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Summer Internships: Mutually Beneficial for All
 | Earlier this year, we decided to hire two Project Onramp summer interns for Corval, our new startup. First, because we needed the help (!) and second, because we are committed to walking the talk of this important Life Science Cares program. (Project Onramp creates paid summer internships for Massachusetts college students who are under-resourced and… Read the full article… |
Start Too Early… Before It’s Too Late
 | Try this: Hold up one hand to signal “stop” while using the other hand to indicate “come forward.” I used to work with someone who mimed this all the time as a way of commenting on the mixed, often conflicting messages we sometimes receive in our industry (and lives). We often discuss this “go fast,… Read the full article… |
Freedom to Lead
 | In a recent internal planning session for Corval, our new cloud-based commercialization planning platform, we debated whether the term “Freedom to Lead” would resonate with our audience of early- to mid-stage biopharma companies. Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised that I am an advocate for the concept, having seen so many talented people bogged down in fragmented planning processes,… Read the full article… |
Pandemic-Inspired Thought Bubbles
 | As we emerge, slowly, into a new phase of the pandemic, there are many “thought bubbles” popping up — viewpoints, concerns, and ideas that we share with others or keep to ourselves as we try to manage the present and anticipate the future. Here is just a sample of what I have heard… “People need… Read the full article… |
The “First Hire Puzzle” of Commercialization
 | As an early-stage company continues to progress its science, raise funds for its future growth, and define its corporate strategy, there comes a point when the team begins wrestling with two crucial decisions: who to hire to commercialize its precious asset and when to do so. Embracing commercialization early as the bridge from target to patient… Read the full article… |
Notes from the Un-Empty Nest
 | My son, Jonathan, calls it “Mom-toring” — professional mothers (or parental surrogates) mentoring their adult professional kids. It applies whether or not those kids live at home, but there seems to be a specific and new shared experience when, thanks to the pandemic, the generations are back together living under the same roof. The more… Read the full article… |
Rare Diseases — It’s All About the Patient
 | Among all the days of the calendar, February 29th is the rarest of them all. That’s why, back in 2008, on the 25th anniversary of the Orphan Drug ACT, EURORDIS (The European Organization for Rare Disorders) designated the last day of February as “Rare Disease Day.” Its purpose was simple: to raise awareness and drive education… Read the full article… |
Planning Amidst the Mayhem
 | Maybe you noticed – 2020 was a crazy year. Like meeting the Pope or becoming a parent for the first time, the phrase “once in a lifetime” keeps popping up in conversation as a way to describe what we are all living through. Hopefully, in the case of last year, the description is on target… Read the full article… |
My Big Announcement
 | I looked out at the Zoom faces of my newly-formed, second company — our software development partner, our SaaS product advisor, and our product head Kristin Fahy (previously with The NemetzGroup), all who wanted to help turn the vision I had into a reality. Internally, we called it “NewCo” (we are nothing, if not creative).… Read the full article… |
Just Do It… the Best You Can with Compassion for Others AND Yourself
 | With six weeks left in the year, this November e-conversation should be all about getting in gear for the 2021 planning cycle. Or, maybe, it should be about Q1, JPM, and how to tell your commercial story in a nanosecond or less. Or how about gratitude, since it is almost Thanksgiving? The fact is, this… Read the full article… |