In a sense, Niall O’Donnell, Ph.D., and his colleagues at RiverVest Venture Partners run a biomedical adoption agency. They track down innovative discoveries, help raise them for a while and then find a good home, either at a pharmaceutical company or through public markets.

For cash-strapped startups, this represents an opportunity, but they need to understand the rules. RiverVest is trying to build companies in five years or less, and that means having excellent IP and a collaborative team to take it towards the finish line.