Naji Gehchan: Welcome to SpreadLove in Organizations, the healthcare leadership podcast where we explore leadership with purpose.
I’m Naji, your host, and I’m delighted to be joined today by Johanna Grossman, Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences Capital Markets at New York Stock Exchange Group, part of Intercontinental Exchange.
In this role, Johanna leads efforts to attract healthcare and life sciences companies to the exchange, advising businesses, private equity and venture capital firms, and other key stakeholders on the IPO landscape, NYSE initiatives, and listing venue selection.
Prior to NYSE, Johanna served as Head of Healthcare at GLG, where she oversaw the strategic and operational direction of the firm’s U.S. healthcare practice.
She led a team of content and client service professionals who organized executive meetings and managed client diligence engagements across all healthcare sectors.
Johanna holds a PhD and master’s degree in organic chemistry from Yale University and a BS in chemistry from Florida International University.
Johanna, it’s such a pleasure to see you again and have you with me today.
[Johanna Grossman]
Thank you so much for inviting me to your podcast.
[Naji Gehchan]
Before we dive into capital markets, the biotech landscape, and what’s ahead of us for our industry, I’d love to start with your story. You’ve built an extraordinary career, but I’m always fascinated by what lies between the lines of a biography.
So, looking back, can you share a little bit more with us about who you are?
[Johanna Grossman]
Definitely. So, I guess I’ll start with I’ve always been a science and math nerd, really, just from the very beginning, as far as I can remember. And that really drove me to the sciences.
So, I was pre-med for a little bit, actually, heading into graduate school. But a short stint volunteering in an ER made me kind of rethink those goals.
And so, when I went into undergrad, I really just kind of focused on my strengths, which were math and science.
When I got to FIU, I was really fortunate to join a lab as an undergrad, under the tutelage of Dr. Constantinos Caballeros, who we call Dr. K. He was really instrumental in just kind of helping navigate my decision to move to Yale and get a PhD in organic chemistry.
I had come to him and said, “Hey, I was pre-med, I think I’ve changed my mind, and what do I do now?”
You know, ever since I was a little girl, I always had this dream.
And he said, “Well, why don’t you think about getting a PhD? It’ll buy you some time. You know, it’s always great to have another degree, and you’ll probably learn a few things on the way.”
And so I said, “You know, that sounds like a good plan. It’ll buy me some time.”
Then I started looking up graduate programs, fell in love with Yale, and got accepted. And yeah, the rest is history.
[Naji Gehchan]
So how did it happen from there? You went into working with GLG and now the New York Stock Exchange. We chatted a little bit about those moves.
As a scientist from the lab, tell me a little bit about how all this came together for you.
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah. So I would say in my last year of my PhD program, I was really thinking about, “Okay, now I have to be a grown-up. I need to probably graduate and get a job.”
And so I really was trying to look at the options, and it wasn’t until I really started reflecting on what I wanted to do.
At that time, my advisor, Andrew Hamilton, had become provost of Yale. And that really was eye-opening for me because here you are, a scientist becoming a provost of Yale and really doing things outside of running a lab or being at a company.
And that really kind of inspired me to search elsewhere.
I decided to start doing some consulting projects with the MBA school. So, the MBA school at Yale had a program where they would help local companies, mostly a lot of biotechs actually, because New Haven is such a science community.
That involved MBA students helping these companies with strategic problems. Many times, though, some of those problems needed a scientist to kind of just help interpret the problem in plain English, if you will.
And I was fortunate enough to join some of those teams. And that really opened my eyes to what other possibilities and what other roles and careers scientists could have.
Throughout that process, I met a former Yale graduate who was working at GLG. And I had a conversation with him that turned into, “Hey, why don’t you apply to work here?”
That conversation led to me doing a case study, meeting the rest of the team, falling in love with the company, and joining.
Really soon after I graduated, I basically turned in my thesis, and a week later started working at GLG.
[Naji Gehchan]
Oh, wow. And the New York Stock Exchange. That’s a pretty cool job.
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah. So, I guess if I could tell you, I was at GLG for 13 years.
I started off as a research manager working with clients, helping them do their due diligence into both private and public investments, and basically worked my way up from research manager to senior research manager, vice president, senior vice president, and ultimately running the healthcare practice in the U.S., focused on the investment firms.
And that was a great training ground, because coming from your PhD, where you are the foremost expert on that one thing, getting to a place like GLG, you just get to work on so many amazing, cool projects really across the entire healthcare landscape.
So I wasn’t only working on things within biotech, but I was also doing things on medical devices, on healthcare services, within health tech, things that had to touch on the regulatory aspects of healthcare, not only within the U.S., but ex-U.S.
So you really got to learn a lot from not only the clients that we were working with, but then also the experts that we would be working with.
