Episode #3 – Dennis Steadman

All the Right Moves
Co-founder of Merial and numerous other start-ups and a believer in the Principle of Reciprocity, Dennis Steadman’s financial wisdom has generated tremendous professional returns.

Speaker 1:
Welcome to The People of Animal Health Podcast. The host of our podcast is Stacy Pursell. Stacy is the leading executive recruiter for the animal health and veterinary industries. She’s the founder of Therio Partners and The VET recruiter. Stacy has placed more professionals in key positions within the animal health and veterinary industries than any executive search professional. And along the way, Stacy has built relationships with some outstanding people who are doing incredible things to make a difference.

Speaker 1:
The People of Animal Health Podcast features industry leaders and trailblazers who have made a significant impact or are making an impact in the animal health and veterinary industries. Stacy chats with them to learn more about their lives, their careers, and the unique and interesting things that they have done to contribute to the animal health or veterinary industry. She is here to share their stories with you. Now here’s the host of our podcast, Stacy Pursell.

Stacy Pursell:
Hello everyone, and welcome to The People of Animal Health Podcast. On today’s show, we are talking with Dennis Steadman. Dennis is kind of a big deal. Dennis is a 35 year industry veteran and entrepreneur who is impacted both mega brands and multiple startup companies in animal health. Welcome onto The People of Animal Health Podcast and how are you, Dennis?

Dennis Steadman:
I couldn’t be better, Stacy. How are you? Thank you, I appreciate that introduction.

Stacy Pursell:
I’m doing well. Thank you so much for being here with us today, Dennis. I know that you have had a ton of success throughout your career in animal health, but I’d love to start off at the bottom and at the very beginning of your career. What was your life like growing up? And where did you grow up, Dennis?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, I grew up on a small family dairy farm in Western Pennsylvania. A farm that would be economically obsolete by today’s standards, certainly, but five boys provided the labor and we learned to work hard milking cows every 12 hours, 365 days a year.

Stacy Pursell:
When did you first figure out what you wanted to do professionally?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, I think I was about 12 or 13, and I was quite frankly, pitching manure in a quite dirty barn, when a not pleasant tail of a cow switched me across the face. And I kind of stepped up out of the trench spitting and cussing and wiping my face, and saying, I don’t know what I’m going to do when I grow up, but I’m going to wear a suit. So I decided to major in business at Penn State. And I loved economics, when I got into the business school, and ended up studying agricultural economics with a master’s degree from Penn State.

Stacy Pursell:
That’s a great story. I love the story of your origin is. Tell us a story of your career. I’d love to hear just an overview of your career, Dennis.

Dennis Steadman:
I’ll keep it short, because I’m pretty old. But right out of grad school, I went to work for an economic consulting company called Chase Econometrics, it was a division of Chase Manhattan Bank in the mid-70s. There I was a senior agricultural economist, worked with a number of argibusinesses, anything from International Harvester and farm equipment to animal health, to seed companies, crop protection companies, building companies, and anything having to do with agribusiness. I had a project in the mid-80s with a company called Merck AgVet. And after that project, I got a phone call, and I was recruited into Merck, and that was my first deep dive into animal health.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow. Dennis, when do you feel like you first were truly beginning to gain traction with your career?

Dennis Steadman:
Oh, that was the first day I left grad school, I think. I always felt like I had something to contribute. I felt confident, not cocky, but confident. And I was a naive farm kid who thought, if you work hard and just treat everybody well and do the right thing, it’ll all work out. And by and large, that was the case. So when I joined Merck, I was brought in as Director of Economic and Marketing Research. And I remember interviewing with the president of division, and he asked me what I wanted to do in five years, and I said, “Well, I’d like your job.” I mean, I was 23 and naive, but, yeah, I always felt like I could do more.

Stacy Pursell:
And you did do more. You did a lot more. And I know that you’ve had massive success in your career, and also probably some low points, walk us through the highest high and the lowest low of your career.

Dennis Steadman:
Well, yeah, any career is going to have a lot of those. I ended up at Merck, running the business for Australasia, Japan, Hong Kong, China, that part of the world, and then came back to head up the US business for Merck AgVet. That one of the real highs was when, in 1997, I was in that seat and we created Merial. Merck was 100% pharmaceutical, we wanted to get into the vaccine business. Dr. Preston, our president, knew that vaccines were going to play an important role in healthcare. And we tried to buy Rhone-Merieux, because they had tremendous vaccine technology. We weren’t able to do that.

