and Ariadne Software® in 2018 – I tend to see the startup landscape through a unique lens. The challenges I faced and lessons I learned as a female entrepreneur, even after two decades of bioanalytical expertise, in my opinion, particularly apply to women. However, several are typical and often unforeseen hurdles that all entrepreneurs will face.
On April 1, Ariadne, with its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven ‘Red Thread®’ software, joined my original startup, BioData Solutions. These companies serve the same clientele and provide offerings in the same drug discovery function; bringing Ariadne under the umbrella of BioData Solutions enables the previously separate teams to work together, streamlines our efforts, and creates a more seamless experience for our clients.
As Founder and President of both companies, I arrived at the decision to combine my companies only after gaining insight from my entrepreneurial journey. A few of the challenges and lessons I learned are shared here.
My Journey:
Prior to starting BioData Solutions in 2015, I held various roles at pharmaceutical and contract research organizations. I was often asked to help troubleshoot problems in other programs that required independent review and guidance. And although I tremendously enjoy strategizing and problem-solving, particularly in this pharmaceutical space, I found I could not serve as an independent strategic lead and reviewer on most of these projects, both because of the limitations of my role as well as an appearance of conflict of interest.
It was then that I decided to establish BioData Solutions, a bioanalytical consultancy founded specifically to bring safer and innovative drugs to market faster, while incorporating the highest level of service and expertise. To achieve this goal for our clients, we provide strategic guidance, map out a comprehensive timeline, and work as a liaison between sponsor and CRO. We also provide method development and validation services, data review and analysis, market planning and development, and troubleshooting services for preclinical, clinical, and post-market approval bioanalytical programs. What originally began as a sole proprietorship now includes seven consultants, an ever-growing number of projects and an expanding team.
But in [2015], the sheer volume of projects BioData received, plus the amount of time and resources needed for the analysis and auditing of bioanalytical reports, prompted me to search for a software solution to help automate the process for our team. When I couldn’t find one, I decided to create one by pairing my scientific expertise with that of a software development ‘co-founder.’ We developed a prototype, and presented the prototype at the 2018 Land O’Lakes Technology Showdown, where it was very well received. That presentation helped me realize the commercial potential for automating these processes, and BioData’s software development arm – Ariadne Software – was born.
In 2018, I established Ariadne as a separate company. Its purpose is to develop software that automates specific manual, repetitive processes – like auditing and statistical analysis – using advanced computational techniques and AI, such as expert systems and computer vision. Ariadne’s flagship software is Red Thread®, a first-of-its-kind solution that automates certain bioanalytical processes to reduce time and costs, boost consistency in approach and results, and improve resource management and transparency between sponsors and CROs.
Along my entrepreneurial journey, I faced several challenges:
Challenge 1: Making choices. And moving past them.
As any business owner, I am often caught up in making important but difficult decisions – I’ve had to decide who, when, and how to hire certain employees; whether to split up BioData and Ariadne or bring these companies together; whether to self-fund or seek external funding; and for Ariadne, I’ve had to decide which software modules to develop, how to develop them, and even when to pause research and development if a project started draining resources. The idea is to be able to pivot quickly if a decision is not ideal.
In fact, when I first started BioData Solutions, my first thought was to build a laboratory. But once BioData took off, I quickly realized the dire need for our services. So I left the laboratory idea behind, and instead chose to stay focused on current competencies and provide the highest quality of service. In hindsight, this was a key decision that helped shape the company’s future. Yet this decision only occurred because I allowed myself to change direction after choosing something else. Today, I am thankful for changing my choice because I absolutely love my work.
Another key decision, or significant pivot, was my choice to self-fund Ariadne after first seeking investors. This, too, shaped the future of the business.
It’s important to note that almost any entrepreneurial challenge or task can be approached in more than one way. Whichever path you take is your choice. But not every choice will be correct, and when it’s not, it is important to be able to move past a decision and learn from it.
Challenge 2: Hiring correctly. Or not hiring at all.
After BioData Solutions was well-established and had an increasing influx of projects, I found it hard to turn down incoming consulting requests. But since I did not have capability to support the workload alone, I only had two options – to refuse these incoming requests or to expand the company’s capacity. I chose the latter, which meant I had to decide who to bring on board and how. More precisely, I needed to determine the types of backgrounds and qualifications needed for specific projects, as well as the skills and experience clients and prospects might require for future projects.
The challenge that continued to rise to the surface was whether to hire a new employee or use a consultant. Given the fluctuating amounts of work at the time, I chose to bring on a consultant. Over the years, I’ve brought on more. Using consultants allows us to utilize their valuable expertise to assist with our clients’ needs, while also allowing independence. On the other hand, sometimes hiring and investing time in employees is the better answer. As a growing company, we seem to always be adding new team members, and with every hire, I have to make this decision.
To better understand the breakeven points and profits, I had to take a deep dive into financial analysis. I learned that sometimes hiring and investing time in a new employee is more cost-effective, and other times, using a consultant is preferable.
There is a balance to be found here – both for financial reasons and for work-life harmony. Today, our team consists of both employees and consultants, which has helped us maximize efficiencies and profits.
Challenge 3: Funding in a way that fits.
A startup often comes with its own set of challenges, risks and uncertainty. Once I identified the commercial potential of Red Thread, I decided to spin off Ariadne Software in order to minimize risk of both ventures. Between my earnings from BioData and some loans, I managed to bootstrap Ariadne. And just as most startups would, after the commercialization of the auditing modules, I began to seek investors to grow the company and expand our offerings. I soon realized investors and Ariadne were not a good match however, either because we serve a very niche market (which can make the offerings and their value elusive to some investors), or because the terms were not favorable.
