When talking to some of the most impressive women in biopharma, the conversation inevitably turned to what these women wanted other entrepreneurs to know. Here’s the best of the best of that advice.
When I last worked on a bunch of stories about women in biopharma, I received a nasty email from a man who accused me of caving to some sort of bizarre, made-up DEI agenda.
I wonder if that man still subscribes to BioPharm Executive. If he does … hello. While I’m always eager to hear diverse perspectives, your email did not change my mind about telling women’s stories. In fact, it left me wanting to do even more work to showcase the talented women in this industry.
So I doubled down and began planning this series, hoping to hear even more stories from incredible women in biopharma. I’m not out to prove that women can do things better than men. Rather, I simply want to showcase women rolling up their sleeves and getting it done—without a need to prove anything.
Of course, my conversations with these biotech leaders inevitably turned to what these women wanted other entrepreneurs to know. Because that’s what women do, we lift each other up.
Here’s the best of the best of their words of wisdom, lightly edited for clarity.
On Sealing the Deal
“No pitch is the same, and you have to do your research before you get in the room and understand who they are personally and what they’re looking for professionally. Each investor is different. They have different risk return metrics, different check sizes that they’ll write, and it has to be synergistic to the rest of their portfolio in some way, so understand their previous investments. Do your homework.” —Audrey Greenberg, Venture Partner, Mayo Ventures
“If you’re not best in class or first in class, you don’t have a room. We weren’t going to be first, so we had to be best. And then it’s all about how you manage your development.” —Sophie Kornowski, CEO, Boston Pharma
On Family and Being a Woman in Biopharma
“It can be very challenging to manage your professional and personal life. We’re the sandwich generation where we’re taking care of our kids and we’re taking care of our parents and oftentimes living far away from our family members. If you are thinking about what you want to do next that could be big and challenging and all-encompassing in your professional life, just make sure you have the proper personal support system and partner—both personally and professionally.” —Audrey Greenberg
“You don’t have to have a trade off with your personal life. You just have to be sure of what matters to you. For me, my family, my son, my friends, my sister, it’s really important. Having fun with my dog, it’s important. I don’t feel I have sacrificed anything, but I just extended my days. I expanded how I live. You have to have joy in what you do.” —Sophie Kornowski
“Be yourself and lead the way that’s most comfortable for you. There isn’t one set of leadership [where] you have to be this way to become a great leader. I don’t see that.” —Zhen Li, CEO, ADARx Pharma
On Reaching the Top
If you don’t fall on your face, you probably didn’t run fast enough.
“If I reflect on my career the past 40 years, I have worked enormously. You work a lot when you’re in leadership positions. You don’t have true days off, but you have enormous reward, and you also have freedom. When you’re actually leading a company, you can organize yourself a little bit better than when you are lower.
Be ambitious. Do well what you do. It’s all about the quality of the work you do, no matter what your job is and you have to ask for more and just not be shy to jump in the pool and give it a try. Don’t manage your career. Manage your work.
I didn’t think I was going to be a CEO. By the time I was proposed to be a CEO I thought the train had passed already. So it’s just about how hard you work and how focused you stay.
Resilience is a critical feature. You have to accept that you will fall on your face and get back on your feet. If you don’t fall on your face, you probably didn’t run fast enough. So you know it’s going to happen. It’s not going to feel good.” —Sophie Kornowski
“People want to see results. It’s not about how you manage your board. It’s about what you have done, what you have developed. It’s about the science, about the technology. If you do good science, the rest follows.” —Zhen Li
On Inspiring the Next Leaders
“Two percent of venture dollars go toward women-run enterprises. There’s definitely a gap in women sitting on the cap table, and I do feel that having more women in capital allocation roles will impact the ability for women to get startup funding. I’d love to see that change and would be blessed to be a part of that.” —Audrey Greenberg
“We create things and we have a purpose in what we do. I [said to] my team, let’s do Alzheimer drugs. We may need it when we grow older, right? We benefit mankind.
Give credit to the team where credits are due, to the people who made the contribution. Really encourage your top performers. Give them the space to create, to imagine and to lead and recognize great leaders in the company.” —Zhen Li