Dennis Steadman:
So we ended up merging with them, and Dr. Preston and Max [inaudible 00:06:38], and myself, and a couple of others, we’re a small core of executives that created Merial in August 1st of 1997. And one of my high points was that by January 1st of ’98, in only five months, we had a fully integrated operating organization in the United States. We had integrated the two organizations, staffing, payroll, incentives, customer service, marketing, you name it, product lines. So that was an exhausting, but high accomplishment, but nothing kind of beats the accomplishments of being an entrepreneur, starting a company from scratch, and then ultimately selling it, which I had a chance to do. And when I sold Velcera to Perrigo in 2013.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow. In 1997, the year that you created Merial, that was the year that I came into this great industry. I’m curious when you were at the bottom of your career, what did you learn most from this experience?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, I started out on my own doing entrepreneurial things in 2001, and anybody who’s started a company with venture capital, et cetera, knows that there’s going to be some highs and there’s going to be some lows. And I started Velcera with venture capital, and there were more than one occasions when we were running out of cash. And just looking into a big black abyss of folding up the company, we thought we were done. But just perseverance and never saying die, and we always resuscitated it. We came back from death many times, and ultimately, sold the company for 160 million in cash. And it was a nice exit for everyone involved, our investors especially.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow. And Dennis, what has been the most surprising thing to you during your career in the animal health industry?

Dennis Steadman:
Surprising… I guess, I’m surprised sometimes by how complicated companies or individuals can make pretty simple, fundamental issues. I mean, every company has a responsibility of making money. It’s not their only responsibility, but it’s a key one. And I always looked at things through kind of the economics lens, which is what I loved. And when you look at that, sometimes decisions can be pretty simple. They’re not easy to do, but they’re easy to make. And so, if you look at the fundamentals of a circumstance, a market, a situation, and your objective about it, the right thing to do is usually pretty apparent. And I’m surprised sometimes how the contortions that sometimes occur in trying to get to that right decision, when I think it was a little more plain in the first place.

Stacy Pursell:
Yeah. So simple is better there.

Dennis Steadman:
Yes, absolutely.

Stacy Pursell:
How have you seen the industry change over the 35 years that you’ve been involved?

Dennis Steadman:
Oh, well, it’s changed a lot in terms of some of the structural behavioral things. A lot has not changed. I mean, a fundamental core principle is, if you add value to a marketplace, you bring value to a situation, you’re going to extract value back. That’s how you make money. You got to bring something of value, if you’re expect to ever take something of value, that’s never changed. The distribution models have changed. The size of the companies have changed. And we formed Merial, it was the largest animal health company on the planet, and it was the first one over a billion dollars. But now, that’s a second tier company at that size. So just the mega size of the industry has changed.

Dennis Steadman:
Of course, in ’97, when we launched Merial, I introduced the sales agency to the United States. That changed distribution in a significant way. We were an innovator there, and that helped distributors, despite some of their early fears. It did work out well for distributors in the longer run. But now that whole structure changed, and distributors need to bring more value than they did back then, in terms of services and support.

Dennis Steadman:
So the role of companion animal, of course. I mean, when I joined Merck, our business was 90% livestock and 10% companion animal. When I left Merial, in 2001, my North American business was exactly two thirds companion animal and one-third livestock. And it wasn’t because livestock shrunk, that’s how fast companion animal has grown. So the companion animal market is a great market that’s brought a lot of change and innovation.

Dennis Steadman:
And the role of women in our industry is really changed a lot. In the ’80s, early ’90s, that was not very common. Now, it’s increasingly common, and wonderful to see, because it gives us better thinking, better ideas, more diverse way of looking at things. So overall, I think it’s a very healthy industry. It’s an industry I’ve always enjoyed.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. And what about the future of the industry, Dennis? What does your crystal ball say about the future of the animal health industry?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, as an old economic forecaster, we used to say, if you’re going to forecast, forecast often, because it’s going to be wrong, and you have to correct yourself. But I think it has a bright future. I mean, the role of companion animals in our affluent society that we get to live in is very, very high. I’ve always described that sector as a room without a ceiling. I mean, you bring something new to that sector. You bring a technology, you bring information, you bring education, it’ll reward you. It’ll just keep growing. And it has grown, certainly, throughout my career, and I expect it to continue to.