At first, seeking investment funding did seem right. It was only through this journey that I realized investors seemed to only be interested in speedy exits, and I wanted to take the time to nurture the companies I’d founded, while making the right decisions for all stakeholders involved.
I went against conventional wisdom and decided to self-fund Ariadne. Self-funding allowed me to contribute my scientific knowledge and market understanding to move Ariadne forward, while also shielding the company from market changes (such as the recent turbulence in the banking industry).
By making the choice to do things differently, by keeping my mind open to paths less traveled, I was able to continue self-funding Ariadne. In my opinion, this decision helped ensure Ariadne’s success.
I also learned a few things along my entrepreneurial journey. Here are three lessons I found important:
Lesson 1: Know your strengths, your weaknesses, and yourself.
Even in today’s forward-thinking world, women are occasionally downplayed. I learned this firsthand during the process of seeking investment funding. Unfortunately, I witnessed how biased the industry can still be against female founders.
At the time I was seeking investors, my then-co-founder was male. Even though the software solution stemmed from my scientific expertise, when he and I presented Ariadne’s technology to a potential angel investor group, questions were directed to him. Despite his repeated efforts to guide the investors to direct questions to me, they were reluctant. And when they did ask me questions, they asked “how my spouse helps me with the company.” No wonder so few female founders receive funding!
Founding and leading an organization is challenging in and of itself. Engaging with suitable investors, mentors, team members, prospects, customers and vendors can ease the challenges you’ll face during your journey. By “suitable,” I mean someone who is the right fit for the task, someone who understands your offering enough to provide appropriate guidance/feedback, someone with an unbiased view, or someone who values your knowledge, your experience and you as a person. (“Suitable” does not mean someone who’s hesitant to provide critical – yet constructive – feedback about your product, organization, target market, team, or even yourself).
The lesson I learned is that it is vital to thoroughly know your strengths, weaknesses, and the value you bring to the table. This knowledge empowers you to appropriately fill any voids with strong team members and resources. Tying back to the challenge of hiring correctly, a good team is comprised of members who complement one another with a cross-section of skills, expertise, and experience.
Lesson 2: Let things go. Learn to pivot when needed…quickly.
When you found your own startup, it can be hard to let your “baby” go. But sometimes letting go is necessary to make tough calls that help ensure you stay focused on the end-goal of developing something that is feasible, functional and fundamental to someone’s work.
One example that leading the team at Ariadne taught me was the essential lesson of letting go of an offering. We had worked on an offering to automate a bioanalytical process that was highly variable and subjective to an organization, or even to groups within an organization. We knew from the beginning that it would be a mammoth task. We conducted extensive research and development, had many iterations, and we made significant progress. Yet, as a startup, we lacked the resources we needed to devote to successfully continue further development and customization to each client’s needs. Development of this software module was consuming excessive time and resources and exhausting my team. I realized I needed to “let go” and bid farewell to this module, at least temporarily.
This again connects to the challenge of making choices. Throughout my Founder journey, I have come to terms with making tough choices about letting go – sometimes I choose to let go of my knowledge and assumptions to approach a problem from different perspectives, or I let go of unnecessary or overburdening functionalities/modules, or perhaps I just let go of popular, conventional wisdom.
I’ve learned that by keeping an open mind and an ear to our stakeholders, we are always able to pivot to develop a stronger offering.
Lesson 3: Prioritize Work-Life Balance
This is a lot easier said than done, and it can be extremely hard to maintain a healthy work-life balance. As much as I enjoy my work, I also love my family. I cannot stress enough how challenging startups can be – physically, mentally, and financially. Even so, I continue to strive for opportunities to better engage with my family, spend quality time with them and connect on a deeper level.
This prioritizing of family goes back to the challenge of making choices. No one can really ‘have it all’, and I’ve learned to recognize when I need to make a choice. If I find that I’m present in the room with my family but I’m disengaged, that’s a time to make a choice – I can either choose to let the disengagement continue or choose to hire someone or find other resources to help with the workload.
Bringing Ariadne under the umbrella of BioData Solutions has streamlined many things, including operations and my personal work-life balance. This decision to combine the companies also streamlines our teams, enhances capabilities as we serve our clients’ needs, and improves relationships.
Ariadne Software officially became a part of BioData Solutions on April 1, 2023.
We still hold true to our Mission of bringing safer and innovative drugs to market faster. And to our Vision that BioData Solutions provides appropriate strategic and developmental guidance, along with quality data, to improve pharmaceutical decision-making during drug discovery and development.
With these companies now united, we’re better aligned to ensure our values of Expertise, Efficiency and Precision for all clients.
Our next joint effort will be 2023 PharmSci 360. We look forward to seeing you there (Booth #2605).
Stephanie Pasas-Farmer, PhD, is Founder and President of BioData Solutions and Ariadne Solutions.
She founded BioData Solutions in 2015, which is a scientific advisor firm that helps sponsors advance early-stage molecules into potential new drug candidates with bioanalysis support and regulatory compliance planning. In 2018, Stephanie founded Ariadne Software and led the development of “Red Thread,” a first-of-its-kind, automation solution for common challenges in bioanalytical data review. Ariadne was brought under the BioData Solutions umbrella in April 2023.
Stephanie earned her PhD and MSc degrees with honors in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Kansas and received a BS degree in chemistry from St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame.