Bring The Data, Not The Feeling
The ones who wait are usually the ones who win.
So back in October, a little biotech company called BridgeBio dropped Phase 3 results on a rare genetic disorder, and normal people scrolled right past it. I stopped scrolling. Not because I know anything about hypocalcemia, I don't, I had to look up how to spell it. I stopped because of how long they waited to say anything at all. And after 12 years watching companies either panic or wait, here's what that tells me: the ones who wait are usually the ones who win.
A plan is what you do when you're scared.
This is exactly what I mean in my book, Strategy is not Planning, when I talk about the difference between a plan and a strategy. A plan is what you do when you're scared and need to feel busy. A strategy is what you do when you're patient enough to actually know something.
I say it straight in the book: a problem only stays unsolved if a business gets comfortable sitting in it. Which sounds like a hug but is actually an insult.
Years of silence, then two wins in one month.
BridgeBio sat on their hands for years, funding trial after trial, saying almost nothing publicly, while everyone assumed they were struggling. Then in one month, October 2025, they dropped two separate positive Phase 3 results back to back. One for a rare bone disorder, one for a muscular dystrophy. Not because they got lucky. Because they refused to pivot the story until the data actually told them something.
Revolution Medicines is doing the same thing right now with a pancreatic cancer drug, still running Phase 3 trials, still not promising anything, because they know a headline built on hope evaporates the second reality shows up.
In God we trust, all others must bring data.
There's a reason W. Edwards Deming, the guy who basically invented modern quality management, used to tell rooms full of executives that exact line. He wasn't being cute. He was telling them that gut feelings are for personal decisions, not company decisions. Two totally different fields, biotech and manufacturing consulting, landing on the exact same rule.
Wait for the number.
So next time you feel the itch to pivot your business because of one bad week, ask yourself if you're actually looking at data or just looking for permission to panic. Wait for the number. The number doesn't lie to make you feel better, and that's exactly why you should trust it.
Sources: BridgeBio Phase 3 CALIBRATE and FORTIFY results, Oct. 2025; Revolution Medicines RASolute Phase 3 program updates, 2025 to 2026.