Why This Sexual Health Founder’s Favorite F-Word Is ‘Fortitude’

Starting a company is never easy. Venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur Cindy Eckert warns that it takes guts, resolve, and discernment — particularly when it comes to selecting investors or undergoing an acquisition.

Eckert is perhaps best known as founder and CEO of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the company behind female libido-enhancing drug Addyi. Prior to that, she founded men’s health company Slate Pharmaceuticals, and she currently runs VC firm The Pink Ceiling. She said some qualities are absolutely crucial for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“Well, it surprises people, because I’m in sex, that my favorite ‘F’ word is actually fortitude,” Eckert told Inc. Magazine editor-at-large Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan during a Monday panel at South by Southwest. “You’re going to step on some landmines. It’s inevitable… but I think if I’m looking for something in people, it’s really that fortitude to keep getting up.”

Eckert learned that lesson the hard way with Sprout Pharma. She had to challenge the Food and Drug Administration when seeking approval for Addyi. Once she gained it, she sold the company to Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $1 billion. It should have been an overwhelming win, but there were major challenges to come.

“I had the entrepreneur’s dream come true. They were going to march it across the globe, make it affordable, make it accessible,” Eckert said.

But under the control of Valeant, Addyi sales faltered. Eckert and former Sprout shareholders sued Valeant in 2016, according to CNBC, alleging the company had priced the drug too aggressively and breached its contract by failing to market it successfully. After selling her first business, Eckert says she learned to include in future contracts “very specific performance obligations,” including how much the buyer would spend on marketing and education. She recommends other entrepreneurs adopt that practice as well.

“That was my leverage. When they didn’t do it, they were in breach. And that gave me the opening to get the company back,” she said, adding that it is worth investing in quality legal representation early on.

Eckert won the lawsuit, took back control as CEO, and “kept the billion dollars,” she said.

“You should think about an investment check as a marriage certificate, because if things go wrong, it will be as hard as getting a divorce,” she said.