Dennis Steadman:
The livestock market is economics driven and quality driven. I think there’s still lots of opportunities there and a bright future. But at the same time, there’s more social issues to be wrestled with there, in both feeding a planet and keeping a healthy food supply. So that’s a tougher business in my estimation, but I’m very optimistic for both of them. And that’s why I’m still in the industry and I still have started up some new animal health companies, because I believe in it.

Stacy Pursell:
I’d love for you to share more with the listeners about the kinds of projects that you’re up to today.

Dennis Steadman:
Yes. Well, I serve on the board of and invest in a number of startups. I guess, three of them that I would highlight on this call. One is Exubrion Therapeutics. Exubrion headquartered in Georgia. We have a radioisotope that is an effective, long-term treatment for canine osteoarthritis. It is a device that is injected into the joint, and it stays in that joint, and has no systemic activities, but provides tremendous relief. Really innovative, the first, not the first we have Radiocat, but let’s say this the second kind of nuclear medicine innovation in vet health, so I’m very proud of that. I’m a co-founder and chairman.

Dennis Steadman:
Also involved in an animal health company called Fidelis Pharmaceuticals. Fidelis has long-term pain products for laboratory rodents, a really important segment that’s oftentimes overlooked or underserved. And we’re bringing new value to that, like Exubrion is in a commercialization stage and becoming quite successful.

Dennis Steadman:
And then, I guess I’d just cite my most recent company that I co-founded, which is 3D Therapeutics. 3D Therapeutics is in human health and looking at drug and medical device combination products for pediatric orphan diseases. And it’s a real… We think we can bring some really important breakthroughs to some very serious pediatric conditions that will break your heart as you learn about them. And I feel real good about the founding of that company.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow. Sounds like you’re involved in a lot of very interesting projects. Dennis, I know that you’ve been very successful and successful people tend to be proactive people. I’m curious, how do you typically organize your day? For example, the first few hours of your day, what time do you typically wake up?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, I’m an old farm boy, so I get up about 5 o’clock I guess. My morning is the most productive time for me. I’m officially retired. I’ve been retired now for eight years. I’m supposed to be retired, but I’m really not good at that. So I wondered why I was trying to do something I wasn’t good at. So these companies that I’m involved with, I don’t have to be in them every day, but I’m thinking about every day. And so I usually focus my morning on that kind of thinking time. And then in the afternoon, I can go on and play retiree.

Stacy Pursell:
We find a lot of successful people wake up very early. That’s a good habit. I’m curious, what are a few of your other habits that you believe have allowed you to achieve success?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, some of which probably aren’t great to admit to. I like to leave everything I find just a little better than I found it, and that could be anywhere from a problem in a business to a floral arrangement on a kitchen table that just isn’t quite balanced, that needs to be rearranged. Or I feel better just being sure that, if I’m involved with something, if I’m in the presence of someone, I want to leave that situation a little better than I found it. That’s just kind of in the back of my head or the front of my head, maybe all the time. And usually that’s appreciated, sometimes it’s not, as you might mentioned, but I enjoy it, nevertheless.

Stacy Pursell:
I have this visualization of you rearranging a floral now. No, that’s great. I loved hearing that. And we also find that successful people, many of them had a mentor that really helped them along the way. Dennis, I’m curious, did you have a mentor that made a big impact on your career? And if so, who were they?

Dennis Steadman:
Yeah, that’s a interesting question, that takes me back into time. I would say, first is Dr. Raymond Daniel, Dr. Daniel was my first boss at Chase Econometrics, a real insightful, bright PhD economist who understood people. And as a consultant, I was making multiple presentations every week to very senior people, and he taught me to be sure that you’re never just presenting information. You’re always telling a story. What’s the story that you’re trying to convey? And let’s be sure we make that story clear. That was one.

Dennis Steadman:
And then when I joined Merck AgVet, Anthony Viscusi was my immediate supervisor, Senior VP of Marketing, brilliant man of Italian heritage, spoke seven languages, always took this very long strategic view of the circumstance. Other people were working feverishly and trying to figure out what to do with what’s in front of them. And Anthony always had this long horizon and knew what would make sense in the long run. And he was one of the first people I met, who I felt he could see around corners. He knew what was coming before it came. I learned a great deal from Anthony.

