Imagine you’re enrolled in a clinical trial as a patient for a potentially life saving drug and the company runs out of money and shuts down before the efficacy of the drug is determined. Biotech companies succeed or fail for many reasons (not unlike many companies), sometimes not related to the viability of the technology, but for other reasons.

Typical symptoms include consistently missed deadlines, cost overruns, frequent changes in strategy, and so on. Companies burn thru cash, try to recoup by accelerating already aggressive timelines

Often the root cause of these symptoms is more operational vs. science – how information flows, how work flows and is interconnected, and how decisions are made. Drug development is incredibly complex and requires the team to work together like a well rehearsed symphony orchestra.

Sigma Lab Consulting is a Boston area consultancy that helps companies perform like that orchestra, connecting people, processes, and technology so decisions come faster and progress flows naturally. Oscar Gonzalez and Lawrence Wong, principals, have developed a framework to help biotech companies to simplify how work gets done and decisions get made.

Boston Business Mentors (BBM) is a volunteer organization that provides free mentoring to small businesses, and has been working with Sigma Lab Consulting to help them grow their business. BBM will be running an ad campaign on Boston’s MBTA trains, and wanted images of Oscar and Lawrence for the campaign.

We wanted to show them as competent, knowledgeable, yet approachable – as an industry, biotech’s “vibe” is much like high tech; business casual, confident – but not “corporate”. The lighting we used was designed to have a slight level of drama/contrast as the work they do is serious. For their expressions, we decided on a slight smile along with a look that shows their confidence and experience. The dark background was chosen to direct the eye towards their faces/expression (the human eye is immediately drawn to lighter areas of a photograph).

Below is the final image for the poster in both B&W and color (the latter will be used on the poster) – what first impression do you get when you look at this image? Can’t wait to see this as a poster on the T!