
In 2005, Abcam listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, with a placement of £15m and valuation of almost £60m. Not bad for a company just seven years old at the time, whose founder, Dr Jonathan Milner, had had to re-mortgage his house to set it up.
Also not bad for a company whose circumstances were so straitened seven years earlier that Milner had been forced to trudge round the laboratories of Cambridge selling his wares in an ice bucket to raise some cash. So where did it all go right? And what was Milner selling from his ice bucket? In 1998 a group of researchers at the University of Cambridge were working on a protein connected with breast cancer. One of their frustrations was the difficulty of finding good-quality antibodies and reagents for their research.Walk through walls and talk to people
Abcam’s story is illuminating for other businesses because it features both hard times and rapid growth. When Milner talks about setting up the business, it’s clear just how gruelling the initial years were, as they struggled to generate finance and revenues. Like so many entrepreneurs, he talks of the stamina and perseverance required to grow a company: “You’ve got to walk through walls and be determined and not give up… It’s one of the most difficult things in the world to do, and it’s all about determination.” Determination, plus a few other elements. The first, according to Milner, is to get plugged into a network, such as the group of Cambridge technology angels who supported Abcam. “If you’ve got a business idea, then go to a local angels network or university network who can guide you, put you in touch with people who can assess the business plan, help you iterate it, and help you with access to start-up money. That would be my biggest piece of advice.”Look hard at yourself and other people
Hiring the right people is a crucial part of achieving growth. This means weighing up potential recruits’ personalities and drive, as well as their experience or qualifications. Milner’s advice adds another perspective to this: the need to take a long, hard look at your own skillset and personality. That way you can complement them with the people you hire. Milner’s experience also highlights the importance of getting the right people at the right time. Certain stages of a business’ growth, or even certain stages of the business cycle, need certain skills and specialisms. The role of the successful founder/CEO is to seat the best people in the best places. As Milner points out, this may sometimes require decisiveness on the part of the CEO. Milner was one of those researchers, and he came up with the idea of selling high-quality antibodies online. That summer, Milner left the lab, and set up Abcam, with support from a local telecoms entrepreneur, Dr David Cleevely, and his former boss, Professor Tony Kouzarides. Unfortunately the various venture capitalists they approached were not impressed by their plans, and Milner and Cleevely had to bootstrap the company. It was only when a group of Cambridge business angels invested in the company that the scenario improved. Thereafter, the mood of the story brightens. Abcam became profitable in 2002, and achieved growth in sales of 7,200% between 1999 and 2003. It now has 300-plus employees, in five offices, and it delivers antibodies to over 80 countries. In 2010, Milner was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the AIM annual awards, and CEO of the Year at the European Mediscience Awards. This was an extract from Growth In A Difficult Decade, published by Regus. Order your copy of the book here.Share this story