Dr. Christine König
CEO of SurgMark GmbH
In mid 2019 a friend asked me to take on the CEO position at a Medtech start-up he and a few others had founded a couple of years earlier. I did some research into product and market and liked idea and especially the team very much, to happily accept the offer of becoming CEO at SurgMark GmbH. My immediate task was to write the business plan, secure financing, help develop the product towards design freeze, and our go-to-market strategy. By the time we had a solid plan and understanding of all of it and successfully presented at various pitching events (we regularly came in first, second, and third place) SARS-CoV-2, aka COVID-19, had hit the world, topped by a war in Europe two years into the pandemic.
Despite the at times frustrating and difficult circumstances, we have weathered through, found a very supportive strategic investor, and are now on a promising track with our product.
But, I had a déja-vu!
When my partner and I had picked up our carefully crafted business plan for our biotech start up’s second-round financing from the printer, it was early September 2001. We could and would not weather that storm. Not with a way too costly and complex operation and already a sizable number of obstacles piled up in our way. The bursting of the dot.com bubble and the drag-along of the budding German biotech industry into the ensuing venture capital mass extinction put the final nails into the coffin our biotech dreams back then.
21 years and five more or less successful start-ups later I still think that we were on to something great back then. Yet, with all the experience I have now, I can confidently say that it was less the catastrophic outside circumstances than the non-aligned and disengaged investors and partners that brought it down. When the twin towers came crumbling down, our start-up actually had everything it needed, including a sizeable list of paying customers. With a more knowledgeable and cooperative team of investors and partners we would have found a way to survive and manage through.
Today I look for partners who are aligned with my values and support the long-term view I have adopted to most aspects of my private and professional life. The difference between now and then is, I can today work with less “external” resources, less income/cash/capital. That’s because I know that I have other means to move things along and survive. Such as creativity, patience, humbleness, and mostly a whole lot of appreciation and trust for the teams I work in. Their great minds, effort, and friendship is what let’s our business and myself thrive. If things don’t work out, I still hope to have made friends and partners for life and life in crisis, for that matter.
About SurgMark
Breast Cancer affects every eighth to tenth women worldwide. SurgMark’s bio-absorbable and metal-free tissue marker will become a standard diagnostic process, to mark suspicious lesions of the breast as well as confirmed tumors prior to neoadjuvant therapy and surgery.
Our marker SchurSignTM hits a growing market (CAGR 10%) with a current volume of ~100 M EUR. We are seeking FDA clearance for the US market by end of 2022 and will commence sales in US early 2023. Revenues are expected to hit the 1 Mio. EUR mark three years after launch. We have raised 0,5 Mio. € and seek to raise another 0,5 Mio. € in equity and/or convertible loans throughout the next 18 months.
