Chapter 9 - Entrepreneur and Company Founder: Starting Your Own Company and Surviving

Abstract

Ron Cohen, M.D., started out with a medical career, but for the past few years he has been creating and building a new biopharmaceutical company, Acorda Therapeutics that aims to create novel therapies to treat spinal cord injuries (SCIs) and potentially other neurological damage. At present Ron is CEO and President at Acorda. Prior to founding Acorda, he was part of the start-up team for Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc., of San Diego, California. He says he had never considered going into the business world. He emphasizes that one of the most important skills to have for anyone who is involved in managing a company is the ability to get other people excited and engaged. Communication is the second great task. He says that these start-up positions are not usually advertised; the opportunities need to be generated by starting a company, or one needs to find someone who has just started a company and join their team to learn the process. He also shares the current situation of Acorda; the company has raised more than $140 million since inception, mostly from venture capital groups.