Measuring The Value Of Pistoia Alliance Activities

We don’t suffer a lack of ideas for potential Pistoia Alliance projects. The trick is getting a critical mass (including people and funds) behind an idea to turn it into an active project driving toward a solution. With the latest round of portfolio projects, we worked with David Seemungal of Cubase Consulting to conduct an indicative valuation of the various proposed activities. I asked David to explain the methodology, which we plan to employ as a way of calibrating expectations around future proposed activities.

My first exposure to the Pistoia Alliance was at the Dragons’ Den meeting in London, where I served as one of the dragons listening to the pitches and determining whether to invest in any of the proposals. Frankly, I ended up holding onto my play money, because none of the proposals were clear about their long-term value and the return investors would see on their investment. That’s not to say the projects didn’t have value—they just weren’t making that value clear in the pitch. So it’s been rewarding to be working with the Alliance to help put some quantitative measures of value onto its activities.