Synthesis Capital Co-Founder on the Fundamental Learnings of MIT

When his family moved from Boston to Melbourne 15 years ago, Robert Wickham, SB ’93, SM ’95, became an MIT educational counselor to stay connected to the Institute. MIT tasked him with identifying three important qualities among the admissions candidates he interviewed: excellence, resilience, and intellectual curiosity.

“I’ve long since forgotten all of my aerospace engineering theories and principles, but I’ve come to realize that those three characteristics are the things that not only bind us as a community,” Wickham, a past president of the MIT Alumni Association, said with a laugh.

“[They’re] a through line in everything that I’ve done since,” he continued. “It’s really the fundamental learnings that I got from four years as an undergraduate and two years as a graduate student.”

Wickham spoke about these learnings, his upbringing in Trinidad, and his career trajectory with host Jackie Selby, EMBA ’21, during the MIT Sloan Alumni Online (MITSAO) virtual event in September.

The magic of MIT

Selby and Wickham subtitled their conversation “Venture Capital, Innovation, and the Magic of MIT,” and for good reason. When the Trinidadian first learned about the Institute from his physics teacher, “magic” was the most appropriate word that came to mind.

The teacher, Mr. Garcia, noticed his student’s strong interest in math and physics. When he told Wickham he should apply to MIT, however, the latter had no idea what he was talking about.

That changed the following day when Mr. Garcia brought a definitive guide to American universities to school. Wickham turned to the “M” section, found the entry for MIT, and began reading.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is a magical place.’ So, I applied,” he said.

Wickham was accepted into MIT and awarded financial assistance to attend. This enabled him to pack everything he owned into two suitcases, kiss his mother goodbye, and fly to Boston. It was the beginning of what he called a “really transformational journey.”

Robert Wickham | SB ’93, SM ’95, Past President of the MIT Alumni Association

We’re trying to answer two fundamental questions: Is this a compelling, exciting opportunity? But more importantly, is this the team that can get it done?

A career synthesis

After graduation, Wickham joined the Boston Consulting Group as an airline specialist. The role took him to Australia, where he met his wife. It also opened other doorways—an airline start-up in London, an MBA from Harvard Business School, a tech start-up that ultimately sold to Oracle, and a decade-long stint at Salesforce.

Recently, Wickham left Salesforce and co-founded Synthesis Capital, an early-stage, medtech-focused venture capital fund based in Melbourne.

“Boston and Melbourne are sister cities,” he explained. “They share similar characteristics. They also have world-class teaching hospitals, research facilities, and medical fraternities, and rank very high in generating intellectual property—particularly in the health and life sciences space.”

However, unlike Boston, Melbourne and the surrounding region are not as adept at commercializing their extensive health and life sciences research.

The reason for this, Wickham hypothesized, is a lack of early-stage capital. He formed Synthesis Capital to “serve as the catalytic fuel” for young medtech companies in Australia and the greater Asia-Pacific region.

“You’re backing people. We talk about the fact that we’re backing jockeys, not the horses,” said Wickham. “We’re trying to answer two fundamental questions: Is this a compelling, exciting opportunity? But more importantly, is this the team that can get it done?”

Evaluating these teams necessitates listening to how a found articulates their company’s vision. Telling a good story is a skill that Wickham considers essential for good leaders.

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Chief storyteller

Throughout his conversation with Selby, Wickham returned to the importance of intellectual curiosity. This drive has been incredibly important for learning to tell a story.

“You’re the chief storyteller of the company. Among other things, you’re the number one salesperson. You’re probably the person who’s talking to investors, co-founders, and employees,” Wickham explained. “To me, storytelling is a superpower.”

Storytelling is also a “lost art,” though Wickham quickly noted that anyone on the planet with an internet connection can begin learning how to do it. Yet knowledge alone does not make a person a good storyteller. The essential ingredient is practice, reflecting the Institute motto of “mens et manus,” or “mind and hand.”

“The most important guidance is practice,” said Wickham. “To not only know the narrative, or the story that you want to tell, but to be able to internalize the story in such a way that you’re not memorizing the story, but you’re telling it.”

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