Productivity Secrets of a Serial Pharma Services Entrepreneur: Raman Sehgal Shares Strategic Growth Tips

“Most founders dominate organisations, spending 70-hour weeks trying to control everything. But it’s not about the hours you work – it’s about the impact. That shift in mindset transformed how I built multiple successful businesses in pharma services,” explains Raman Sehgal, reflecting on his journey from startup founder to strategic leader.

Raman Segal is the founder of ramarketing, a PE-backed life sciences marketing agency, Lead Candidate, a specialist pharma talent firm, and is host of Molecule to Market podcast. Based in Toronto as North American President, he has scaled multiple ventures in the pharmaceutical services sector while maintaining work-life balance – a feat many entrepreneurs find elusive.

In this interview, Raman shares his framework for productive leadership, strategic growth, and building specialist businesses that command premium pricing in the pharmaceutical services sector.

Molecule to Market is official media partner to CDMO Live, and Raman will be recording podcast episodes live from the event. Find out more and register here.

The Power of Strategic Focus

As recounted in his book The Floundering Founder, the foundation of Raman’s success came from a critical analysis of his client base using a four-quadrant matrix: high/low value versus high/low maintenance. This revealed that pharma services clients consistently delivered the best results, leading to a pivotal decision.

In 2016 Raman decided to pivot ramarketing to become a pure-play marketing agency for pharma services companies. “It meant saying goodbye to 50% of our business” says Raman. Yet within months, the agency had won Cambrex and Recipharm – two listed companies. “Suddenly this little agency in the UK was working with giant companies.”

This specialisation strategy proved transformative. “If you look at anything in life – if you hurt your knee and the doctor says it’s going to cost you $100 for a generic doctor or $200 for a knee specialist, people will pay the premium for expertise. As it’s become easier to set up companies and become a generalist, specialists can still command premium pricing.”

Productivity Through Delegation and Time Blocking

Rather than trying to control everything, Raman has developed a sophisticated approach to time management and delegation:

“I have my entire work week mapped out in blocks. On Sunday night, I ensure what I’m doing in the week is not only productive but aligned to bigger goals – whether that’s company goals or personal goals.”

His key productivity principles include:

• Strategic time blocking: “90% of stuff that comes into your inbox isn’t urgent. If it’s truly urgent, someone will call or text.”
• Digital minimalism: “I don’t use Instagram or Facebook anymore but over-invest in LinkedIn because it has a direct correlation to business success.”
• Clear communication channels: “Most of my clients text rather than email because they know they’ll get a response. It sets clear rules of engagement.”
• AI integration: “I use tools like Fixer.ai to draft emails in my tone of voice and handle meeting notes. It saves me a day and a half each week.”

Building Multiple Ventures Without Burnout

Raman’s approach to scaling multiple businesses while maintaining balance centres on identifying and focusing on his “superpowers” within each venture:

“I’m probably less chaotic now than I’ve ever been, which is counterintuitive because I’ve got more stuff going on. I’m just not driving every single one of them,” he explains. “Having CEOs on board to run businesses day-to-day has been crucial. With Lead Candidate, it was easier because we had this structure from day one.”

He emphasises the importance of understanding where you add the greatest value: “My business coach says it’s not about the hours you work, but about the impact. It’s probably about doing 35-40 hours really, really well rather than 70 hours of unfocused work.”

Future-Focused Goal Setting

“Someone once told me the definition of hell; on your last day on earth, the person you could have become will meet the person you became.” —Anonymous

Rather than focusing solely on short-term goals, Raman advocates for thinking in decades: “I think less about what I’m going to do this year and more about where do me, my family, and the businesses need to be in 10 years. What am I going to regret if I don’t do it? Then I reverse engineer those goals.”

This approach has helped him maintain perspective while building successful businesses: “I’ve spent time with so many founders who regret not spending more time with their kids when they were little. I’ll never regret starting companies, but I’ll also never regret prioritising family time.”