Douglas Zhang
First name Shifang, goes by Douglas. President of Novogene Corporation Inc., the US company, since April 2017. San Francisco Bay Area. Novogene's own posts call him VP of Novogene America, so just say Douglas.
Call cheat sheet
Cheat sheet: Douglas Zhang, Novogene, Wed 11 Nov
17:00 UK, 9:00 am Pacific. 30 minutes on his Microsoft Teams. Discovery Call 1. Your call, Ben.
As of 11 Nov 2026 14:38 UK
17:00 Novogene, Douglas Zhang (9:00 am Pacific, 30 min, your call)
A sales man with a PhD
PhD in genetics from Columbia. Then ten years at GENEWIZ, a main US rival today: scientist, Director of Sales, head of Sales and Marketing, VP Corporate Development. He has sold lab services since 2008. He will spot fluff at once.
What Novogene sells
Gene sequencing and related lab tests, done for researchers at universities, hospitals, pharma companies and agriculture firms. Research use only. Labs in Sacramento, California and Beaverton, Oregon. About 180 US staff. The parent is in Beijing, listed in Shanghai.
How they sell today
Account managers by region, under district sales directors. A website with prices on it ("mRNA Sequencing from $89 per sample") and online ordering. Shows such as AACR, plus their own symposia.
What he said yes to
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Oct 27, 8:31 pm UK | Jamie's LinkedIn sent: "Hi Shifang (douglas), we empower sales teams at companies like yours, from the buyer list to the first conversations, then hand it all over so the company owns it. Thought it might be relevant to your work. If you ever want an outside team on this, worth 20 minutes one day next week?" |
| Oct 27, 11:21 pm UK | He answered in under three hours: "Hi Jamie, please pick a time from this link: [his Calendly link]. Thanks." |
| Oct 28 to Nov 9 | Nobody booked it. He heard nothing from us for about two weeks. |
| Nov 10 | Dan gave the call to you. We booked a slot on his link. A short note went from your mailbox: you run operations, you join in place of Jamie, sorry for the slow reply. He accepted the invite. |
So he expects three things: an outside team for his sales people, a buyer list through to first conversations, and to own it at the end. He expects Jamie's colleague. He has had the apology once, so one line of thanks for his patience is enough.
The clock he is on
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 2026 | The Pentagon added Novogene Company Limited to its list of Chinese military companies (the 1260H list). | WilmerHale alert, Jun 12 |
| Jun 18 | Novogene: listed in error, and it has asked to be removed. "Our operations, service delivery, and partnerships worldwide remain fully unaffected." | Novogene statement |
| Jun 30 | The Pentagon may no longer sign new contracts with listed companies. From Jun 30, 2027 that widens to goods and services that include theirs. | WilmerHale alert |
| Aug 7 | A Washington court paused the same listing for WuXi AppTec, another biotech added on the same day as Novogene. | Greenberg Traurig alert, Sep 3 |
| Aug 25 | University of Rochester to its researchers: no new purchase orders with listed companies, Novogene named. Running orders end by Dec 31, 2026. Labs "should begin the process of transitioning to alternative suppliers". | University of Rochester notice |
| Early Nov | Novogene sued the Defense Department in federal court in Washington. It says the listing is unlawful and has caused substantial economic and reputational harm. | The Defense Post, Nov 6 |
| By Dec 18, 2026 | The White House budget office must publish its first list of "biotechnology companies of concern" under the BIOSECURE Act. Being on the Pentagon list is one way onto it. Novogene is not on it today: the list does not exist yet. Those limits on federal money would not bite before about 2028. | Greenberg Traurig alert, Sep 3 |
What it means for today: buyers who spend federal money, which is most university labs, are being steered away from him. The law firm notes we read say these rules bite on federal money, not on private deals between companies. That is their reading, not ours. Do not tell him who may or may not buy from him. Ask him which buyers are still saying yes.
Fit: caution, not a no
Hold the call, listen, and promise nothing past a second call.
- The Pentagon list. Dan decides if and how we take this company on before any plan or proposal goes out.
- A Chinese parent. Douglas has run the US company for nine years, but we do not know what he signs alone. Ask.
- Not under-built like our usual buyer. They have reps, prices on the site and online ordering. If there is a gap, it is reach to new buyers, not a missing engine.
- Checks done: not a client, no client of ours sells sequencing that we could find, and the house stop list is clear for him and for the company. One of his colleagues is on our do-not-call list since Oct 1, so do not name anyone else at Novogene.
How to talk to him: as the owner of the US number, with a sales head's eye. One team that answers to him, and he owns it at the end. Skip tools and tactics.
Three weak points to test (pitch only these)
- Reach past the reps. Their job ads show one account manager per region: Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia and New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia, Kentucky and Pittsburgh. Ask how many biotech and pharma buyers in a region have never heard from a rep.
- The buyer list has moved. If university money is closing, he needs the names of buyers who still buy freely, and first conversations with them soon. That is the exact line he answered.
- A price message when buyers have a trust question. The site leads on price and limited-time deals. Ask what a nervous buyer asks his reps this year and how they answer. Do not offer an answer yourself.
These are guesses from the outside. Test them, and expect him to correct you. In our terms this is the outbound engine, the market and data system, and messaging. Nothing else from the menu today.
Say this
Open: "Douglas, thanks for making the time, and for your patience on the booking. I'm Ben. I run operations at Enquirer Consulting Group, and I'm here in place of Jamie. His note said we build the buyer list, start the first conversations, and hand it all over. Before I say more about us: what made you send the link?"
