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| Alfred Mann, scientific entrepreneur, member of the Forbes 400 Private Banking and Investment client for 11 years. |
By Kenneth Nwachinemelu
David-Okafor
To
many Nigerians the name Alfred E. Mann would not ring a bell. In one of my
professional lives, pharmaceuticals, Mann or "AI Mann" as friends
refer to him made such remarkable impacts.
In
June 2014, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved MannKind
Corporation (founded by Mann)'s application for a unique inhalable insulin
(Afrezza) for the treatment of diabetes. MannKind subsequently licensed the
device to a French pharmaceutical company, Sanofi, for US$925 million. Mann was
the Chairman of the Board of MannKind Corporation, a biomedical company, where
he also served as Chief Executive Officer until January 12, 2015.
One
news report describes Mann as "biotech pioneer Alfred E. Mann's companies
developed devices that helped the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the
paralyzed to control their limbs."
Indeed
Alfred E. Mann was a Jewish-American biotech pioneer, scientific entrepreneur
and inventor whose wide-ranging business endeavors included aerospace,
pharmaceuticals, electronic circuitry and biomedical research. He started out
in aerospace, where his firms developed solar cells, semiconductors and other
technologies for America's military and space programs. His pioneering work
included development of the first rechargeable pacemaker and inhalable insulin.
Later, he earned a sizeable fortune by producing pacemakers for heart patients
and insulin pumps to help treat diabetics.
A
trained physicist who started his business career in aerospace, Mann had a
knack for spotting revolutionary technologies that he could help develop and
bring to market. Over the course of seven decades, Mann founded 17 companies in
fields ranging from defense to medical devices to pharmaceuticals. He sold many
of those companies over the years, amassing a fortune that topped US$2 billion
in 2007.
When
the real truth of what made the United States of America an inventive and
innovative country, that even her enemies could not but acknowledge her distinction
is put together, it certainly would undoubtedly comprise of the aggregated stories
of thousands of men, women and youth like Alfred Mann.
On
a cautionary note I am not celebrating a man or any country by this post. I am
merely analyzing the life of a gifted human being, an educated and accomplished risk-taker whose life’s work contributed to solving real life challenges for
mankind and greatly enhanced the inventive reputation of his adoptive country;
why? to decode with worthy examples for the citizens of another country in such
dire straits.
Indeed
how can how Nigerians can become more inventive and Nigerian inventions conquer
the world in light of the story of Alfred Mann? I want to draw lessons from Mann’s
life for would-be Nigerian inventors and entrepreneurs.
In
an earlier post, I had established certain issues about inventiveness and
inventors in Nigeria (Click Here).
While
growing up, one of the lasting impressions I can recollect of some of the
scenarios which still linger in my mind to date is of watching people gather in
street corners to view street "inventors" display concocted machinery
or "inventions". Usually the street "inventors" spread out
cloth or some other material on the floor and laid out their contraptions for
display. I had the curiosity to view once and I came away with a query. Why
would someone work so hard only to let complete strangers watch the result of
their diligence with amused detachment or even wonder?
I
wondered until I discovered these street "inventors" were trying to
eke out a living for themselves rather than searching for meaning, for
relevance, to change the world. They displayed their "inventions"
hoping to attract appreciation and/or even patronage for mere survival. With the
benefit of hindsight I can see why they never achieved lasting or significant
results.
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|
How
Afrezza Inhaler Works
|
A
prospective Nigerian inventor who wishes to accomplish results in the order of Alfred
E. Mann must aim for higher goals than displaying their inventions in market
floors and street corners.
So
here are six lessons I can distil from Mann’s life and accomplishments to turn
the Nigerian street "inventor" to a world-class inventor.
o identify
weighty, unmet needs and provide solutions for them
When
a reporter tried to capture the essence of his success he told the reporter his
secret: Identify an unmet need and come
up with a technology to fill it.
The
result has been a string of companies with names like Spectrolab, Heliotek,
MiniMed and Advanced Bionics. Mann developed pacemakers, cochlear implants,
insulin pumps and other devices.
This
immediately struck me that the street "inventors" of my childhood did
not actually identify an unmet need and
come up with a technology to fill it. The street "inventors" just
wanted to show people their mettle and how clever they were.
o Obtain
quality education
Mann
was born and raised to a Jewish family in Portland, Oregon. His father was a
grocer who emigrated from England; his mother a pianist and singer who
immigrated from Poland. His brother is violinist and Juilliard Quartet founding
member Robert Mann. In 1946, he moved to Los Angeles, California.
Mann
received his B.S. and M.S. in physics from the University of California, Los
Angeles, doing graduate work in nuclear and mathematical physics. Mann held
honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Southern California, The
Johns Hopkins University, Western University of Health Sciences, and the Technion
– Israel Institute of Technology. In 1956 he founded his first company,
Spectrolab, which developed solar-power electric systems for spacecraft.
o Discover
the basis of your motivation/embrace creativity
Mann
never dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur during his childhood in Portland,
Ore. He was the middle of three children born to immigrant parents — his
English father was a grocer and his Polish mother was a singer and pianist.
