A New Path Forward

2023 was a difficult year for many of the biotech, healthcare and life science companies formed in 2020/2021. Some ran out of money and shut down operations, and more are likely to run out this year. As a consequence, many people are looking for new jobs. This can be a stressful and even depressing time, but it can also be a time for reflection, refocusing, and rejuvenation. Just as we’re starting a new year, with lots of potential, those of you facing this situation are starting a new journey, and will hopefully find an exciting new path forward.

In my upcoming book, Can’t Tame A Mongoose: Memoir of a Genomics Entrepreneur, I share stories that illustrate skills, values and approaches which I believe increase the likelihood of being able to navigate past life’s “inevitable unexpected events” to successful outcomes. I emphasize the benefits of strong foundations, extensive networks, passion, persistence, optimism and confidence, among other things. In the introduction I state “Especially when attempting to navigate past unexpected events, one must focus intensely, think creatively, rely on relationships, leverage any legitimate ethical advantage, and do whatever it takes to achieve a goal.”

However, it is also critical to recognize when the best decision one can make is to change direction, or move on. Sometimes it’s the only course of action available. This can happen when one realizes there is a fatal flaw in a job or a business, or you encounter a challenge that is simply insurmountable, or when your company is forced to downsize, or runs out of money and files for bankruptcy. Given that 90% of technology based businesses fail within five years, these are not unusual scenarios. Some of the stories I share in my book thus involve situations where the best decision was to abandon a job/business and move forward in a new direction.

In retrospect, some of the best career decisions I ever made involved either deciding not to accept a particular job offer, or to leave one which was beginning to feel toxic. I accepted my very first job offer out of college – working on secret experiments at the Pentagon – and then turned it down just before I was due to report to work, even though I had no alternative job lined up. I was young and confident, and wound up being unemployed for three more months, but that period turned out to be a great experience for me. Then I landed a job that set me on a course towards a career in the life sciences.

A few years later I turned down a job offer with a great company because I thought it would be too limiting in scope, and couldn’t see a long term career path, even though I really liked the people and the job. That also turned out to be a great decision, as a year later I wound up with an offer to work at that same company but with substantially more responsibility and opportunity!

Many years later I found myself in a very comfortable high level position at an established company but with limited future opportunity to have a real impact. One day I decided to give up that comfortable lifestyle and join a new startup, with more risk, but more upside too. At the time a neighbor said to me “isn’t it pretty risky working for a startup?” My response was “I guess that depends on your sense of risk. From my perspective, at a big company with thousands of people, where you never know what the executives up on Mahogany Row are thinking, you might receive a pink slip on any given day because they decide they need to cut costs so they can hit their quarterly profit targets and receive bonuses. Now that’s risky. But having two years’ guaranteed salary, a healthy chunk of stock, and a chance to work with a group of people of my own choosing, on a project I’m excited about—where success or failure depends on my efforts and those of the people I choose to be on my team. . . . Well, I’ll take that bet any day.”

My main point is that times of change, whether by your choice or whether you have no choice, are times of big opportunity. It’s important to stay optimistic, confident and persistent in pursuing your long term career objectives.

If you can afford to, I’d recommend taking some time off. As we all get into the grind of any job that requires our full commitment, it’s rare to have such opportunities. You should take a mental break from it all, which will hopefully give you a chance to recalibrate and reconsider your priorities in life and career. An opportunity to think hard about the key criteria for a job you’d really enjoy and find fulfilling.

Once you’re ready to start searching (which may be before you even leave your prior job!), there are a variety of obvious actions to begin taking such as updating your cv and alerting friends and colleagues (depending on how open you’re willing to be about your search).

I don’t want to use this space to provide a comprehensive guide to job searches, as there are plenty of those around. I do want to emphasize a few points, however:

Leverage your relationships (and continually be building new ones). Call former colleagues and advisors.

Look at the portfolios of venture firms for companies that may interest you, as many of these – especially if recently funded – are likely to have money and be hiring.

There’s no shame in being the victim of a market downturn. Think hard about the experience you’ve gained, and all you learned, and include that in your cv – which, after all, is your pitch document for your next job. Life is a continual learning experience, so emphasize the key things learned regardless of the outcome. Bear in mind that there is nobody who has achieved any degree of success without failure along the way.

When thinking about what you want to do next, think more about the opportunity value rather than the compensation level. Valuations have come down substantially over the past two years, and all companies (especially early stage ones) are being forced to tighten their belts. Cash compensation may be lower than a few years back, especially if you’re moving from a large company to a startup. Rather than focus on maximizing cash, you should seek some consideration in the form of equity which can take on substantial value if you and your new colleagues prove successful in achieving your goals over time.

Look for a company working on a mission you are passionate about, with leaders who inspire you (and whose judgement you trust), and a work environment where you believe you can learn and thrive and enjoy your time. Also consider whether they have strong funding, or you believe they have the opportunity to get it, as you don’t want to find yourself out looking again in less than a year.

When considering a new path forward, or forced to choose one, I’m reminded of a quote my grandfather said in 1948, written on a card and kept by my dad:

“What we know about the future is poor; things that look bad can be the greatest luck and vice versa; sometimes you have to take a chance.”