Q. Name/Name of company 
A. Vesticon Corp. We are a medical technology company focused on helping physicians and their patients achieve Victory Over Vertigo. We have  10 employees in NE Portland.
 

Q. How long has your product/service/company been in the market?
A. The Company has been around five plus years since initial funding. Our first product, the  Omniax will launch this Fall.  Our FDA clearance is just coming through now. I started working on the concept full time in 2002. We got our first money in 2003, about $350,000, from SBIR grants.  

Q. How did you determine need for product/service (or why do anticipate a need)?

A. Vestibular disorders are very common, but there is no technology on the market that diagnoses or treats them. Products on the market provide assessment, like a road test, but rarely definitive diagnosis, and none provide treatment. I spent part of 2002 doing market studies and talking to clinicians in the field. Co- founder John Epley M.D. had an early prototype of the Omniax that he had been using with patients for nearly a decade with compelling outcomes.

 

Q. Why did you choose the Portland area to start your business?
A. I am a fourth generation Oregonian and Dr. Epley, the other founder and my father, is third generation. Frankly, we are not staying in the core Portland area unless the city and county change their tax policies toward start-ups and entrepreneurs. The association for SBIR grantees in Washington DC tells me that Portland is the only government entity that has ever taxed Federal grant awards. And because we can't use grants to pay taxes or to garner a business loan, it comes out of my personal, after tax income. For 2007, It is about a 20% tax on me personally.

Q. What are your impressions of the entrepreneurial community in Portland?

A. In the 1 Oregon spirit, it is a supportive community. It is nice to have everybody rooting for us. OEN makes the community very accessible and there is a "we are all in this together" atmosphere.  At the same time, there isn't a lot of infrastructure, and government officials don't understand business and the synergy and benefits to the city that could take place if the right incentives and programs were in place. It is also hard to raise funding here too since there are few VCs and most of them are fully invested or we don't fit what they are looking for.

Q. How would you like to see it grow/change?
A. The city needs to have policies in place to encourage entrepreneurship. Or at a minimum, it needs to get rid of the disincentives such as the BLF and the capital gains tax. It would be great to see OEN get involved with some of these issues and work with the city on a package of incentives to get companies to start and stay in Portland.

Q. How are you involved in the community and how has it helped shape your business?
A. We are involved with OBA and OEN primarily.  It is good to be networked in order to find good employees and the people you need to run your company such as attorneys.

Q. How does OEN assist you/how are you specifically benefiting from the organization?
A. OEN has helped us at each step of the way. When I first started the company, I found good advice by networking at events. Also, a couple of the classes such as the business plan class were very helpful. Now as we are raising money, OEN has given us a forum to let investors know we are looking for funding.

Q. What are your favorite websites/magazines/events that you read/attend to keep yourself informed about the business community/your specific market?
A. Locally, I get an RSS feed from  Oregon Start Ups and the Business Journal. I stay up with industry specific sites such as Advamed, Medical Device Link, the Hearing Review and the NIH's SBIR announcements. I read the WSJ.  As far as events, Oregon Bioscience events are de riguer thanks to Bob Lanier's efforts this past year. We also participated in Angel Oregon as a finalist and won the audience vote for technology companies. I go to Advamed (the medical device association in Washington DC) meetings every year for emerging technology companies.

 

Q. Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
A. It has taken three times as long  as I thought.  Persistence and knowing that building Vesticon  is  my mission in life has sustained me through darker moments. Making money as part of my goal is  important, but had it been my only goal, I would have been discouraged and quit a couple years ago when it was particularly rough.

When I started, people said that even if we failed it would have been worth it. I think that is baloney. It would really suck. Failure just isn't an option. If you think it is, don't start a company!

 

For the first -time CEO, learn to make decisions quickly. You don't have the luxury of waiting until you know for sure.  The longer you wait to confront problems, the more you put the company's viability at risk. It will  be uncomfortable and unpopular sometimes.  Maybe a big company can afford the drain on productivity and capital  but there should be zero tolerance at a small company.

 

It takes a certain kind of person to work in a start-up and they typically aren't working at mid or large-sized firms. Prospective employees from established companies may believe they want to work at your company, but they typically are like deer caught in headlights after a couple weeks. They aren't used to really executing and being on the front line 24/7.  Working at a start up is like working in a mash unit. Triage and move em out! No time to make it look pretty.