From Pharmacist to Biotech Pioneer: A Conversation with Dr. Leen Kawas
This is a transcript of Dr. Leen Kawas’s appearance on Enterprise Radio, where she discusses her journey from scientist to entrepreneur and her current work as Managing General Partner of Propel Bio Partners.
Eric Dye (Host): This is Eric Dye and welcome to Enterprise Radio, a part of the Enterprise Podcast Network. Today we’re speaking with Leen Kawas, Managing General Partner of Propel Bio Partners, a life science venture capital firm dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs developing breakthrough health innovations. Leen, thank you for joining us here today.
Leen Kawas: Thank you, Eric, for having me.
From Science to Entrepreneurship
Eric: The pleasure is certainly ours. So for starters, Leen, you’ve been both a scientist and an entrepreneur. What lessons from your journey can help founders in any industry translate innovation into a successful business?
Dr. Kawas: Thank you, Eric. So I actually started my career as a pharmacist, where I felt that I needed to do more work that potentially translates into impacting people’s lives. I moved into research and science, and ultimately I really realized that to enable your ideas to impact people’s lives, you really need a business around it. And this is when I moved into the entrepreneurial business side of things, which I really enjoyed.
I would tell any person who’s considering transforming their ideas, whether it’s science-based or something else, to make sure that they’re taking the leap and being fully committed to the company or startup that they’re working on. Trying to do multiple things is really hard.
The other very important point is that it’s an up and down journey. There’s going to be a lot of highs, but way more lows when you’re working on a business. One of the best pieces of advice I had at the early stages of my career was: if you’re able to survive the lows, you’re going to be very successful. And know what you don’t know and hire and build your team accordingly. You can’t do everything on your own.
Rethinking Biotech’s Capital Intensity
Eric: Biotech is known for being high risk and capital intensive. What strategies do you recommend entrepreneurs use to secure the right investors and partnerships?
Dr. Kawas: I think that’s the general reputation of biotech - that it is high risk and capital intensive. But I think there’s a shift, especially from the capital intensive aspects. If you’re an entrepreneur and it’s your first company, use your fresh outlook on things. There are a lot of redundancies in our industry.
There are ways of doing things that people are used to doing which, most of the time, are expensive and capital intensive. We have technology that is enabling us right now - AI, and not necessarily AI to use for clinical development or innovative work, but it can make a lot of the workflows that we have more efficient.
I’ve been successful in my many ventures, including companies that we’re currently helping, by thinking outside of the box and developing programs in a way that is cost efficient but at the highest quality that you would anticipate for drug development. If there was something that worked effectively and efficiently, don’t change it, but there are a lot of redundancies and inefficiencies in the way that we currently do things in drug development. This is an opportunity where young talent and new entrepreneurs can take advantage of and really optimize the workflow.
Beyond Funding: Creating Value Through Networks
Eric: Propel Bio Partners emphasizes supporting entrepreneurs beyond funding. What practical ways can business leaders create more value for their teams and stakeholders?
Dr. Kawas: I think networking is key. One thing about scientists - if a scientist is willing to take the leap and start a company, whether they want to be the CEO or have another role in the company - one big component in a successful business is networking and meeting people.
And it’s not just for finding investors. There’s this misconception that you need to really focus on networking with investors with the sole goal of raising capital. But you network to expand your team, to find specialized talent that can help you with the next, more complex steps of your business.
Building an advisory board very early on is very important. And ultimately, when you’re talking to investors, remember that investors have the luxury of being exposed to so many ideas and companies. So they build experience by proxy, and they have a very healthy network.
So if you’re talking to investors and you’re hoping to get a check at the end of the day, but you are not successful in convincing them to invest in your company, make sure that you ask them for advice. I would even go and talk to investors with the mindset of asking for advice first, with the ultimate potential of convincing them to invest in your business.
I would really tell scientist entrepreneurs: if you’re not comfortable with being an extrovert, you have to make yourself a self-made extrovert - finding the appropriate venues, conferences, places where you can meet people. And at the minimum, if you meet someone who themselves were not able to help, ask for an intro to someone that might be helpful.
Balancing Scientific Rigor with Business Speed
Eric: How do you balance scientific rigor with entrepreneurial speed, and what can leaders in other sectors learn from that balance?
Dr. Kawas: That’s a great point, Eric, that I think a lot of entrepreneurs in our industry struggle with. Because there are specific steps that need to be taken to ensure that you are bringing a therapy to patients at the highest quality possible in a safe and effective way.
On the other hand, you’re being pushed by the business to really advance your technology in the most efficient way possible. I would really advise entrepreneurs to look at the long term and find investors that understand the complexity of our technology and the timeframe of our industry.
Because it’s not going to be a straightforward journey. Being communicative to your investors, communicative to your team, communicative to the stakeholders that are involved is very important, because it’s not a straightforward journey.
But at the same time, balancing it with the other point that I’ve discussed earlier - finding ways to remove the inefficiencies in our process is a great way to accelerate our development path. I think finding the right partners, communicating effectively about the challenges and the timelines, and ultimately taking advantage of places where we can advance products in a more efficient way - there are plenty of opportunities there.
The Power of Diverse Teams
Eric: You’ve mentored many emerging entrepreneurs, especially women in biotech. What advice would you give to business leaders who want to build more diverse and resilient organizations?
Dr. Kawas: I’ve seen it personally as I’m building companies and through our portfolio companies - the more diverse management teams, the more efficient and effective they are.
There are studies - it’s not just me, there’s a Harvard Business Review that basically showed that companies that are led by women usually have larger returns to their investors. And I would have to say, as we interact with companies that have more diverse management teams, just because it’s harder for them to raise capital, potentially they are more prepared. Not all of the time, I have to say, but they’re more prepared. They have to do more to ultimately convince an investor to write a check.
But also, the experiences that a female leader will bring will be different than the experiences that a male leader will bring to a management team. And if we think about equity from gender, male or female, or ethnic backgrounds, even the diversity in business experience brings significant wealth to the company.
I would say, try to hire the best talent, but be intentional in providing diversity in your team at multiple layers, especially around talent. Because in the future, where we have AI that is going to take a lot of the tasks that we currently use different people to run for us, the future for companies to be successful will be companies that bring different points of view, different experiences to their clients. And I think having a diverse team will bring the biggest exposure to these different points of view and experiences to enhance the outcome of your business.
A Vision for the Future
Eric: Before you go, any closing thoughts, takeaways, tips, or anything else you’d like to share?
Dr. Kawas: I would say that I’m originally from Jordan. I came to the US and I have to say that there’s something amazing about this country, which is entrepreneurship and innovation. I hope we can all focus on continuing to build our country.
And biotech is an amazing place where we have direct impact on humans here in the US but also globally. I’m very excited about the future, especially in our industry. And I hope more people can see the special aspects of our country and continue to build it toward a brighter future.
Eric: I couldn’t think of a better way to conclude our session here today. Where can listeners get more information on Propel Bio Partners online?
Dr. Kawas: You can reach out on LinkedIn - my LinkedIn is Leen Kawas - and you’ll see Propel Bio on my profile. I’m always looking forward to connecting with people who are interested in technology, interested in building, and interested in changing the world.
Eric: Again, we have been speaking with Dr. Leen Kawas, Managing General Partner of Propel Bio Partners, a life science venture capital firm dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs developing breakthrough health innovations. For all the details, visit propelbio.com.
This interview originally aired on Enterprise Radio, part of the Enterprise Podcast Network.