Doug Drysdale of Cybin: Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup
You need a strong team. A key reason why many startups fail is teams are built for the wrong reasons. Populating a company with close friends may seem like a fun idea, but ensuring that the right people are working in the right positions and are all aligned on goals is what allows startups to thrive in a hyper-competitive landscape.
Startups have such a glamorous reputation. Companies like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Uber, and Airbnb once started as scrappy startups with huge dreams and huge obstacles.
Yet we of course know that most startups don’t end up as success stories. What does a founder or a founding team need to know to create a highly successful startup?
In this series, called “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup” we are talking to experienced and successful founders and business leaders who can share stories from their experience about what it takes to create a highly successful startup.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Doug Drysdale, CEO at Cybin Inc.
An experienced Corporate Director and CEO: Doug Drysdale has chaired the board of directors of a NASDAQ-listed company and as a CEO for the past 12 years has built and turned-around three pharmaceutical companies. During Doug’s 30 years of experience in the healthcare sector, he has formed cohesive management teams, recruited board members, completed 15 corporate acquisitions across three continents and has raised $4 billion of both public and private capital. Doug holds a bachelor’s degree in Microbial and Molecular Biology from the University of East Anglia in the U.K. and was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, in 2012.
What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?
Like many people who work at Cybin, my “aha moment” came from a deeply personal experience. Everyone who works at Cybin has a personal connection to mental health and the opportunity to help advance treatments for those who suffer from these conditions is rare and gratifying. For me, it was the passing of my mother. I was in college when it happened. Lung cancer was the physical ailment, but addiction to Nicotine was the root cause. At Cybin, I am now in a place where my work is advancing curative research, development and administration of mental health treatments to help address devastating addictions and other debilitating mental health disorders. Countless people are affected by mental health and there are many stories like mine both inside and outside the industry.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Cybin takes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to bring psychedelic medicines to patients. From novel drug development to optimized treatment protocols, the patient experience remains paramount. We are people-powered and people-purposed. Every single one of our employees has been impacted by mental illness or addiction in one form or another. The science is what powers Cybin’s innovative therapeutic technologies, but it’s our passion for the personal that fuels the heart and soul of the business and keeps us fiercely pursuing a brighter future for mental health.
We’ve made it our personal mission to improve the mental health landscape. This mission is recognized by all Cybin employees, who are a highly experienced team of scientists, drug developers and leaders with a proven track record of success.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I recognize strong teams and know how to build them. The best way to lead is to know what you don’t know and find the people that do. Everyone has weaknesses, but not everyone is able to acknowledge their own. We have filled in the gaps with incredible talent and experience who collectively have what it takes to execute and be successful.
Second, I believe that in the early stages of growth, the priority has to be on execution in order to keep momentum, morale and motivation high. Often companies spend too much time planning when it is not always necessary to be 100 percent correct about the next move. I have used the 10–80–10 rule: 10 percent planning, 80 percent executing and 10 percent learning from what we did well and what we could do better.
Lastly, good leaders listen. I am constantly asking for input. The best way to grow as a leader is to “reverse-mentor.” The people who report to me have a different perspective and certainly understand things in a way that I don’t. Two-way communication is not only vital to company culture but being receptive to those around me is paramount to pushing the business forward and in the right direction.
The journey of an entrepreneur is never easy, and is filled with challenges, failures, setbacks, as well as joys, thrills and celebrations. Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?
I seem to be drawn to opportunities that are poised for growth, whether that is from organizations that are undergoing a transformation or startups that are looking to grow. I am a builder and get a kick out of building teams and organizations. While this is all very exciting, these opportunities do not magically see growth the moment I walk in the door — nothing is guaranteed. It has been my experience that the highs and lows are both essential elements to growth and I am drawn to the full spectrum of emotions that come with being a founder or operator.
Something else I’ve learned is to do it right the first time, even if it takes a little longer — there may not be a next time. Even if you are in a particularly difficult position, ensuring that you take the extra time to do whatever it is you are doing with care not only pays off sooner, but reduces the chances that you’ll have to do it again. Much of that comes from hiring the best team. Startups can be frugal with their cash and want to pay as little as possible, but I think that is backwards. Hiring the absolute best talent means you get people on your team early on that can do five jobs with their eyes closed, rather than one. That core team — the first five people or so — is critical to the culture and success of a startup.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Many startups are not successful, and some are very successful. From your experience or perspective, what are the main factors that distinguish successful startups from unsuccessful ones? What are your “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
You need a strong team. A key reason why many startups fail is teams are built for the wrong reasons. Populating a company with close friends may seem like a fun idea, but ensuring that the right people are working in the right positions and are all aligned on goals is what allows startups to thrive in a hyper-competitive landscape.
A clear mission is what gives a startup purpose. Cybin is fueled by our mission and it is what everyone — myself, the clinical team, the executive team and so on — has at the forefront of their minds on any given day. Having a clear mission is especially important in an industry centered on health and wellbeing. Organizations without a clear mission will eventually leave the conversation as it is true purpose which drives success. And a mission or culture driven by an aspiration to make a difference is far more powerful than tactical goals like market share or revenues.
Open communication dictates company culture. A strong team simply cannot exist without open communication. A clear mission cannot be seen through without open communication. Every position within an organization serves a distinct purpose and none should be undervalued. Part of this is creating an environment in which open communication at all levels is clear and transparent, spawning a participatory dialogue that underpins how organizations function at a basic level. We have built Cybin during a pandemic, so our whole team has been forced on proactively communicating and ensuring we all have the tools to do so, as we can’t simply walk into a colleague’s office to communicate.
Having a flexible mindset is a must. Running a startup is unpredictable and all-consuming. External and internal factors will inevitably affect the course a startup takes, no matter how much advance planning is done. Being able to adapt to unforeseen factors with a flexible mindset leads to strong resiliency in a competitive field.
Last and certainly not least is access to capital. Innovative ideas will simply stay ideas unless there is capital available to grow them into tangible reality.
Startup founders often work extremely long hours and it’s easy to burn the candle at both ends. What would you recommend to founders about how to best take care of their physical and mental wellness when starting a company?
Listen to the needs of your employees. It takes a village and successful startups are the ones with loyal teams, but loyalty is earned. It’s ultimately the people that propel your business, so take care of them and never lose sight of the fact that you couldn’t do it without them. If you are experiencing stress and fatigue, so too are your employees. Maintaining an open dialogue with your team and keeping your mental health at the forefront is essential. As a company dedicated to advancing mental health treatments, we are profoundly sensitive to ensuring our colleagues are taking good care of their own mental health. We all look out for each other.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Frankly, I’m already part of that movement. Working to develop truly curative, patient-focused mental health treatments is what I feel will bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people. Developing psychedelic therapies with patient outcomes in mind every step of the way is why I get out of bed in the morning. In addition, developing our psychedelic compounds and delivery systems in a way that will become accessible for all who need it is how the work we do at Cybin will reach and treat the greatest amount of people. The movement has already started, and I will continue to do my part with the dedicated team at Cybin.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
Thank you — it’s been a pleasure!
