When First Becoming A CEO, What Did You Soon Discover About Yourself As Being A Skill Gap, And How Did You Go About Filling It?

A | A MANAGEMENT TEAM SHOULD COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER’S EXPERTISE, including the skills of the CEO. At Millendo, we’re focused on clinical development, so hiring a CMO was an essential early position. Furthermore, I don’t have a background in accounting, so I found it necessary to hire someone strong in that area. On the other hand, I worked in a variety of leadership roles in business development and strategy earlier in my career, so we were able to go longer before needing to hire for this function. Overall, there are numerous ways to assemble a management team. Recognizing where expertise is needed and making sure the team works well together are essential and, for a CEO, a never-ending job.

JULIA OWENS, PH.D. is president, CEO, and cofounder of Millendo Therapeutics, a company focused on endocrine drug development.