Great science does not build a company. Great people do. The founders who understand that distinction early, who treat talent strategy with the same rigor they bring to the science, are the ones who reach the next inflection point with the right team already in place. Peter S. Kaplan, founder and president of Synergy Search Partners, has spent over 20 years partnering with life science founders from stealth mode through an initial public offering (IPO), helping them build the scientific and leadership teams that turn breakthrough research into real companies. His conviction about where early-stage biotech most consistently goes wrong is direct. “You’re not just building resumes,” Kaplan says. “You’re engineering a team that can drive your science forward.”
Translate the Science Into a Talent Strategy
Founders are focused on the science, as they should be. The problem is that scientific vision and team architecture require different disciplines, and most early-stage founders are not equipped to translate one into the other. Which capabilities are mission-critical right now versus in eighteen months? What does the team need to look like at the next funding milestone versus at an investigational new drug (IND) filing?
Translational biology, clinical development, and regulatory affairs each require different profiles at different moments, and hiring the wrong person at the wrong inflection point is an expensive correction. Kaplan’s role is to make that translation explicit, to take the scientific roadmap and work backwards to the talent architecture that can execute it. The result is hiring that is deliberate rather than reactive, building toward a defined endpoint rather than filling immediate gaps and hoping the team holds together as the science advances.
Mission-Driven Scientists Are Not Chasing Titles
The most consequential scientific talent is not primarily motivated by compensation or seniority. They are looking for purpose, alignment, and the conviction that the work they are joining actually matters. What the founder believes, why they started this company, and which patient population they are fighting for are the signals that attract scientists who will stay when things get hard and push harder when the science demands it.
Kaplan works with founders to articulate that mission with clarity and authenticity before the hiring process begins. “The most compelling companies are those where the founders’ passion for patients shines through,” he says. “That’s what turns a job description into a calling.” A job description that reads like every other biotech posting attracts candidates evaluating options. A founding story that is specific, genuine, and urgent attracts scientists who are looking for the right mission and will turn down more lucrative offers to join it.
Culture Is Not a Retention Strategy. It Is a Foundation
The teams that hold together through the pressure of early-stage biotech are not held together by compensation packages or equity structures. They are held together by shared values and behavioral norms that were defined early enough to actually shape how the organization works. What does collaboration look like in practice? What behaviors are non-negotiable regardless of how much technical brilliance someone brings? These questions feel premature at ten people. At thirty, when the first cultural conflicts emerge, they feel urgent in a way that is much harder to resolve.
Many first-time founders have not built teams before, and coaching them through not just the hiring process but the underlying cultural blueprint is where Kaplan’s work goes beyond recruitment. “Founders don’t need to become recruiters,” he says, “but they do need to lead with conviction and clarity.” Running an effective interview process, assessing both technical depth and cultural fit, and moving quickly without sacrificing quality are learnable disciplines, but they require intentional development, not improvisation under pressure.
Supporting founders means more than filling roles. It means being a strategic partner who understands the science, the pressure, and the stakes. When the right team is in place, what gets built is not just a company. It is a treatment, therapy, or solution that changes the lives of patients waiting for it.
Follow Peter S. Kaplan on LinkedIn for more insights on life science talent strategy, biotech executive search, and building scientific teams.
