The pathway of entrepreneurship could be ascertained on a similar feeling like walking on the edge of a knife, allowing you to reflect on the amalgamation of a tough path that is long, fierce, and a grueling Velcro throughout. It is however littered with a vision and false commencement dipped with the steaks of failures, it triggers a rollercoaster of emotions comprising of excitement, despair, determination, and confusion but never leaves you on the edge at last to peel. Those individuals rewrite the definition of success in their own terms for the enlightenment of similar pawns. In the pearl of wisdom by Sabrina Khan who is the CFO of Aptorum Group Limited shares her insight on the overrated terminologies of success. She believes that most individuals associate the realm of success with goal attainment or achievement. But like perfection, success is an outward journey. A journey that is full of knowledge, experience, and friendship. A journey that brings infinite business opportunities and possibilities. In the quest for success, it is imperative to have the right people behind you, beside you, and above you. Leaders have great leaders themselves, and Sabrina has been fortunate enough to have learned from many successful leaders during her time. “For me, success is multi-faceted, but ultimately you must replace yourself, to pass on the hunch of knowledge and wisdom to others so that they may continue your legacy. At least in terms of business, success is about bringing your strengths to the table and motivating the team or other business partners to bringing their strengths to the table, to make the result greater than the sum of the parts.”, she shares.
The Whimsical avenue:
To hunt for a successful entrepreneur is so rarely linear since it requires more stamina than anything else. The hub of stamina to be able to keep going even when your heart is pounding to give up and draw on deep reserves of energy to bridge the gap. Aptorum was discovered from an idea to assist the world in stepping closer to the field of medical knowledge. It is imperative that achievement hovers over if you keen to take challenges head-on. Upon reflecting on the contingencies encountered in the vision of her organization, she reflects on the time when you are aware of your mistakes, you tend to work on improving and diminishing them, only then, you are already in the direction to success. She tends to think that challenges are beyond our control when often they are not, there’s always a solution. The trick is to learn from it and you will find your problems being solved along with the situation as you workout on them. She suggests in stepping back, thinking about the mistakes you made, only then you will discover that there are sometimes, you will be surprised to learn that the solution was simple, there was just a lack of vision.
The wishbone vs backbone:
The best piece of advice that anyone can steal from entrepreneurs is to stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone is ought to be. Aptorum Group is a UK-based biopharmaceutical company that is focusing on the discovery and development of therapeutic assets for the treatment of a variety of unmet medical needs, including orphan diseases, infection diseases, and metabolic diseases. Their variants of products and offerings could be elucidated as below:
1) The Rapid Pathogen Identification and Detection Diagnostics (“RPIDD”) technology, a rapid, accurate, cost-effective, and untargeted method to identify and detect existing or emerging unknown pathogens through liquid biopsy. Such unknown pathogens include DNA/RNA-based viruses such as coronavirus, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, fungi, etc.
2) SACT-1, a repurposed drug candidate for treating neuroblastoma discovered through its Smart-ACTTM drug discovery Platform.
3) ALS-4, a small drug molecule candidate for the treatment of infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
4) NLS-2, a dietary supplement for the relief of menopausal symptoms.
The coalesce of management:
The principles of management clearly define the culture and integration of an organization. Their foundation cannot be laid without proper planning, organizing, directing, staffing, controlling, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. As per Sabrina’s view, a culture of innovation and teamwork should be embedded into every organization. She adds that everyone from top management to junior staff should be fairly treated and respected, they should be allowed a chance to voice out their opinion and suggestions. Thinking outside of the box is the term everyone uses, but to her, this means that ideas can come from anyone in the team.
The accidental known intention:
There is just one solution invented in the entire universe to avoid the plate of criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. Sabrina mentions that there are many individuals who believe that the finance team is only responsible to manage the monetary consideration for the organization, but to her defense, she challenges that if the management is delegated as the brain of the company, then the department of finance has to be the heart of the company as it invests a prime role in the recurring operations. Sabrina’s chronological errands include but are not limited to preparing analysis reports for management decisions or exploring financing or strategic opportunities for the organization. If she gets an opportunity to define herself in one word, she would call herself a coordinator. The one who coordinates with the team members and frame the utilization of the organizational resources in achieving the goal set by management in the best possible manner.
Signature stroke of genius:
Achievement is the only key to the lock of performing actions. Most of the successful entrepreneurs keep shaking and tend to not stop even after tasting failure on their face. In her last pearl of wisdom, Sabrina shares her belief that all individuals are at their best when they deliver intensive bursts. Sometimes, the best ideas knock on your door when you least expect them. She also condemns that there are many inspiring businesswomen who are leading the way and are creating an example for the generations to remember. She states that women can be great entrepreneurs. Women have a different skill set than men and they have continuously proven to be invaluable in the boardroom. She hopes that she can emulate some of the great leaders of her time and light the way for future aspiring businesswomen of future generations.