Dennis Steadman:
And then, of course, Dr. John Preston, who was President of Merck AgVet, and the co-founder of Merial. I worked for him for many years and we worked together in some of my startups. I just have the utmost respect for Dr. Preston. He was responsible for the first two products that ever achieved a billion dollars in animal health. He can be rightfully claimed as the daddy of those. And again, very smart man, understood people, and took the long view. And I think that’s so important is that long horizon, because that’s what wins in the long run. There’s a few sprints along the way, but it’s mostly long distance running.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. And we’ve talked a lot about those successes, and most people also have to fight through some adversity throughout their careers, too. And I’m curious, what has been the biggest adversity that you’ve had to fight through throughout your career?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, yeah. Yeah. There’s always that. I would say, probably the most prolific one, particularly in large organizations, but you find it everywhere, is just career politics. The career politics, when you get inside a big organization, can be very damning to decision-making. People are making decisions based on what is best for their career, not necessarily what is best for the business in the longer haul. And that always confused me. I would be coming up with some solution or ideas and say, “Well, we should do it this way, because that makes the most sense.” And the argument against it would be, “No, we tried that three years ago, it didn’t work.” Or, “The executive in the corner office doesn’t like those kinds of approaches.” And people were just thinking about maintaining or advancing their own career, not maintaining or advancing the business that they were hired to manage.

Dennis Steadman:
And I never could wrap my head around that. And I spent a lot of time fighting that, to say, “This is good for the business.” I we take care of the business, don’t worry, it’ll take care of us. We’ll be fine. And I think that that kind of thinking and those kinds of politics, they’re always there, there’s a reason for them to some degree, but I see them as polluting good, sound, objective decision-making. And sometimes you have to take those risks and do what’s right for the business, and then live with the consequences.

Stacy Pursell:
I agree with you. And we’re very, like-minded in that too. And I’ve seen all of what you’ve talked about. And my favorite one that I’ve heard is, is this one, “Well, we’ve always done it this way, so we’re not going to change, because we’ve always done it this way.” That one always frustrates me. I’m curious-

Dennis Steadman:
Right. History is never a reason for doing anything. History is never a reason for what you’re going to do next. It’s good to know history. It’s going to be aware of it. It doesn’t mean you have to repeat it.

Stacy Pursell:
True. True. Absolutely. I’m curious, Dennis, what advice would you give the younger version of yourself?

Dennis Steadman:
Oh, well, yeah, probably, to be a little more patient, to really take time to understand people, the people that you’re with. I think I’ve become better at that. I’ve always been a good listener. I always wanted to learn and listen, but sometimes I didn’t always understand where that individual was coming from. And I think, having that sensitivity is important and makes for better dialogue, better relations.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. That makes sense. We sometimes find that successful people tend to have idiosyncrasies that are actually their super powers. What idiosyncrasy do you have?

Dennis Steadman:
My idiosyncrasy, I guess, is that I don’t have any. No, I’m sure I do, and if you ask my wife and family, I’m sure that have a long list. But I think just trying to improve things is probably part of that.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. Yes. Well, I’m curious too, what do you struggle with the most? This question reminds me of Superman, what is your weakness or your Kryptonite?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, I’m not very good at turning off my business mind. I’m not very good at kind of… I’m involved with five different companies right now, throughout my career, I always had, well, usually had pretty large organizations and a number of dynamics going on, and I’m constantly ruminating on those things and ideas or insights or solutions will come to you at the damnedest time sometimes. And I’m getting better at turning some of that off, but I tend to have it rolling around in my mind, regardless of what I’m doing. And to some degree that might help, but to another degree, I think I should get better at turning some of that off.

Stacy Pursell:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. Yeah. It’s hard to do though, I can relate to that. What message or principle do you wish that you could get teach everyone?

Dennis Steadman:
Well, first of all, smiling at people cost you nothing. It’s a very inexpensive investment in just making the world a better place and having good relationships. So I’d say taking a genuine interest in people, obviously, being polite and respectful, but it doesn’t cost anything to smile. I see people out for a walk, they’re buried in things, they’re frowning, I always wave to them. And it was just growing up on a country dirt road, no car, no truck could go by that you didn’t just automatically pick up your hand and wave, because you had to know them, if they were going down your road. There weren’t strangers going up and down the road. And it costs nothing to have a pleasant smile or a wave. Whether you know the person or not.

