October 1, 2004

Sarah Fuller on Providing the Indispensable Decision Resource
by Helen Graves

Sarah Fuller is extremely bright and knowledgeable, passionate about what she does, and above all, knows how to make things work. Take the January recapitalization of Waltham-based Decision Resources, for example. Fuller and co-owner Sam Fleming sold the company for $58 million to take to the next level their company known for its therapeutically focused analyses of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets as well as its research on managed care in this country.

Fuller remains an instrumental player, continuing to serve as president, chief operating officer and board director. Fleming retired from his CEO role but serves on the board. Here's Fuller on how she has been - and will be - making things happen.

On Passion: "People who are passionate about what they do, in my view, tend to be the happiest and the most successful, whatever the industry. The most important thing is to make sure that you're doing what you like to do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking."

Fuller, of course, has followed her own advice. She switched her major from math to history at the University of Pennsylvania, earned a master's in Harvard's now-defunct Soviet studies program, and ended up at Arthur D. Little when it came time to land a job. She began in international personnel and within a year, between her math skills and fluency in several languages, she was the right fit for ADL's Decision Resources predecessor, the global multi-client arm whose work spanned the scope of the company.

Fleming was president and CEO, and Fuller, beginning with handling the books before moving into sales and then new product development, would next follow in his footsteps as he advanced up the management ladder. It was when she was in product development that she settled on health care, the company's foundation today.

In 1990, ADL narrowed its focus and spun out Decision Resources. By then, Fuller was in her sixth year as president and Fleming was an SVP. They bought the company. In all, Fuller and Fleming worked together for 27 years.

On Transitioning from Corporate to Entrepreneur: "Your risk profile goes up enormously," Fuller says, laughing. "I guess that's the tradeoff. You have a much more intense focus initially on cash, and then you have much more freedom in the sense of being able to do what small companies, I think, do best: focus more on our clients and our own staff, and develop a set of policies and ways of both attracting talent and keeping talent."

At its spinout, Decision Resources employed 40 and offered two services to large pharmaceuticals and emerging biotechs: industry hot-issue advisory Spectrum and DR Reports, a series of market research studies. Today, Decision Resources employs 165 and, along with its original products, offer its flagship Pharmacor service that provides top-notch coverage of pharmaceutical markets; the DecisionBase and PatientBase interactive analytical platforms; DR Consulting, which provides custom assessment and strategy; and, via acquisition, InterStudy, a leading source of managed care intelligence.

Concerned about retaining clients early on, the co-owners shifted from reliance on ADL expertise to their own network of thought-leading physicians and recast the business to a therapeutic focus. Profits were plowed into the then-new Pharmacor, which was an early reporter on potential winners and losers in drug development. The reports, Fuller says, describe a disease, its causes, the related medical practices in the seven largest global markets, what's in pipeline and evaluations of those drugs, and five- and 10-year forecasts. Pfizer, a client, calls them "best in class."

In fact, all of the major pharmaceutical lines and many of the biotechs are clients. Some have relied on Decision Resources all along. Fuller, in one of her key roles, has maintained longtime relationships with many of DR's customers. While there are bigger players in its space, Decision Resources stands out by providing indispensable products, and more of them, to embed in clients' decision making.

"Part of the answer there is the information technology platform - to be able to integrate our services into their portfolio systems and information portals," Fuller says.  

On Recapitalization: "One of the reasons we did the recapitalization was to bring Decision Resources to a different place. The idea was that, if we had a different profile investor with the ability to do both acquisitions and expand in different ways into the markets we serve and into the markets we wish to serve tomorrow, we would have an access to capital that we didn't have before."

Three criteria - culture, strategy and price - were set to find the right investors for debt-free Decision Resources in order to preserve the flat organization of innovative, highly educated staff and a culture that's open, productive and energized. Private equity firms Castanea Partners and Boston Ventures, composed of experienced and accomplished professionals, were the right match.

Their infusion of capital and managerial experience is accomplishing three strategic initiatives: expanding the therapeutic franchise through new products with new types of analysis and new types of data; leveraging the intellectual property for new customer segments; and broadening renown in clinical drug assessments to a newer commercial orientation. Additionally, Decision Resources will increase its market-share footprint through acquisition, an area where, Fuller says, now-CEO Peter Hoenigsberg has much more experience than she.

On Partnership: "Business partnerships are like marriage but without the baggage. The key in getting a partnership to work is knowing where you have differences, and when you come to make a decision and you know your partner might have a different view, bring that up for discussion."

On the Future: "All strategies are informed by our business objectives. We're looking to double our size organically in the next five years and some percentage above that through acquisition. We're looking to grow the business in excess of the market's and our key competitors' growth, and certainly at the same level - 14 percent a year - that we've grown historically."

Design Resources is now working to ink the deal on an aggressive plan to launch a new line of eight services over the next few years. Fuller is also looking at different channels, such as financial services, and setting in motion the integration of DR's therapeutic knowledge with its managed care expertise.

"What I really like about this industry are the people and what it does, the kind of products and the effect biopharmaceuticals have on society," Fuller says. "It's great science, very interesting from a market-product-positioning standpoint. It's a rich, diverse industry. It's fun, interesting and stimulating."

Married for 31 years, ditto minus four for her business partnership with Fleming, and finding special talents in Hoenigsberg that complement hers, Fuller is a master at partnership. She doubts very much she would have been as successful going it alone, and fully appreciates the support a partner provides in making core decisions and driving growth.

Trust and confidence are key, Fuller says. During a discussion or debate, she adds, know who's escalating and who's negotiating, because the two can't happen at the same time. If you both continue to disagree, likely you're both wrong so go back and rethink - "it's that kind of thing that makes a partnership work."

On Her Role: "I've held the same title for 20 years - just the job has changed. Overall, you set out to exceed your clients', your staff's and your investors' expectations. You define what those are and then it's about communicating a clear vision and a set of directions with great people to make it happen."

Early on, Fuller did whatever it took to get Decision Resources going. Crucial was creating a culture - i.e., offering flexible work hours, providing time off to volunteer, inculcating "what I do matters" - to stimulate further the exceptional people who drive the quality and innovation Decision Resources offers. The matrix model ("there are no stars, only team players") of doing reports on three continents with teams of up to eight people requires Fuller's attention to connectivity between product, sales and marketing.

As the company grows, she'll ensure that processes are effective and efficient. These days, she's focusing on building partnerships to link DR's core competency with other companies for new suites of products.

Personally, Fuller has found support among her peers through CEO Roundtable for the past seven years, and she's active on the boards of such organizations as Cultural Survival, Starting Block and UPenn's Huntsman's Program.

On the Future: “All strategies are informed by our business objectives. We’re looking to double our size organically in the next five years and some percentage above that through acquisition. We’re looking to grow the business in excess of the market’s and our key competitors’ growth, and certainly at the same level – 14 percent a year – that we’ve grown historically.”

Design Resources is now working to ink the deal on an aggressive plan to launch a new line of eight services over the next few years. Fuller is also looking at different channels, such as financial services, and setting in motion the integration of DR’s therapeutic knowledge with its managed care expertise.

“What I really like about this industry are the people and what it does, the kind of products and the effect biopharmaceuticals have on society,” Fuller says. “It’s great science, very interesting from a market-product-positioning standpoint. It’s a rich, diverse industry. It’s fun, interesting and stimulating.”

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