Show Notes
Introduction:
Here we are today on episode #7 of Slice of Life Sciences. I am excited to have Kori Rahaim joining me today. Kori is the VP, Head of People at 5AM Ventures and
4:59 NewCo, a 5AM Venture Company.
Outline:
Have you always worked in biotech or what led you to get an opportunity in the field?
At Novartis, you oversaw theHR function for two innovative research organizations, served on two leadership teams, providing coaching to executive leaders. What were some of the program initiatives you put in place to build leadership skills across these organizations?
So, after Novartis you became an early employee at a rapidly growing startup, Relay Therapeutics...This must have been very different in a lot of ways than your previous years in large pharma...what motivated this transition and what are some of the things you learned being the Head of Talent Acquisition as it pertained to recruiting top scientific researchers and G&A talent in a highly competitive biotechnology space?
Are traditional processes something you challenge in relation to what employees think of as a typical HR leader?
What were the most exciting and hardest aspects of growing an early-stage company?
How did you get connected to 5AM Ventures and was having the ability to lead company culture and talent acquisition for multiple companies at once make for a dream opportunity?
Can you talk about 5AM’s strategy when it comes to finding and shaping these new companies?
The earlier stages in a startup’s life are foundational when building a team, you and your team must think deeply about how all the pieces fit together, especially in the early days.Does this put an even larger emphasis on the importance of building out a team than previous roles in
your career?
How do you build a transformative culture when the teams are so early, or in a virtual/hybrid world?
The
4:59 Initiative is super interesting. Can you share what exactly this is and is it specific to certain portfolio companies or is every company part of this?
How long into a company’s life cycle do you assume an operating role and what are the benefits
you’ve seen from this?
How many companies are you typically working on at any given time and what responsibilities does your role cover? Do you have to have an ability to flex across different roles and responsibilities on a regular basis?
Essentially becoming an extension of your portfolio companies’ team make for a lot going on at once, whether, helping set company strategy, management recruiting, business development and fundraising...with that, I imagine each day brings new challenges?
Structurally, what does your department team typically look like?
Did Covid affect the operational process for a life science company with in-house lab? Do you think anything changed for the long-term and not only the short-term?
What excites you most about the journey ahead for you and your team?