Dennis Steadman:
And I sometimes wonder, in today’s society, we’re so caught up in ourselves and our headphones and everything else that we kind of get unplugged from the folks around us. And look, there’s great folks around us, 99% and a half of them are wonderful people. So I’d like to see just more smiles and respect for your fellow man.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. Yes. I like that too, because one of the things I’ve noticed is, I like to, when I’m passing somebody, even in the hallway of our office building here, if I’m passing somebody, I like to look at them in the eye, say, hello. It surprises me how many people look at the ground, and you walk past somebody, they don’t even acknowledge you when you walk by. Well, some of our guests say that they had a key book that they read that really helped them to change their mindset and their approach to success. Do you have a key book in your life that has impacted you the most? I’d love to hear that story.

Dennis Steadman:
Well, I’ll tell you my favorite book of all time, and the one that I’ve learned the most from, and that is the Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It’s the story of Lincoln. She puts you in the moment of the decision. She paints a picture of the circumstance of the day and how people and why people did what they did. And Lincoln was such a unique humanitarian, just such a wonderful person. There’s a reason he belongs to the ages and more books written about Abraham Lincoln than any other person on the planet, except Christ. I’ve read a lot of Lincoln, but that’s just such a complete and thorough history of the man. It’s time to go read that again. It’s just an enlightening and inspirational book. It’s history, but, boy, it’s really a fascinating history.

Stacy Pursell:
My daughter shares his birthday.

Dennis Steadman:
Oh, that’s great. The 12th. Yeah.

Stacy Pursell:
Yeah. Her due date was the Valentine’s day. She came two days early, so she shares Lincoln’s birthday.

Dennis Steadman:
Well, those are both good choices.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. Yes. I agree. What are a couple of other books that you believe all of our listeners should read?

Dennis Steadman:
I’m not sure I can give that can of counsel. I’m not a prolific reader. I like to learn from the world. I mean, I read a lot of papers and science and the Economist magazine and the Wall Street Journal, and try to connect dots. I mean, that’s what I think a good business person does, is connect dots. And so, it’s gathering some data and then seeing how that data works together, how it connects, that is going to lead to something that’s going to motivate people or incent people. And so, I’m more about that than I am peter Tucker reading some business book. I mean, there’s great ones that they’ve read, but I like to take lessons from the world. It just, the way I learn, I guess.

Stacy Pursell:
So as long as you’re reading something that appeals to you, that’s of interest to you.

Dennis Steadman:
Right. Right.

Stacy Pursell:
That makes sense. Well, Dennis, you’ve got the mic, what is one thing that you want to share with our listeners of The People of Animal Health Podcast before you drop the mic today?

Dennis Steadman:
I guess, I’m reminded of something that I always told my staff at staff meetings, whether it was Merck, Merial, Velcera, or any of my other companies that I’ve been a part of, and that is, “We work hard every day and we put our heart and soul into work, and we spend a lot of time at it. We spent a lot of energy and a lot of thought, but we all know it’s not the most important thing of our day.” What I would always say is, “We all remember, when we say our prayers at night, we’re not praying about this. We’re not praying about work. We’re not praying about animal health. So we always have to remember what we’re grateful for. What’s really important. It’s our family or friends. It that’s what counts. And yeah, let’s pour our heart out in making the animal health industry better, or this business better, this company better. But at the end of the day, it’s work, and we never say prayers about work.”

Dennis Steadman:
So just keep it all in perspective. And I think it helps when people are under stress and really under the gun and pressured, and you can see the stress on her face, I always like to remind them of, think of what’s important, be grateful for that. This is important, but we know it’s not that important. So that’s just an approach I’ve always brought to business and it helps you get through tough times.

Stacy Pursell:
That’s such good advice. And also a good reminder, not to take those relationships for granted, either with your family and those who mean the most to you.

Dennis Steadman:
Exactly.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, Dennis, we’re so grateful, thank you so much again for joining us today. It was such a pleasure to hear your story and thank you for being here with us, Dennis, and sharing your wisdom with us.

Dennis Steadman:
Well, thank you, Stacy, and thanks for everything you’ve done for the industry over the years, and doing these kinds of things, and all the services that you’ve provided. You’ve done a lot for it, and I appreciate that.

Stacy Pursell:
Thank you so much, Dennis.