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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 N OV E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5 MB: Did you have a mentor? DS: Not exactly. But E. Robert Kinney, who was a Jackson Lab trustee, helped at a later stage of IDEXX. One of the crucial issues in a business is that if you are riding a big wave or megatrend, you're going to be hearing caution every day. If one thing goes wrong, it would be over. At the same time there's another debate going on saying, 'Let's go for it.' ose are some of the most important debates you have in an entrepreneurial company. If it's a big idea you have to be fast and bold and great. But you also can't make mistakes that are fatal. It was helpful to me to have Bob Kinney on the board because he had a perspective on that. I was 28 years old at the time and he'd say, 'Here's what I think we should do.' He wasn't a big investor in the company, but the venture capitalists would listen to him because he had this kind of Obi-Wan Kenobi look about him. MB: Early on you met Venrock Associates venture capitalist Peter Crisp. How did that help you? DS: I didn't know much about venture capitalists, but I called him. He picked me up in his station wagon on a sidewalk in Manhattan and I told him about my idea for IDEXX in the 20 to 30 minutes it took to get to LaGuardia Airport. I was surprised when I got out of the car and he said, 'You know, I think we're interested.' is was in the days before the Internet, so I didn't know if he was an accountant or what he was. So I later find out he's on the board of Apple Computer and he's a legendary venture capitalist. So they did in fact invest. And then I'd go to their meetings. is is sort of a story about being in Maine. It was important for me to get capital not from Maine, because I was worried about the syndrome in Maine where you're not thinking about being a global leader and you're not maybe thinking big enough and bold enough. So at the first meeting with Venrock I was sitting with Apple Computer, McDonnell Douglas, Eastern Airlines and others. I learned to ask myself a question early on, which is, 'What does great look like?' It was really important for me to have a frame of reference to understand what truly great looks like in the business you're involved in. So that you don't find out, as I like to say, that 'good is the enemy of great.' In the state of Maine, if you're trying to get the very best people and be the very best in the world at what you do, everything has to be internally consistent with that. You have to have great directors, great sources of capital, great products. And if you're a little bit short of that it changes your destiny. Finding game-changing investments MB: What types of companies does Black Point invest in? DS: e focus of our business for a while has been value creation through public and private entrepre- neurship. Entrepreneurship is by definition very much about exploration and discovery. Black Point looks for interesting opportunities where you can create value by riding a big wave, by game-changing technology or by game-changing trends like the genetics revolution, new generations of medical devices or the Internet. Medical Network Inc. (MedNet) is a Maine-based organization that has the power to lower your healthcare costs by providing a credentialed, low-cost, high access, preferred provider network. mainemednet.com 1 (800) 556-1144 3 questions to ask your broker about self-insurance Talk to your broker today and ask about self-funding your health plan. Many companies, even those with less than 50 employees, have saved thousands of dollars by self-insuring. Your broker can help set up a risk-assessment in your office. Get the information you need to design and control your plan. Discover ways you can implement a robust wellness program to reduce expenses. How can a wellness plan reduce my costs? 3 How do I set up a risk assessment? 2 Does it make sense for a company with less than 50 employees to self-insure? 1 C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E »

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