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With Finance Gig, Mott Comes Full Circle
David Mott, chief executive of New Enterprise Associates
(Richard Anderson - Photo © 2008 Richard Anderson)
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So earlier this summer, Mott announced he would be leaving MedImmune at the end of July.
In June, he called on longtime friend James Barrett, a general partner at New Enterprise who had served on MedImmune's board. Barrett's start-up, Genetic Therapy, which was backed by New Enterprise, was also one of Mott's clients while he was working at Smith Barney's health-care investment banking group in New York.
Over coffee, Mott and Barrett talked about taking an executive role at a big pharmaceutical company. They kicked around the idea of launching another biotech.
"Dave's range of alternatives was like drinking from a fire hose," Barrett said.
They also talked about New Enterprise.
"When I see a guy I've known for 20 years happier and more engaged than I've seen a long time, I tried to figure out what he did," Mott said.
Mott had already showed signs that he wanted to re-enter the financing world. In 2002, he established MedImmune Ventures, a $100 million corporate venture fund that invested in start-ups working in areas of interest to MedImmune, such as infectious diseases, cancer and inflammatory diseases.
"It whet my appetite," he said.
But moving into venture capital might take some adjustment, said Barrett, who ran three start-ups prior to joining New Enterprise.
"You lack day-to-day control," he said. "That frustrates us, but we have to behave ourselves and let the CEO run the company."
-- Kendra Marr
