Active Ingredients

In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, host Thomas Dove speaks with Abbie Celniker, Partner at Third Rock Ventures.Abbie Celniker has spent four decades in the life sciences, from early scientific roles at Genentech to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) positions at Taliesin and 11 Biotherapeutics, and now as a partner at Third Rock Ventures, creating and developing new biotech companies.In this conversation, she shares what it means to be a biotech pioneer, why the CEO should act as an emcee (master of ceremonies), and how patient urgency shaped the first generation of company builders. She also covers investor-operator dynamics and what the next generation of leaders will need to succeed.Click or tap the play button to watch the video or tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music.Key TakeawaysLearn why authenticity and trust are practical foundations of biotech leadership, not soft skills, and how they hold high-risk teams together when the science becomes uncertain.Discover how patient urgency drove the first generation of biotech builders, and what that mission-driven instinct means when creating new life science companies today.Understand the CEO-as-emcee principle: how surrounding yourself with domain experts and stepping back from the spotlight creates stronger results across every function.Explore why letting go of execution is a requirement at senior level, and how staying too close to the data holds your team and your organisation back.Gain insight into what an integrated leadership team looks like at each company stage, and how to stop internal competition from undermining collective decision-making.Identify the tension between investor and operator perspectives on boards, and why balancing those viewpoints leads to better scientific and strategic decisions.Take away practical advice for stepping into senior leadership before you have all the experience: why your executive team must act as thought partners, not simply direct reports.Snippets"All of a sudden, you don't have any real line oversight of the people who are doing the work for you. You have to lead by influence, and you need to get things done.""I want every single person I hire to know more than I do. I want them to be more expert in every area... I just want them to be superstars.""If they're constantly so out looking to grab the spotlight, they're going to potentially be missing opportunities to be motivating some of the superstars that can actually deliver the goods."Timestamps & TopicsThe following timestamps are approximations:[00:00] – Intro: Abbie Celniker’s four-decade career across biotech and life sciences[01:30] – Active Ingredients: Authenticity, trust, and culture as leadership foundations[07:35] – Career Start: Joining Genentech in 1986 and the power of cross-functional project teams[16:38] – Biotech Pioneers: How patient urgency defined the first generation of company builders[29:09] – Letting Go: Why moving from execution to leadership is a requirement, not a choice[37:25] – CEO as Emcee: Leading through experts rather than being the expert in the room[45:41] – Boards and Investors: Navigating operator-investor tension at board levelResourcesFollow Abbie Celniker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbie-celniker-277a356/Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/Don't Miss an EpisodeSign up to the Active Ingredients podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.activeingredients.fraserdove.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Remember to tune into our next episode for more inspiring insights. You can also subscribe to the Active Ingredients podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other leading podcast platforms.Loved this episode?Share it with your friends, family, or your peers!

In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, host Thomas Dove interviews Paula Gildert, Strategic Advisor & Board Member, Xyant Services.Paula Gildert is a procurement and transformation leader who has worked across AstraZeneca, Novartis and Takeda. She served as President and Chair of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and now advises life sciences organisations on strategy and governance.Paula reveals how values, courage, and commitment fuel her leadership style. She shares frameworks for breakthrough thinking, champions speed and quality over pure cost, and vividly describes her journey from corporate executive to board advisor.Key TakeawaysExperience how courage, authenticity, and commitment ignite leadership and help senior leaders build trust across the pharmaceutical landscape.See why “context is decisive” in transformation. Gildert shows how reading your team’s environment sets every strategy in motion.Unlock how breakthrough thinking turns stretch goals into tangible results by zeroing in on what’s missing and boldly making clear promises.Discover how speed and quality ignite value creation in procurement and watch cost savings flow naturally as business processes evolve.Gain practical advice on keeping teams energised during multi-year change by celebrating progress and keeping senior leadership visibly engaged.Identify how communication training gives leaders a lasting edge. Gildert explains why structured frameworks for conversations pay dividends across every setting.Explore how a Royal Marine upbringing shaped Gildert’s early leadership. She traces her resilience, her ability to hold her ground and her openness to being wrong back to her father’s influence.Sharpen your listening and curiosity as a young leader. Gildert shares how face-to-face conversations and focus groups shape strategy from the ground up.Use Gildert’s “third chapter” story as inspiration to shape your own vibrant move from executive to impactful advisory, board and voluntary roles.SnippetsBusiness is mostly bad news with a spattering of good. If you’re in a high change environment, it’s not a balance.”“Once you work in the pharmaceutical industry, and you’re driven by a higher purpose, everything else will pale in comparison.”“Oftentimes, you have the team you need. You just haven’t rallied them around the right challenge.”Timestamps & TopicsThe following timestamps are approximations:[00:00] – Intro: Paula Gildert’s leadership journey in the life sciences[01:37] – Key Ingredients: Values, authenticity and commitment[03:51] – Early Influences: Growing up with Royal Marine leadership[16:29] – Delivering Impact: Inspiring teams through large-scale change[23:12] – Value Creation: Why speed and quality beat cost in procurement[27:03] – Breakthrough Thinking: Turning stretch goals into real results[34:30] – Emotional Intelligence: Leading when values don’t align[46:09] – Third Chapter: Leadership beyond the corporate org chart[56:50] – Future of Life Sciences: Access, affordability and new technologyResourcesFollow Paula Gildert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-gildert-547b987/•Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/Don't Miss an EpisodeSign up to the Active Ingredients podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.activeingredients.fraserdove.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Remember to tune into our next episode for more inspiring insights. You can also subscribe to the Active Ingredients podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other leading podcast platforms.Loved this episode?Share it with your friends, family, or your peers!