Category Archives: Corporate Culture

“May you live in interesting times” – or so goes the phrase. In 1966, RFK Jr’s father famously used that quote to capture the turbulence of the times, and continued: “Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They

By Ankit Mahadevia, chairman of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC A common theme in startup literature is that by cutting a range of unnecessary tasks, a step-change in results will follow.  I’ve found

By Arthur O. Tzianabos, PhD, CEO of Lifordi Immunotherapeutics, as part of the From the Trenches feature of LifeSciVC As the biotech industry continues to pick up steam, I have been getting a number of phone calls from folks in

By Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC This time a quarter ago organizations large and small were in the thick of the “to hybrid or not to hybrid” debate. Each

By Mike Cloonan, CEO of Sionna Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC There are a lot of reasons to be excited about leading an early-stage biotech company. It’s a chance to be at the forefront

By Bob Clarke, CEO of Kinaset Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC As I ride the Amtrak towards New York City for a series of meetings on Park Avenue with bankers/analysts, face-to-face (F2F) meetings are

By Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC Biotwitter is great for healthy debates.  The most recent has been on the merits of the hybrid vs.an in-person model.  John Maraganore’s excellent

By Aoife Brennan, CEO of Synlogic Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC Earlier this month, I attended the J.P. Morgan 41st annual Healthcare Conference in San Francisco after a two-year hiatus. Despite the torrential rain

By Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC Biotechnology, especially of late, requires us to prevail over adversity to deliver for patients.  Spero, dedicated to new solutions for patients with infections,

By Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO, Remix Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC One of the joys of starting a company is the ability to pro-actively define the early corporate culture and encourage its evolution

By Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC For anyone that’s part of a fast paced, growing organization, resilience is the key to thriving.  It supports our audacity, ability to tune

By Ankit Mahadevia, CEO and Founder of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. The opportunity for each member of a NewCo to take on multiple responsibilities selects early for people ready to help a

The role of the core in making an organization great and how we do right by them By Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC Small organizations are amazing for the

By Joshua Brumm, CEO of Dyne Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC I’ve been thinking a lot about growth, and for good reason: Dyne is in the midst of a significant scale-up. We expanded our

By Samantha Truex, CEO of Quench Bio, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC In the fall of 2019, I wrote a blog called Ode to Patients.  As stresses from many directions have mounted over the past

Just before I chaired a Board meeting last year, I spent a frustratingly painful hour going through many of the uncomfortable details of my divorce process and a set of emotional custody issues with my lawyers. Immediately after hanging up,

By Rene Russo, CEO of Xilio Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC Prioritization is a concept that we have become intimately aware of, given the continually blurred lines of personal and professional obligations in a

By Aoife Brennan, CEO of Synlogic Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC I have many fond memories of St Patrick’s Day—most of them involve marching in the parade with a plastic bag and a few

By Joachim Boekelmann and Joshua Brumm, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.   At first blush, we may seem an unlikely duo: An attorney for a global insurance company living with a rare form of muscular dystrophy

This blog was written by Rene Russo, CEO of Xilio Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. A lifetime ago, in May 2020, I had the honor of writing my first “From the Trenches” blog. I

By Samantha Truex, CEO of QuenchBio, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC I have been privileged to read and write for this LifeSciVC blog for a handful of years now.  One of my favorite editions is

By Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. “Hey, you know, breakdowns come. And breakdowns go. So what are you going to do about it? That’s what I’d like to know – Gumboots In an

This blog was written by Rene Russo, CEO of Xilio Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. In an environment where senior leaders are tasked with defining agile strategies in uncertain times, there are many perspectives

This blog post was written by Gerhard Koenig, CEO of Arkuda Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. When I discussed the topic of writing about my experience as an immigrant biotech CEO with Bruce Booth,

This blog was written by Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.  If CEOs have empowered their teams effectively, they have three roles during times of rapid change: Motivator in chief

This blog was written by Jeb Keiper, CEO of Nimbus Therapeutics LLC, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. Like many middle-aged weekend warriors, I’ve been recently sidelined by injury simply through doing what I’ve regularly done:

This blog was written by Mark Manfredi, CEO of Ikena Oncology, and guest blogger Maude Tessier, CBO, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. When we started to think about changing our company name, we knew it

This blog was written by Mark Manfredi, CEO of Kyn Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. “Time flies when you’re having fun.” That’s how I feel as I reflect on the first three years of

This blog was written by Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.  One of the joys of building a company is that meeting one’s milestones routinely places us in positions that

This blog was written by Aoife Brennan, CEO of Synlogic Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. I am the CEO of Synlogic, a synthetic biology company, where the focus of our work is the development

Gary Pisano’s recent Harvard Business Review piece, The Hard Truth About Innovative Cultures, beautifully frames up how innovative corporate environments are frequently misunderstood. Innovative startups aren’t just about being cool and nimble, having beer taps in the kitchen, or an

This blog was co-written by Deanna Petersen, Chief Business Officer of AVROBIO, and Paul Newman, head of Corporate Communications, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. “It takes twenty years to build a reputation, and five minutes

JB Harvey broke his personal record earlier this winter by skiing over 22 trails in a single day at Loon Mountain. It was an awesome day. And 22 runs would be a huge day for anyone, but it was particularly

This post was written by Ros Deegan, President and CBO of Bicycle Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.   In May 2007, I trekked to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Situated at an altitude of over

This blog was written by Deanna Petersen, CBO of AVROBIO, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC Biotech is an industry that calls for leaders. It requires people who are willing to take risks, conquer new science,

This blog was written by Jason Gardner, CEO of Magenta Therapeutics and Liverpool soccer fan, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. Nine presentations, three press releases, forty-two satellite meetings. One conference. Most biotech companies have that

This blog was written by Tariq Kassum, COO of Obsidian Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. The evening of April 26, 2009, I walked from my hotel room to the nearest bar. The bar was

This blog was written by Tariq Kassum, COO of Obsidian Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. Early in the morning of April 24, 2018, I woke with a knot in my stomach because I knew

This blog was written by Jonathan Montagu, CEO and co-founder of Hotspot Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.   In the quest towards building high-performing teams, biopharma can lift a page from the tech playbook around

This blog was written by Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics and Atlas Advisor, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.   The biotech twittersphere recently engaged in very thoughtful debate (resulting in a great piece by