Leaders on a Mission - Patrice Selles, CEO Biotalys, Episode 5

In todays episode I was joined by Patrice Selles, CEO of Biotalys, an innovativeBiotech based out of Ghent, Belgium, developing sustainable novel cropprotection solutions that are better for the planet.Patrice talks about his early passion for science, and the reasons why hemoved from drug discovery to more industrial applications, and how he wasseduced by the opportunity for innovation and impact within the agriculturalindustry at Syngenta. He speaks about how he broadened out his interest andexperience, with a career shaping move to Boston, that gave him muchbroader exposure to the challenges and solutions within agriculture, working inthe VC world and establishing Syngenta’s corporate venturing group. Hespeaks about the risks, him and his 8 months pregnant wife took moving toBoston in 2008 at the time of the global financial crisis.He reflects on the impact development  programmes that he was part of atSyngenta, that honed his love of collaboration, and allowed him to extend hisnetwork across the agricultural ecosystem. He speaks about the move fromSyngenta to Biotalys; embracing the risk and challenge of leading a companydriven by a really exciting mission to improving the tools for farmers, impactingright across the food chain.He speaks about the vision, mission for Biotalys’, and the alternativesustainable solutions and products it is commercializing. He outlines thehurdles and challenges that are in front of the company, and the challenges inmoving from a start up to a revenue generating organization, as well as  theprogress to date on their first bio fungicide product. He talks openly about thechallenges he didn’t expect as a first time CEO, and about how the support ofthe board has been critical in helping him make this transition successfully.