"When I was growing up in Taipei, we didn't have a lot of material comforts," says Wang. "I still remember when my parents bought a piece of land in what has today become a wealthy part of Taipei. But at that time there was nothing there—no electricity, no running water. We had to apply to have those conveniences installed. We were pioneers. That was a difficult period for the island. We had nothing but a good fighting spirit to get us through and make a life for ourselves."
Wang went to the United States in 1974 to do graduate work in biochemistry, and she brought that fighting spirit with her. She went on to complete a Ph.D. in immunology at Rockefeller University in 1979. By the time she was twenty-seven, she had become the youngest director of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, a position she held until 1985.
In 1983, while still working at the center, she and her husband, Nean Hu, founded UBI. The couple began from al most "ground zero," as she describes it. Instead of seeking venture capital, they used their savings, money borrowed from friends, and a bank loan to get started. Their initial capital: US$1 million. In the beginning, just the two of them worked at the company.
UBI's products are being used by many of the big names in the biotechnical industry worldwide.
Today, the company's registered capital is in excess of US$60 million. UBI employs fifty-seven people, nineteen of whom hold M.D. or Ph.D. degrees. Wang points out that UBI is probably the first and only private company in the world involved in such research and development. UBI's products are being used by many of the big names in the biotechnical industry. Olympus Corporation in Japan, for example, is one of the many companies worldwide using their products. "The downstream companies may not know about UBI, but they recognize the brand names our products carry," Wang says proudly. Due to the successful development of an AIDS diagnostic product, UBI was recently awarded a US$1.4 million research grant from the National Cooperative Vaccine Group.
According to Wang, the key to her success is what she has termed her "matchmaking," and "middle way" management style. She says her style was derived from the Chinese philosophical concept of the Golden Mean. By match making, Wang means complementarity, or the ability to offset the weaknesses of one employee with the strengths of another. "You have many needs, but you cannot hire one person for all those needs," she says. "You must learn the strengths and weaknesses of an employee. Research teams should be composed of people who complement one another. They must be able to work together as a team without becoming confrontational."
The same applies to UBI's relationships with its customers whom Wang calls the company's "strategic partners." She says she does not look for potential partners among her competitors. "If we are both doing well in the same area, there is no point in approaching them," she notes. "Instead, we are looking for companies who have needs we can help satisfy."
Wang, an expert in molecular immunology, likes to use the example of a developing cell to explain her "middle way" management for controlling the growth of her company. "If a cell proliferates without control, it becomes a cancer," she says. "But when a cell differentiates new functions, it is called a mature cell. I would like the company to be more differentiated. Things take time to develop. And they have to be done step by step. Uncontrolled growth can lead to death." That explains why UBI has remained a private company for the past seven years. According to Wang, many companies with research and production capabilities like UBI's have already gone public. "We will when we feel comfortable," she says.
Wang's marriage—the result of matchmaking—is perhaps the best example of her complementarity theory. She and her husband Nean Hu, who is from Shanghai, are outstanding partners at home and at work. While Wang takes care of the research side of UBI, Hu is in charge of the company's finances. The couple have a daughter in elementary school. Asked if her daughter will have the same fighting spirit, she hesitates. "Times are different. She's growing up in an environment where everything is given to her," she says. "So I'm not so sure." •