Industry Brawls And Brouhahas

For those of you who are in sales and marketing (or from Pfizer or Eli Lilly), you’ll know Reidy’s name. Those of you who aren’t familiar with Jamie Reidy, check out his book, Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman and you’ll understand why Reidy is perceived as controversial and/or a rogue in the industry. Reidy and I live in neighboring beach cities in southern California, and with all the hullabaloo around Reidy’s book, I had to check out what he’s all about. We agreed to meet at a local Starbucks.

First, I sat looking at Reidy standing in front of me for about five minutes without knowing Reidy was standing in front of me. I didn’t know what Reidy looked like, and was expecting a slick-looking guy – like the one you see on the front cover of his book. Reidy was wearing a rugby shirt and jeans and looked like like a down-to-earth guy with a nice smile. Maybe I was expecting to see a villain as he has been portrayed up and down the pharma industry, and wasn’t expecting to see a nice guy until our awkward initial moments of recognition.