It’s with a lot of emotion that I’m announcing this news today. I will step down as CEO of Labiotech, while my co-founder Joachim will lead the company forward. At the end of June, I will step down, and then remain a shareholder and on the board of the company to keep supporting the team and the business. It is a well-thought-through decision and the transition has been well planned. I will tell you more about it below, but I want to first thank you for being such amazing team members, investors, readers, partners, and friends. I loved spending these 5+ years with you!
There are three main reasons for this decision:
- Our great team has learned a lot over the years and is ready to keep growing the now solid business in the right direction.
- My co-founder, Joachim, is the right person to continue to lead the company forward.
- I personally need a new challenge in another type of business and my entrepreneurial spirit is pushing me to start something new.
It was a very hard decision—even more difficult than starting the company. Labiotech is still my (only) baby, and I spent a lot of energy into growing it to what it is today. It’s a well-thought-through decision, one which we are aligned on, and which has been planned well. The most important thing for me was that this decision has been made on friendly terms with Joachim and our investors. It’s not a breakup but a new start for all of us and I’m glad of the support I have received from them and our team.
I trust Joachim 300% to handle the company well and continue our mission of fostering the European biotech ecosystem. He is as motivated as he was on day one, loves the kind of business we are in, and has the right long-term vision.
The management position I shared with Joachim will now be fully handled by him while some of my responsibilities will be transferred to our team. We will use the next six weeks to transfer all the management tasks and knowledge, and make sure that everything is ready. After that, I will be available to help Joachim and the team when they need me. It’s not like I’m disappearing 😇
Regarding my personal plans, I’m focusing only on the transition for now. I will then take at least 12 months off to rest, focus on personal development, and figure out the next company I want to build. It will likely be a biotech company with a digital component, somewhere in Europe. Let’s see …
What does the transition mean for you?
In the short term, Labiotech will continue to run as usual. We’ve taken the time to make sure that no operations or processes are disturbed by the transition. Continue to expect amazing content, cool events, and a growing membership! After that, things will evolve, in a good way, under Joachim’s guidance. There is still a lot to be built and the team is dedicated to making it happen.
These five years were super intense, and I’m very proud of what we have built. It gives me goosebumps to think about where we were at the beginning of this adventure. When Joachim and I started our first blog, we never thought we would change the media landscape in biotech and build the largest platform in Europe.
I’m deeply thankful to everyone who trusted me, including all the wonderful team members I had the chance to work with, our partners, our clients, our investors—and, of course, you.
Let’s stay in touch over email, Linkedin, or Twitter, and see you soon! 👋