Gil Blander

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Episode 72 Gil Blander and Rony Sellam – Successful Founder/CEO Relationship at InsideTracker

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Chief Scientific Officer and Founder, InsideTracker

Rony Sellam

Chief Executive Officer, InsideTracker

Today we are tackling a topic that is crucial to the success of many companies when they go from startup to the next phase of growth. It’s the question that many founders especially technical founders or scientific founders who start as CEO’s have to ask themselves at some point. When is it time to bring in a new CEO? How do you find the right CEO? And how do you set up the partnership for success.

To help us answer the questions we have Gil Blander, Founder and Scientific Officer of InsideTracker, and Rony Sellam, the CEO.

InsideTracker is a company that by tracking our biomarkers what’s inside us, blood and DNA, leverages science and technology to provide personalized solutions that allow people to improve their overall quality of life and longevity.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[01:34] – How you find the right CEO for your company when you are a Founder.

[03:12] – Gil introduces himself.

[03:39] – Gil shares his fascination with the aging process and the inspiration and concept behind InsideTracker.

[04:30] – Rony introduces himself and shares his background and why he wanted to get involved with Inside Tracker.

[05:57] – Gil shares some of the challenges—from financial to people management—of starting a business as a scientist and someone unfamiliar with managing a company.

[06:42] – Gil shares the keys he held onto to be a successful leader when he was first starting InsideTracker.

[07:31] – Rony shares the value of having mentors and how the lessons he learned from other captains of industry taught him the importance of vision, mission, and values.

[08:43] – How a heavy dose of humility helps grow successful leaders.

[10:29] – Gil explains that in the company’s early stages, he emphasized the science making it the foundation of its activities while remaining profitable.

[13:00] – Gil describes his goal of finding a CEO for the company from the start and the consideration he put into finding the right fit for that role.

[16:10] – The need for two different roles to take a company with a strong scientific backbone and turn it into an impactful business.

[17:35] – Rony shares how his desire to work with a company that is helping people live better and longer played into his decision to become CEO of InsideTracker.

[18:09] – How InsideTracker uses personalized, science-backed information to help individuals take control of their health from the Inside out.

[20:49] – The significance of maintaining a solid scientific foundation within a science-based company.

[22:05] – Rony recounts the two things that impressed him the most when he initially met with Gil.

[25:04] – Gil highlights the two most important criteria he sought in a CEO for InsideTracker.

[26:03] – Sharing stories of the Sunday Scaries and how that doesn’t apply to Gil and Rony’s partnership.

[27:34] – Rony shares how they formulated the rules of engagement for their relationship, established trust, and the surprising key to solving more problems.

[31:35] – Rony shares why it’s vital to establish and stick with the chain of command in a business.

[32:01] – Gil shares how having a sounding board helped him transition the role of CEO to Rony (and why he continues to have a coach in his corner).

[34:23] – The costs and constraints of upholding the values of being a science-first company.

[36:39] – Rony recounts examples of the company’s sacrifices to maintain its commitment to science.

[40:04] – Gil provides insight into the dynamic between two individuals with strong personalities and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the unique interview process that led to their successful partnership at InsideTracker.

[41:36] – Renowned longevity scientist David Sinclair from Harvard Medical School gets involved at InsideTracker.

[44:29] – Rony shares why aligning your values with the mission of the company you are joining is crucial, plus his two other pieces of advice for joining a company as the CEO.

[46:18] – Gil shares why establishing the Founder/CEO relationship is a lot like dating and why getting to know one another is essential before making the commitment.

[49:15] – Where to find more information on InsideTracker.

[49:18] – Rony explains why he finds the idea of lean startup frustrating.

[51:18] – Rony shares the food he recently learned to make that feeds his soul.

[52:00] – Gil shares the guilty pleasure that helps him stay focused when tackling important work.

Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com

Websites:

al4ep.com

insidetracker.com

Additional InsideTracker Links:

Summary of scientific study on InsideTracker impact published by Nature

Longevity by Design Podcast (also available on all major platforms)

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/insidetracker/