DIvIDEnD - Stephen M. Ross School of Business - University of ...

photo by scott stewart
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As most entrepreneurs know, the bestlaid
business plans can go awry. Take
the case of Accuri cytometers Inc.
The brains behind the startup had
developed a new product to measure
particulates in industrial liquids. But the market they
anticipated never materialized. Then they adjusted
their plan. now Accuri’s new product identifies and
counts cells in blood, which is vital to cancer and
AIdS research. The market for that? huge.
that’s the kind of action that keeps Jeff Williams, MBA ’92,
hooked on startups. he is president and ceo of the ann arborbased
life sciences company, currently in its rapid growth phase.
the firm, which has about 80 employees, exceeded $10 million in
revenue in 2009 — triple its 2008 total.
accuri is the latest in the “better, faster, cheaper” story that
williams has been telling with his career for the past several years.
“you get a small team together, you move quickly, and you can see
for yourself the impact in the community and with your customers,”
he says. “it’s just a great feeling when you get that first customer and,
before you know it, your hundredth customer.”
SizE DoES MATTER williams tried the corporate route upon
graduation. he moved to southern california, and worked for Dutch
conglomerate akzonobel nv and then Boehringer mannheim, a
diagnostic firm. But then he took a turn and accepted the role of
coo at a relatively small public company.
“i really liked the smaller company and have stayed that course
ever since,” he says. “you can have more of an impact. at a large
company, no matter how entrepreneurial it is, it takes longer to do
things. i really got the itch to move faster.”
he also got the itch to return to his home state of michigan. a
couple of business contacts led williams to a small ann arbor team
testing an idea in the genomics sector. he joined them and co-
founded genomic solutions, where he helped turn a technology
into a product and, eventually, a thriving company. genomic solutions
produced lab instruments and software to help analyze genes
and identify proteins.
“there’s a big difference between developing a technology and
developing a company,” williams says. “it’s a different skill set.
you build something cool, but then what are you going to do with
it? figuring that out is the part i like.”
that involves finding a market, obtaining venture funding,
defining a strategy, and building a management team. all the
basics, but done quickly. gone are the big-company comforts and
perks, but so are the constraints.
williams took genomic solutions public, and the company eventually
was purchased by harvard Bioscience. he stayed on a bit after
the sale, until the new owners had a good handle on the business.
harvard has since sold genomic solutions to Digilab inc.
after he sold genomic, williams was approached by investors
trying to get a venture named handylab inc. off the ground. this
time there was an idea and a technology, but no product.
as president and ceo, williams helped shape the final product
and identify the customers. handylab, also based in ann arbor,
developed a fast, easy, and accurate way to test for infectious diseases.
what took a conventional lab three to eight hours took
handylab’s kit a mere 45 minutes.
JUST Do iT handylab could be the poster child to promote entrepreneurship
in michigan. the company took a technology spun
out of u-m, invented a product, built a business, and created jobs.
attracting out-of-state venture capital isn’t always a slam dunk,
but it isn’t impossible, williams says. local firms like arboretum
ventures exist to syndicate financing from global sources.
“in this economy, especially in this state, the big companies
haven’t done so well,” williams says. “it’s really difficult to replace
the hundreds of thousands of jobs we lost with one company that
will employ several thousand people in one location. what we
need is a bunch of little, growing companies like handylab. i
really think that’s our best hope. we need to innovate our way out of
this problem.”
handylab innovated its way toward an impressive exit for its
investors, which included the Ross school’s wolverine venture
fund (see p. 12). the student-run fund celebrated a record $2 million
return in late 2009 when the company was acquired by Becton,
Dickinson & co., a publicly traded medical technology firm.
williams is hoping to work that same magic at accuri cytometers
before he sets his sights on the next big thing. it might sound unnerving
to some, hopping from venture to venture, but williams is exactly
where he wants to be.
“Defining the strategy, implementing it, and, above all, moving
quickly is the really fun part,” he says. “i think as long as you have
good grounding in the basics, you can do that. i didn’t have any
idea i would be an entrepreneur when i was getting my mBa.”
—Terry Kosdrosky
spring 2010 DIvIDEnD 33