Winston-Salem, NC Jun 19, 2002
"Most spinouts flop. But Targacept flourished when its parent set it loose. Here's how it beat the odds." With these words, authors Michael D. Lord, Stanley W. Mandel and Jeffrey D. Wager begin their Harvard Business Review story of Targacept's spin-out from RJ Reynolds.
In their 7-page article, the authors describe Targacept as a "best practice" model for doing things right at every stage in becoming an independent company.
"Targacept's story shows that nurturing a successful spinout is not all that different from raising a healthy, independent child," they write. "Parent companies need to give their offspring the right amount of attention and care, but they also need to know how and when to set them loose. Learn to do that well, as RJR and Targacept discovered, and both the parent and the young company stand to reap handsome rewards."
To download a copy of this article, please click here and you will be connected with Targacept's private site at Harvard Business Online.