Then set the half hour: "My plan for the thirty minutes: I ask how the US business wins customers today, you tell me where it is stuck, and if we are not a fit I say so. OK?"
| Ask | Why (Call 1 sheet) |
|---|---|
| "Walk me through how Novogene wins a new lab in the US today. How many people go after new customers?" | Q1. Get him talking. Count the reps. |
| "Who places the order? The lead scientist, the lab manager, a core facility, purchasing?" | Q2. The real buyer, and how many people touch it. |
| "Where does new business come from today? Reps, the website, shows, repeat orders. What is the rough split?" | Q6. How much rides on things he does not control. |
| "You built the sales side at GENEWIZ. What worked then that is harder now?" | Q8. His own history. Lets him teach you. |
| "What is the biggest brake on growth right now?" If he has not raised it by here: "I read about the Pentagon list and the suit you filed. I have no view on it. How is it changing who your team sells to?" | Q4. The real reason for the call. |
| "What number do you own this year, and how far off is it?" Then: "When does that gap show?" | Section A2. Make him say the size and the date. |
| "Has the team tried outbound beyond the reps' own emails and calls? What happened?" | Q8. Past tries tell you what he believes. |
| "What has LinkedIn brought in this year?" | Q5. His reply came through LinkedIn, so he reads it. |
| "Is a decision like this yours alone, or does head office weigh in?" | Q17. Who signs. |
| "Six months from now, what has to be true for this to have been the right call?" | Q19. Write the answer down word for word. |
When an answer is thin: "Tell me more about that." Then: "Give me an example."
If he asks
| He asks | You say |
|---|---|
| What do you actually do? | "We build the list of buyers worth a conversation. We start those conversations on LinkedIn and email, one to one. The warm ones go to your reps. After four months the whole thing is yours: the lists, the messages, the playbook and a trained person to run it." |
| Who have you done it for? | Two US medical names we may use: Innovative Radiology and Innovative Medical. Neither is a sequencing lab, so say that plainly. For a life science name, check with Dan first [confirm with Dan]. |
| What does it cost? | No figure on this call but the range. Word for word: "We work with startups at $1k a month up to mid-market firms with sales teams of 20 at $20k a month. It really depends on scope and how much money it makes you." Then: "How many new clients a quarter would make this worth it for you?" |
| We already email researchers every day. | "Good, keep doing it. Promo email reaches people who know you. This is the buyers who do not: finding who is worth a conversation, writing to each one, chasing, and passing the reply to the right rep." |
| Where are you, and where does our data sit? | "A UK firm with US sellers. What we build is yours and sits in your systems. We never send from your company domain, and a person reads every reply before anything goes back." On certificates or where each tool holds data, do not guess. Say it comes in writing after the call. |
Do not
- No price past the range. Nothing with a price in writing after the call.
- No view on the list, the lawsuit, or who may buy from him. We are not his lawyers.
- Do not say we wrote to him because of the news. We did not. He was on a normal list.
- No promised numbers. "We have achieved", never "you will get".
- No vendor names. One team, one point of contact.
- Do not fix it on the call. Find the gap. The plan comes on Call 2.
Before you hang up
- Say the picture back in his words and check it: "So the picture is ... Have I got that right?"
- Book Call 2 while he is on the line, with Dan on it. Offer two times. It goes out as our Google invite, not his Calendly.
- Ask: "What is the best way to contact you?"
- Leave with four things: the number he owns, where new business comes from, which buyers still buy freely, and who else decides.
- After the call, tell Dan the same day. Dan rules on the Pentagon list question before anything is written for Novogene.
Sources and what was not checked
- The LinkedIn thread and his profile: our own records on Jamie's LinkedIn seat, thread of Oct 27, 2026, profile as read that day.
- Listing date and what a listing does: WilmerHale client alert, Jun 12, 2026, https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20260611-pentagon-adds-65-new-entities-to-the-1260h-list-of-chinese-military-companies
- Novogene's statement, Jun 18, 2026: https://www.novogeneusa.com/about/news/statement-on-novogene-erroneously-listed-on-1260h-list
- BIOSECURE dates and the WuXi AppTec court order: Greenberg Traurig alert, Sep 3, 2026, https://www.gtlaw.com/en/insights/2026/9/biosecure-act-update-court-enjoins-wuxi-apptecs-1260h-designation-but-strategic-and-compliance-clocks-keep-running
- University of Rochester notice, Aug 25, 2026: https://www.rochester.edu/university-research/new-procurement-restrictions-on-chinese-military-companies/
- The lawsuit, about 180 US staff and the two US lab states: The Defense Post, Nov 6, 2026, https://thedefensepost.com/2026/11/06/novogene-pentagon-court-china/
- His title in Novogene's own post, and the Beaverton lab: Novogene, Oct 20, 2025, https://www.novogeneusa.com/about/news/novogene-celebrates-grand-opening-of-beaverton-laboratory-with-industry-leaders-and-academic-partners
- Prices and service list: https://www.novogeneusa.com/ read Nov 11, 2026.
- Regions from job ads, the shows and the sales team shape: a researcher's read of public job ads and Novogene posts on Nov 11, 2026, not opened again by the desk.
- Developments in the 90 days before the call, cut in code: kept 4, dropped 6 (undated 2, out of window 4, no direct URL 0), duplicates merged 0, window from 2026-08-13. Kept: 2026-11-06 lawsuit; 2026-08-28 australia-lab; 2026-08-25 rochester-notice; 2026-08-19 falcon-iv.
- Not checked this run: his LinkedIn posts, any new US leaders, and whether Selina rang him after his card reached her on Oct 28.
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