Mann played cello, oboe and piano. (His favorite piano piece was the
Rachmaninoff Prelude in C sharp minor.)
Mann’s
true calling emerged during his senior year of high school, when he took
chemistry and physics. "That changed my life," he said. (Even though
he was the class co-valedictorian, he asked permission to stay an additional
semester to take more physics. The school said no.)
Mann
also was a prodigious polymath who designed his own mansion in Beverly Hills
atop Mulholland Drive. The home featured a koi pond that stretched from the
yard into the home, separated by a translucent wall that automatically moved up
and down depending on the weather.
o Increase
collaborative work
Alfred
Mann’s work drew the respect of his peers; he garnered great reputation and
drew other researchers who wished to work with him. Other researchers realized they
could go to Alfred Mann to sort out a knotty issue.
In
1956 he was hired by the U.S. military to help improve guidance systems
technology for missiles. He later won a contract to design solar cells for
spacecraft. Those opportunities led him to found his first two companies,
Spectrolab Inc. and Heliotek Corp., both of which he sold in 1960.
Another
one of such collaborations would lead to his most significant work. Mann's
career took a turn in the late 1960s when researchers from Johns Hopkins
University ask for help applying space technology to create a long-lasting
pacemaker.
o Take
risks
Mann's
first biomedical company, Pacesetter Systems, was born after researchers from
Johns Hopkins University ask for help applying space technology to create a
long-lasting pacemaker. "I got intrigued by medicine," he said.
In
the long run, launching businesses and selling them has made Mann a fortune. Though
an aerospace and biomedical entrepreneur, Mann went on to found 17 companies
over six decades and became a billionaire philanthropist.
o Be
visionary and ready to make sacrifices
"He
was a visionary who could see pathways forward that other people didn't see,"
said Jon Lasch, executive director of the Alfred E. Mann Institute for
Biomedical Engineering at USC, which the businessman endowed with a US$100-million
donation in 1998.
Most
of the companies founded by Mann, a longtime Beverly Hills resident, were based
in the San Fernando Valley or Santa Clarita.
"Al
almost single-handedly brought the medical device industry to Los Angeles,"
Greenberg said.
Mann,
who had a lifelong reputation as workaholic, was seen at his desk.
"That's
a common thing — I walk into the room, he's working, and he wants to finish
something before we can talk," said David Hankin, chief executive of
Valencia's Alfred Mann Foundation, who met with Mann a few weeks ago. "That
is very much Al Mann."
Those
who knew Mann said the businessman was driven by a simple yet profound desire:
to cure the afflictions that plague humanity.
"He
cared about people," said Robert Greenberg, chairman of Second Sight, a
Sylmar company that Mann founded to develop an artificial retina for the blind.
"It wasn't work to him — it was a mission."
Mann
paid a price for his commitment. He acknowledged his family life suffered from
the long hours he put in. He was thrice divorced and had seven children. He
stayed with his fourth wife, Claude, for more than a decade until his death.
"I
know I will be first in his heart, but not his first priority," Claude
told The Los Angeles Times in 2014. "His first priority will always be
work and doing what he does best."
o Make
a decision to change the world
In
2007, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at US$2.4 billion. But the
entrepreneur known to his friends as Al says wealth has never been a priority.
"I've got more money than I can spend," he said. "For me, the
satisfaction of changing someone's life — indeed, even giving a person back a
useful life — that's what really drives me."
Mann
once disclosed that he had given away about US$500 million primarily to support
research causes. Among his beneficiaries is the Alfred Mann Foundation, a
nonprofit organization based on the sprawling grounds of the Mann Biomedical
Park in Santa Clarita. It develops medical devices — such as the cochlear
implant and an artificial pancreas — with the aim of bringing inventions to the
marketplace.
Mann
established Alfred E. Mann Institutes for Biomedical Engineering at the University
of Southern California (USC), known as AMI/USC (US$162 million); at Purdue
University known as AMI/Purdue (US$100 million); and at the Technion known as AMIT
(US$104 million) are business incubators for medical device development in
preparation for commercialization. The Institutes are essentially fully funded.
Three other universities were in late stage discussions as of 2006. AMI was
founded in 1998 when Alfred Mann made his first US$100 million gift to USC, a
major private research university in Los Angeles. The total gifted endowment
for AMI/USC is US$162 million since then. The Alfred Mann Foundation for
Biomedical Engineering was charged with selecting, establishing and overseeing
the institutes, similar to AMI at USC and at other research universities. Mann
was a Life Trustee of the University of Southern California.
I
am sure any prospective Nigerian inventor follow through with these half a
dozen lessons and lift yourself beyond the level of a street "inventor"
of my childhood memories.
Mann
died on February 25th, 2015 aged 90. His death was announced by MannKind Corp.,
where Mann served as chairman of the Valencia, California-based company from
2001 to February, 2016.
