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There is no magic formula for becoming a successful entrepreneur; but having a plan, determination and passion is a great way to start That was the message that Mike Gausling, recently retired President and CEO of OraSure Technologies, Inc., gave students attending the Governor's School for Global Entrepreneurship at Lehigh. He was one of several speakers who discussed their personal experiences, during the five-week summer enrichment program. The Governor's School, held at Lehigh since 2001, is funded in part by the College of Education . Mr. Gausling serves on the College of Education 's Advisory Board. Gausling began his talk by telling the 64 students that starting up a successful business is rarely, if ever, easy. The Cincinnati native said that, at 29, he quit a lucrative job at Proctor & Gamble to co-found a company, which he and his three partners named Solar Care Technologies, Inc. (STC). Their first idea was to create individually wrapped towelettes that contained a single application of sunscreen. Besides having an original product idea, they were first to market sunscreen for use all year and at venues other than the beach or pool. STC, headquartered on the Lehigh campus for 3 years, managed to stay afloat, and after only 18 months, licensed their first product to Schering Plough, under the Coppertone sun care label. The entrepreneurs barely broke even on their first product, but they were able to scrap together enough capital to continue. They tried several other ventures—some worked, some didn't--and eventually evolved into OraSure Technologies, Inc., a company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices and diagnostic products. Its most successful product is Oraquick, an over-the-counter, 30-minute test for AIDS that requires only an oral swab. The company sold 1 million devices in the first year, and is now a publicly traded company on NASDAQ, with annualized sales estimated at $70 mil in 2005 and they will employ roughly 250 people.
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