Meet The Disruptors: Sumit Rai Of Cancer Check Labs On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
Hire the best. It sounds like common sense, but sometimes entrepreneurs are quick to build teams without considering what makes their employees most qualified for the job.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sumit Rai.
Mr. Rai is a founder and serves as CEO and Chairman of Cancer Check Labs. Mr. Rai has been involved in the development of its technology since 2010.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
For more than 25 years I’ve been a serial entrepreneur and investor, having founded, acquired and invested in dozens of companies. In 2012, I lost my only sibling to cancer and have since dedicated my life to finding a cure that will have the greatest impact on the greatest number of people across the globe. I’ve been involved in the development of Cancer Check Labs’ technology since 2010 and I am devoted to providing our breakthrough early cancer detection tests to as many people as possible.
In addition to my investments and work with Cancer Check Labs, I serve as the President of Cure Sonia, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Cure Sonia battles cancer through funding research programs at leading centers such as Stanford, USC, MD Anderson, and the City of Hope, providing financial patient assistance to underprivileged families undergoing treatment, and supporting bone marrow drives by having run over 300 drives across 60 cities, directly registering over 10,000 donors across the country.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Cancer Check has developed a blood test that can detect more than 200 types and subtypes of cancer as early as stage zero, with just 40ml of blood. We aren’t the first to develop an early-detection blood test, but Cancer Check is the first test ever to accurately detect whole, intact circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood. This is incredibly disruptive because most other tests rely on what is known as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), which only provides bits and scraps of genetic information as opposed to whole, intact cells, which have very specific mechanical and structural features that can indicate both the type of cancer as well as its site of origin. ctDNA tests then rely on complicated AI or machine learning processes to try and analyze biomarkers, which unfortunately often result in false positives. Cancer Check, on the other hand, is extracting the actual cells being shed every day from tumor-based cancers and placing them physically on glass slides which are stained using conventional cytological and histological techniques. Those slides are sent to a board-certified pathologist just like a tissue biopsy. Upon examination, a board certified pathology report that conforms with standard-of-care guidelines is issued by the pathologist. The fact that we can detect these cells as early as Stage zero means we can dramatically alter life expectancy and outcomes for cancer patients, especially for the majority of cancers that do not have standard early screenings, like pancreatic or thyroid cancer, for example.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I was eight years old, I started my first business selling ninja stars to friends in school. I had a friend and partner who decided to break off and compete with me directly. My immediate reaction was to lower the price, but while it put him out of business, it only ended up repricing the market and devaluing my product. It was an early lesson in recognizing and having confidence in the value of my product or service. Price is always an important consideration but it’s not worth compromising on value.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
When I was starting out in my career, I was lucky enough to receive mentorship from the President/COO of a company I worked for. Instead of just telling me to focus on one thing, he gave me the opportunity to work in multiple divisions of the company to learn how a company truly operates. It was essentially a customized management training program with direct access to the president of the company. Because I could ask him anything and view the big picture, it put me on a direct path to becoming a CEO myself. This experience was integral in my understanding of how a business operates both internally and externally.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
In terms of positive disruption, a clear example would be the advent of the internet. Suddenly, connectivity and access to information were ubiquitous. The ability to more efficiently communicate created incredible opportunities for commerce and trade that we had never seen before. At the same time, we could reach friends and family anywhere while finding new communities based on our niche interests, not bound by geography. New formats in entertainment revolutionized industries like the news media, television, games and so much more. In my lifetime, it’s hard to think of something that touched so many sectors and aspects of our lives in such a profound way.
For less positive examples, I can bring it back to some of the deeper issues facing the liquid biopsy market right now. One of the common mistakes that anyone in product development makes — whether in software, hardware, healthcare or any other industry — is creating solutions that sound exciting to the average consumer, but do not actually address a core problem. With liquid biopsies, on the one hand, you have a number of companies creating advanced ctDNA detection technologies in an effort to catch cancer before it becomes deadly. I applaud anyone trying to do this; we need more solutions for curing cancer, not less. But on the other hand, even if the technology deploys exciting new machine learning algorithms and AI, is it truly disruptive if it produces more false positives than it does accurate results? I am all for utilizing new technologies to solve complex problems, but we have to prioritize science and outcomes over “magic box” thinking. Liquid biopsy technology at its core is a positive disruption, but only as long as we remain focused on introducing solutions with the most accuracy and specificity.
Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry?
- Always stay focused on the company mission. The mission is always what inspires an entrepreneur to take a leap and launch a new business. But along the way we as founders are challenged on our ideas, market viability, certain industry standards (even if outdated) and preconceptions about how our businesses should be run. When it comes to new technology — especially life-saving technology — the mission will always be the guiding star. Every action one takes should be in service of that mission.
- Hire the best. It sounds like common sense, but sometimes entrepreneurs are quick to build teams without considering what makes their employees most qualified for the job.
- Use revenue to fund your company. Part of staying focused on your mission is maintaining control of the direction of your business. While bringing in outside funding can certainly provide a kickstart at the onset, it immediately compromises one’s ability to make decisions in service of the company’s goals and core customers, over that of the investors. This is such a common problem in the startup space.
- Listen to the market. I’ve discussed how staying true to the company’s mission is paramount to any other aspect of building a business, but a major part of that is maintaining the ability to pivot and be nimble when the market requires it. Sometimes demand comes from a new side of the market that you didn’t initially anticipate or advancements in technology alters how your supply chain operates. In those moments it is important to determine how to react in a way that both furthers the company’s goals and causes the least internal disruption possible.
- Get comfortable with volatility. If you want to make a real impact in your industry, you have to accept that it will never be a smooth ride. I’d even go so far as to say that you have to love the volatility in order to be a successful entrepreneur. Of course we all want to see our ideas flourish from the start, but sometimes that means being excited to tackle seemingly insurmountable problems, or meeting deadlines that hit sooner than you had planned. If you are afraid of volatility then you should probably consider another career.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
My work with Cancer Check Labs is my life’s mission, so that’s my core focus. Anything more that would further this mission is what I plan to do next.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
I am a fan of the TV mini-series “Men Who Built America.” The show takes a look at some of America’s most well known captains of industry — Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie are some examples. Their approach to industry was not simply to find a focus area and provide a niche solution to a very specific problem, but to zoom out and picture how an entire industry should operate from end to end. This is exactly how I view finding a cure for all cancers. For me and a growing number of researchers in the medical field, early detection is the key to improving outcomes and saving lives worldwide.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” — Otto von Bismarck
It is such a large problem that we are addressing so we are trying to learn from the wisdom, successes, and mistakes of others to more quickly and efficiently find solutions. In some industries, there is room to play and make mistakes. With cancer, we don’t have that luxury; we need to learn from past mistakes and ensure they don’t happen again. Last year alone there were ~10M recorded deaths from cancer. Time is of the essence given the rate of the loss of life. This is life saving technology.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire 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. :-)
I want to create a world where everyone has access to ubiquitous early cancer screenings. In this world, survival rates would be so high that cancer mortality would become relatively insignificant.
Right now, we know that 40% of the global population will be diagnosed with cancer. That represents billions of people, with a higher casualty rate than all of the known wars in human history. If we can improve life expectancy for cancer patients, we can then improve life expectancy for 40% of the population.
How can our readers follow you online?
Socials:
@sumitraicancer
@cancerchecklabs
More podcasts, articles, and blogs to come
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
