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Lessons Learned: David Perry, from Chemdex to Anacor

 
• By Roger Longman

Six years ago, David Perry was one of the rock stars of the Web, the founding CEO of Chemdex-Ventro. He stuck with it as the company unraveled, shutting down most of the businesses he'd built, and merging the remainder into what is now an OTC-traded software company. Now he's applying the lessons he learned to his current company, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a start-up which has discovered a small handful of now clinical-stage compounds.

Six years ago, David Perry was one of the rock stars of the Web, the founding CEO of Chemdex-Ventro, one of the creators of the business-to-business e-marketplace concept. In just three years, he had built his company from scratch to 354 employees and an unaccountable $10 billion valuation. And then he stuck with it as the company unraveled, shutting down most of the businesses he'd built, and merging the remainder into what is now an OTC-traded software company.

But Perry didn't nurse his disappointment for very long. And he's thought long and hard about what happened at Chemdex, why it happened, and how he can apply the lessons he derived to his next company. For the last four years, Perry has been quietly toiling in the less spectacular realms of biotechnology, building Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc. , a start-up which has discovered a small handful of now clinical-stage compounds

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