In this week’s The Futures Hub Series blog, we speak with Yuting, an accomplished entrepreneur and former student of Lucy Cavendish College at the University of Cambridge.
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your background?
Absolutely! My name is Yuting, and I come from Shanghai, China. I did my BA at Cambridge with a major in economics. After graduation, I started my first job in investment banking in London. However, I soon realized that I preferred to do something more tangible and impactful in the fast-changing world rather than just analysing M&A transactions. This led me to explore entrepreneurship, and I began dividing my time between different countries. Initially, I worked as an exporting manager in Shanghai for my family business in the field of pharma tech which was in a difficult financial position at that time. I quickly saw an increasing demand from the overseas market, especially in the emerging markets such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia and some Afrian countries as well. This realization sparked my journey into the exporting industry in pharma, and I haven't looked back since!
Can you tell me about your time at Lucy Cavendish College?
My time at Lucy Cavendish College from 2020 to 2021 was truly special! It's a unique college within Cambridge and environment was incredibly supportive and empowering. During my MBA, I gained valuable insights and exposure to various case studies in tech and entrepreneurship across different industries. This has broadened my perspective and helped me understand how today’s companies in the era of AI should effectively operate and create value for customers. The academic rigor and the diverse community at Lucy Cavendish College also equipped me with the necessary knowledge and confidence to advance my entrepreneurial journey.
Can you tell me about your entrepreneurship ventures?
Certainly! After working in investment banking for a brief stint, I wanted to take more risks and do something different. Apart from my family business, I started my own entrepreneurial journey by teaming up with a co-founder from Cambridge who had an engineering background and was working as a trader in the city. We decided to leverage our skills and experiences to create something innovative. After years in international sales of pharmaceutical equioment, I have seen the common pain points of global customers for their drug quality control as regulation gets tighter while their current drug inspection solution adopted doesn't yield satisfactory results. We realized the potential of using AI to enhance efficiency in automatic inspection for drugs after we worked with some top European and US vendors in computer vision in 2015-16, leading us to then develop our in-house visual inspection software solution which is a disruptive innovation in the quality control and defects detection space.
Can you tell me about your current work and businesses?
Currently, I am involved in two major companies. The first company which has my family business roots focuses on offering FDA or WHO GMP-approved products for customers in the pharmaceutical industry. We export to more than 40 countries, mainly providing hardware solutions, equipment, and validation services for pharmaceutical processing and packaging. The second company, which I co-founded with my Cambridge alumni, develops AI-powered solutions for quality control and visual inspection for finished drug products. We are also expanding our footprint into other sectors like cosmetics and beverages.
Additionally, I invest in some small start-ups in the UK, especially in the areas of climate tech and biotech. My background in economics and business management from Cambridge has been instrumental for me to understand market dynamics and adapt to fast-changing environments. This opportunity to meet like-minded people at Cambridge has also helped me build efficient teams and allocate resources effectively to create value for our customers.
Our business model is highly customer-centric. We focus on understanding and addressing the specific pain points of our customers, providing tailored solutions that improve their production efficiency. Unlike many companies that emphasize their technical prowess, we prioritize building trust and reliability with our customers, ensuring long-term relationships and continuous improvement.
How do you make your business customer-centric?
Customer centricity is at the core of our business philosophy. We invest significant resources in understanding our customers' needs and pain points. This involves not just improving the technical aspects of our products but also enhancing the overall customer experience. For instance, we provide remote communication solutions, home training for equipment installation, and budget-friendly options tailored to specific customer requirements.
We don't engage in unnecessary marketing or R&D for the sake of it. Instead, we focus on what genuinely benefits our global customers. This approach has allowed us to build a strong reputation in the industry. Our customers see us as a reliable partner who understands their unique challenges and is committed to helping them succeed.
How important is teamwork in your company?
Teamwork is crucial to our success. Our company initially started as a family business but has since evolved into an international enterprise. The cyclical nature of the pharmaceutical industry and the capital-intensive nature of our business required us to be flexible and strategic. We realized that expanding into international markets was essential to achieving business stability and growth.
Building an international team has been a key part of our strategy. Each market has its own regulatory requirements, market demands, and communication styles. By understanding these differences and leveraging our diverse team, we have been able to navigate various markets successfully. Our international office in the UK and our global distribution network have played significant roles in our growth.
How did your time at Cambridge help you in your entrepreneurial journey?
My MBA at Cambridge was a game-changer. It provided me with a structured approach to understanding business operations and strategy. The exposure to diverse industries and the case studies I encountered during my MBA helped me gain insights into various business models and market dynamics.
Additionally, the supportive environment at Lucy Cavendish College and the broader Cambridge community encouraged me to think big and take calculated risks. The skills and knowledge I gained during my time at Cambridge have been invaluable in navigating the complexities of running businesses and making strategic decisions.
What are your future plans for your businesses?
Looking ahead, we aim to continue our international expansion and leverage new technologies to enhance our product offerings. Our focus will remain on the pharmaceutical industry in the next 3 years, but we are also exploring opportunities in other sectors like cosmetics and beverages.
We are committed to continuous improvement and innovation, and we believe that by staying customer-centric and agile, we can achieve sustained growth and success. Our goal is to create value for our customers, improve production efficiency, and contribute to the overall betterment of society.
Thank you so much, Yuting, for sharing your inspiring journey with us. We look forward to seeing more of your success in the future!