Cindy Eckert, the founder of Sprout Pharmaceuticals that developed ‘Female Viagra,’ has recently shared offered three success tips.
She shared her thoughts on accountability, social media strategy, and the secrets of a good pitch.
She sold Sprout Pharmaceuticals for more than $1B. She subsequently founded The Pink Ceiling, which invests in companies founded by, or delivering products for, women
Early on in her career, Eckert thought she would take the traditional path. After college, the business incubator for women planned to get a job in a big company and work her way up. But, later she realized something important that those companies were a “sea of sameness” that homogenized people who entered.
In an interview with senior editor Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, she said, “I didn’t quite fit.”
Working out on her own, Eckert founded Sprout, which grew and successfully push the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve Addyi (flibanserin), aka Female Viagra, a drug designed to boost libido in women.
In 2015, Eckert sold Sprouts to Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $1 billion, leaving the company she had founded. However, a couple of years later, Eckert bought Sprout back and managed to rehire many of her ex-employees.
Eckert shared a few insights with Lagorio-Chafkin. Sharing one tip, she said culture is everything.
“Culture isn’t aspirations, it’s your actions,” Eckert said. “How do you show up every day? How are you gonna walk the walk and be that?”
She created a culture for her team to create a feeling of shared ownership.
Eckert said, “The most important thing is everyone having skin in the game, genuinely participating in the outcomes,” meaning stock options or bonuses based on company success. “Not just for a paycheck,” she added, “But for a payoff.”
The entrepreneur said accountability is key. She said, “Peer to peer, we hold each other accountable. If the company is winning, everybody is winning.”
For Eckert, honesty is the best policy. She said, “Be an open book.”
She often talks to her team about where the company is every day and never tries to sugarcoat the truth.
“We’re constantly communicating,” she continued, especially now that her employees are working remotely because of the ongoing pandemic. “There’s nothing I’ve been holding back from them.” Eckert pitched her company many times and figured out three things every founder should know going into a meeting, “What are you trying to uniquely do? Why are you the person to do it? What’s in it for the investors if they go on the ride with you?”
