One of the biggest questions I have gotten from you, my dear friends is, “How did this happen?!” And the corollary, ” Why did you sell your business?!” I appreciate the interest and will address those things within the confines of the current legalities in the blog following this one. What I do not want to do is spend to much time on “negative occurrences” as they may be perceived. Things always happen for a reason and while we do not always know those reasons I am totally optimistic about the future. In addition I see no reason to in any way denigrate others. So bottom line: Stay Tuned! Today’s post will give you some insight, and the next one will tell my side of the story within the confines of being nice, and then I say, “Let’s move on so I can teach you more of what is important to YOU!!!!”
Many of you are aware I was recently fired from BioStem Technologies. I had served as the CMO there for just about a year and I saw many things.
BioStem is a pink sheet publicly traded company. When I started I was under the impression that my vision would be driving the company. My vision was to create an immediately monetizing company using preexisting businesses that were already solvent and functional to fund the collaboration of great scientists and visionaries in the field.
We were going to produce products that would change the market place and the world. Maybe I was aiming a bit too high but I had every intention of impacting human health and longevity in a big way with my scientific collaborators.
As it happened we had some tremendous people express interest and come on board if only for a short time.
I can remember specifically mentioning that one of my colleagues who elected to not be there was irreplaceable. The specific response was, “No one is irreplaceable!” Of course that may have been a thinly veiled reference to me as well. While that was not lost on me I can remember seeing a magazine cover or some such with the statement, “Necessary does not mean Important!”
I would also reverse that: Important does not mean Necessary!
I pondered these thoughts when I was fired from BioStem.
After all could Dr. Dave’s Best really survive without Dr. Dave!?
Was I really that important or even necessary?
Actually I think time will tell the real answer to that but it begs the question.
As the other Dr Dave who is out there and mutually admired told me (I paraphrase!) Amos survived the divorce from Famous. I am sure the Colonel Sanders of KFC is not in any way related to the original long gone version. It didn’t sink that brand.
No, there are many instances where clever people have rebranded, relaunched and restructured themselves ( and others) to resurrect a dead or dying brand. Lacoste for example.
When I was a kid the alligator shirts were all the rage. Then they disappeared for decades. Now they appear to have made a least a bit of a comeback. Same is true for several different bands. Aerosmith ( I know I am showing my age!) was on the skids and eventually got it back together to make some of their most popular music ever a while back.
So time and the market will tell who is replaceable and who is not. It will also tell who survives and thrives and does not.
Something like 50% of all small businesses are gone before the one year mark. By 5 years its up to 90%!
While I passed both of those marks by several hundred percentage points all on my own it may not be worth a hill of beans. People are always allowed the pursuit of happiness and success. And fortunately for the 50% and 90% its usually not a crime to fail unless you do something criminal.
Now back to being fired. Place what I am about to say in the context of someone who was never fired and always sought out for their expertise. Place it in the context of someone who always excelled in whatever environment he was placed. Place it in the context of someone who decided fairly abruptly to pull up anchor and change their life course from a very established profession and took incredible risks with his future and finances to start a company .
Here is what I felt and what I learned.
- I was a bit amused. While I do not wish to say anything negative about anyone or sound bitter or full of hubris, the situation and who and how it came down is actually a bit comical. For more on that you can see my recent posts on Facebook.
- Whenever a situation that causes your hair to grey is over most people feel relief.
- I took stock of what I have and what I have created and in no way feel I am done or finished doing that. I think creating things that succeed, however you define succeed and on whatever level you define it is one of the great joys of life.
- I found out who my real friends are. We go through life believing in people. We sometimes learn who the ones are we can really trust and who will not dive in for us when we dive in for them. This is the one thing that I have to say was disappointing. I have never held back supporting the people I care about. I have never not kept my word to them. Sadly the reverse is not always true. I remember people have their own lives and their own true persona’s you may never see until the shxt hits the fan. At that point you may have to admit that you might have projected what you wanted to believe onto what was real. Still most people will not tell you they are not genuine so you get a Mulligan every now and then.
On the flip side there are people you may NEVER imagined would pay you any more than lip service who have your back. What an INCREDIBLE lesson and Incredible gift.
- You may be important and you may be necessary, but you are rarely both.
- I am so reminded of the words of one of my adopted spirit guides Napoleon Hill: Within every set back there is an equivalent seed of opportunity.
I am really looking forward to manifesting that opportunity and sharing it with you!
I will leave you with final words of wisdom from another “spirit guide” Mark Twain.
He said, “Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down and then beat you with experience!”
Today’s Secret is: Sometimes there are more hidden gifts in a pile of poop than an acre of diamonds. You just need to see them and maybe get your hands dirty!
Best in success!
Dr Dave