The Value of Flow Structures
Dr. Emile Loria was the CEO of a French biotechnology company called BioVector Therapeutics, whose science was drug delivery through inhalants. Emile worked diligently with me, over many sessions, to develop the BioVector IPO road show. However, as often happens, the company was acquired instead of going public. Emile then became the CEO of an already-public U.S. biotechnology company called Epimmune, whose science was based on a naturally occurring substance called epitopes. Epimmune had harnessed epitopes to create vaccines to help the body's immune system fight cancer and infectious diseases.
Emile asked me to review the Epimmune presentation that he was scheduled to deliver at a biotechnology conference the following week. I received a copy of his presentation via email at home over a dial-up line, so it took about fifteen minutes to download the image-rich file. I first looked at his overview slide (Figure 4.3).
Figure 4.3. Epimmune overview slide.
I called Emile and asked him which Flow Structure this represented. Although we had worked together many times, Emile hesitated. But then, after a moment, he said, “Aha! Form/Function!”
“Okay. Then why did you start with resources?” I asked.
After a moment, Emile exclaimed, “Of course! I should start with the Epimmune platform, our core science, our Form, and then move on to how it Functions with the products we derive from the platform, our strategy to develop the platform. And I should save the resources until the end to demonstrate how we will implement the strategy!”
“Aha!” I concurred.
I spent less than two more minutes shuffling Emile's slides into the correct order (Figure 4.4), and then tweaked a couple of other slides (very little tweaking was needed for this diligent student). Then I emailed the presentation back to Emile … which took another fifteen minutes to upload.
Figure 4.4. Revised Epimmune overview slide.
Thirty minutes of transmission, two of validation. The forest view.
The Flow Structure approach provides an easy shorthand view of the logic and integrity of your ideas for both you and your audience. Your audience will be able to understand and follow any presentation. Even more important, they'll readily remember your ideas.