I’ve discussed some slightly unusual questions in this blog over the years, and this is definitely one of those. Today’s question is: should I start a mass spectrometer company? The easy and logical answer to this “why the heck not, it must be easy money!” But let’s take a closer look.
The blog idea originates from some recent discussions about the early days of Isotopx. For those that don’t know the story (and I’m not going into the details here), two employees of GV Instruments, Zenon and Mark, bravely took on the thermal ionization MS product line from Thermo and started their own company. This happened because the purchase of GVI created a monopoly in some product areas so Thermo were asked to divest those products, leading to the creation of Isotopx (and also IsoPrime, surely a subject for a future blog).
I’ve heard it said in the automotive industry that the way to make a small fortune making and selling cars is to start with a large fortune. Does this apply to mass spectrometry? There are many good business reasons why you should (or shouldn’t) start your own analytical instrument company. I’m going to look at some of the most relevant reasons.
Thinking of a catchy name is hard
In my opinion, the name of your fancy new company is critical, way more important than such trivial issues as making a profit. Ideally the name needs to be catchy, yet still needs to imply “mass spectrometers are really our thing”. Here at Isotopx we have a fairly catchy and relevant name, although the pronunciation does catch some people out. For reference it is said as “Isotopics” rather than the occasionally heard “Isotope-X”. If you have to tell people how to pronounce your company name…
The same is true of many other mass spec companies. I used to work for an excellent New Zealand mass spec company (yes, really) called Syft. Saying the name is easy, but as for the spelling…. If you’re speaking to someone on the phone, let’s just say that if you don’t prompt them, they’ll get it wrong 99% of the time. Ask me how I know. The bigger mass spec companies can have the same issues. I have a collection of business cards from the various roles I have had over the years, the one that rolls of the tongue the least well is “Thermo VG Elemental”. Sorry guys, but that is not catchy.
Thinking of a catchy logo is even harder
So you’ve invested huge amounts of time and effort to come up with the name…. Now, you need a logo. Wow, an even harder job than the name! It’s tempting to think that the logo should just be the company name, maybe in a bright colour. But no, that’s lazy, you can do better. We have a nice big letter “X”, with slices cut out of it. Why the slices? Predominantly to cut down on printing costs (the X is quite thick) but also because it references the “VG” logo from our deep historical past. Eventually you should get to the point where your logo should speak for itself; golden arches anyone? We are not quite there yet with Isotopx, but at least we’re not commonly mistaken for that other company that uses a large letter X in its log.
You think those two are hard… try product names
Cue many late nights sat in a boardroom banging fists on the expensive veneered table. The product name arguments will go backwards and forwards, the marketing agency costs spiralling. But still you can’t agree on a name. This bit should have been easy! But it isn’t. Your product name needs to inspire, to enthrall, to engender love and affection. Well maybe not that last bit. And to make it worse, you’re supposed to be considering how your name will come across to users who speak different first languages. Get it wrong and you’re a laughing stock. I mean, how many non-Japanese nationals decided against buying a Mazda Bongo Friendee on the strength of the name alone? And who can forget the Toyota MR2; innocuous sounding name, but try saying “M R deux” in a phony French accent. It sounds suspiciously like… you know what. Getting back to the world of mass spectrometry, I was product manager for the “Thermo VG Elemental VG Axiom MC”. Guess how often the full product name was used?
There is one potential shortcut however, come up with a half decent project name, let laziness get the better of you, and just go with that. Our noble gas MS had the internal project name of “NGX”. We gave up arguing about what the proper product name would be, and before long the project name became the product name. I think in this case we just about got away with it.
Deciding on your promotional giveaways is mind bogglingly difficult
Now to the real challenge you’re going to face when you start your mass spec company; what promotional goodies are you going to have at the conferences you attend? It’s all very well thinking that a few mouse mats and branded pens will suffice, but it won’t. You need to go big, I’m talking embossed, subtly branded leatherette notebooks. I’m talking 3D-printed mini-versions of your products. And I’m talking oversized glossy Christmas tree decorations with isotope name (bravo Thermo!). You want your giveaways to be the talk of the conference, you want people bartering for them. Heck, you even want people arguing about them.
And don’t forget the little details…
Aside from the important stuff discussed above, don’t forget to consider premises, staff, the fact that you won’t make a dime for years, the fact that it is a competitive market and hard to make a profit, and the fact that mass spec users are quite rightly a very demanding bunch. These are mere details compared to the branding though. And when you’ve started the new company? Give me a call and I’d be happy to broker the discussions / arguments / fist fights that will inevitable break out when it gets to product naming.
That’s all for now. If you started your own mass spec company, successful or otherwise , please let me know, and send photos of the bruises. As always, send your emails direct to me at: (Stephen.guilfoyle@isotopx.com). More soon…
