Q: Where did you grow up?
A: Springfield, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Q: How did you hear about Innovation Works?
A: From Bioedison in Cleveland. I was working with this technology-based economic development company and they referred me to Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG). PLSG interviewed me and said they were looking for a regulatory expert, which I am not. But, they referred me to IW.
Q: What drew you to work here?
A: I had just sold a radiology supplies business to a private equity company and enjoyed the process. Working for IW gave me the opportunity to share my intrapreneurial and my mergers and acquisition experiences, access to the latest life science technologies, and I even thought of joining a startup.
Q: Let’s say I’m an entrepreneur in Southwestern Pennsylvania, what can I ask for your help on?
A: I can offer clinical networking across a number of domains and expertises in the early stage life science ecosystem in the region, pitch deck critiques, board management, and funding advice.
Q: Reflecting on your experience commercializing medical device products and running a privately held technology accelerator and investment company prior to IW, what is the number one piece of advice you would give a startup?
A: In life sciences, it’s all about the sustainable competitive advantage. Patents, trade secrets, and proprietary data are the most common ways of protecting your competitive advantage, but with healthcare IT companies, many of the protections are softer like first mover advantage and distribution partners. Corporations in a market space who are potential acquirers are most concerned about their ability to protect their potential investment.
Q: You’ve been building the brand new AlphaLab Health accelerator and program. What are you most excited about this new initiative? What is your biggest takeaway from your involvement in making IW’s newest accelerator a reality?
The Brookings report highlighted the need for leveraging the region’s leading life science research into jobs. Combining a nationally ranked accelerator with one of the nation’s leading integrated delivery and financial systems like the Allegheny Health Network is a terrific opportunity to make that goal achievable.
Q: What technology/industry are you most excited about and why?
I am so impressed with the rapid national and international recognition of Pittsburgh as a center for autonomous systems and the $5 Billion our startups have attracted in this space. I project that Pittsburgh will find that life science technology catalyst to be a national Center of Excellence for not only one but a few technologies. It’s hard to pick one industry as we have research and intellectual property advantages in so many areas.
Q: Step back to Larry at the start of your career, what line of work had you envisioned for yourself? How closely aligned is your current work to that vision?
A: I am not close to my career vision after graduation from business school as I did not forecast or plan to go into diagnostic imaging and international business development — areas I have spent most of my career in. But as these are just markets, my interest in management was fulfilled.
Q: What issues that face our region are you most passionate about?
A: Leveraging the excellent research and technologies here into a life science center of excellence.
Q: Tell us about your volunteer work.
A: Early in my career at IW, I was involved with the Reading is Fundamental program. Without this basic skill, children are ordained to struggle in this information age. Today the world is accessible via your cell phone’s search button, but if you cannot read you are disadvantaged and excluded from this technological advent.
Q: What does an average Saturday look like for you?
A: Chores, church, walks with a mask, and binge TV-watching in this COVID era.
Q: When asked for a ‘fun fact’ about yourself, what’s your go-to?
A: My nickname in college was the “parson” because I did not drink.
Have You Met…Larry Miller, Managing Director of Life Sciences was originally published in Startups and investment on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