And it really afforded me the opportunity to attend many of the major medical conferences, meet many of the leading KOLs in different disciplines.
So honestly, it was like work, but really it was—I was studying every day.
Pretty much, you know, I was just learning and continuously learning, and it was such a great experience.
But I had been there for 13 years. I felt like a dinosaur there.
And it just so happened that a recruiter had reached out, and I was like, “You know what? I’ve been here for over a decade. Maybe I should do something different.”
And I was happy to have that conversation.
I was very surprised at first that they had reached out, because I was an organic chemist. I was not a banker, working in the capital markets arena.
But they said that’s not what they wanted me for. They wanted me for my knowledge and experience within healthcare broadly.
And so, as I learned more about the opportunity and I learned more about the team, I got pretty excited. And here I am.
So now I’ve actually just completed my five-year anniversary at the New York Stock Exchange.
[Naji Gehchan]
Oh, wow. Congrats.
And you’ve been doing incredible work at the New York Stock Exchange. Part of what you do, obviously, is meeting with all the biotech founders and management teams, really at a pivotal moment in their journeys with the company.
So I’m really intrigued. After the hundreds of people and founders and execs you’ve met, from this unique vantage point, what do you take with you from a leadership standpoint?
Is there something you feel like those who have done it differently, or done it in a certain way, are the most successful biotech leaders today? What is your view about leadership after meeting all those people?
[Johanna Grossman]
You know, it takes a certain someone to really just be fearless and take their idea and really share it with the world, right?
I think the best leaders are those fearless leaders who are really passionate about what they’re doing and who are relentless in just trying to get it done.
And I have been fortunate to meet many of those CEOs and leaders who, in some cases, have left an amazing, very, very great tenured position or job to start something new from scratch in their garage or in a lab somewhere.
And that takes a lot of courage.
And I really love those founder stories that show that person’s, again, fearlessness and passion for what they’re doing.
[Naji Gehchan]
And you’re a chemist by training, a scientist at your core. And several times, founders believe science is enough.
So I’m intrigued with your experience and all those different lenses you’ve had throughout your incredible career. What do you believe today?
Is science enough? Is there something additional to science that makes those ideas come to life for patients at the end of the day?
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah, I wish science was enough. But unfortunately, sometimes science is not enough.
You do need to be able to communicate your story in ways that others can understand and really bring people along on that journey.
If you’re not able to communicate what you’re doing, regardless of how amazing it is, if people don’t understand it, if people can’t get behind it, you’re not really going to get the support you need.
And sometimes you do need those outside investors, collaborators, in order to really drive your idea forward.
And unfortunately, sometimes the science is not enough.
Very few people can make it just on the science, but for the most part, you’ll see that teams who may not have much experience or past experience with telling their stories will bring on additional help or additional colleagues internally that can help them really kind of get the word out and really get the support that they need.
[Naji Gehchan]
Yeah, it’s fascinating as you’re saying it, and it’s so true. We’ve all experienced it, right?
The storytelling part of translating what the innovation we’re doing to the story that we’re building to help patients, how incredible this is.
So that’s one of the big pieces of advice I’m feeling you would give to founders and CEOs.
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah. Learn how to tell your story, you know, and make sure that you have it really well thought out: why we’re here, what’s going to be the impact, and why they should join now.
[Naji Gehchan]
So, if I pivot now to the biotech market these days, if you had to describe the state of biotech today in one sentence, what would that be?
[Johanna Grossman]
I would say hot right now. It’s in.
[Naji Gehchan]
Oh, well, that’s good. Hot in a good way, I imagine.
[Johanna Grossman]
It’s in. Yes, yes.
So we’re seeing a lot of activity within biotech in general. So, not only acquisitions from large pharma companies who are bringing some of these newer assets into their own pipelines, but we’re seeing great activity within the follow-on market, and then also within the IPO market as well.
[Naji Gehchan]
Anything specific you’re seeing investors rewarding today in the biotech world after those several years, I should say, of ups and downs that we’ve been going through?
[Johanna Grossman]
I think investors have started to focus on the things that are…
Okay, let me—if I could start that all over, I would say investors are really looking at companies who are a little bit later stage, who have probably a more proven asset, if you will, that can de-risk the investment.
So I would say many of the investors are looking at de-risked assets at this point.
[Naji Gehchan]
Okay, yeah.
[Johanna Grossman]
So later-stage clinical trials, et cetera.
[Naji Gehchan]
Yeah. And how would you think about that from an IPO perspective? We always hear, “Oh, is the IPO market open again?” How are you guys thinking about that?
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah, the IPO market is always open for companies that are ready and for companies that are good companies.
Investors are looking to deploy capital.
So if a company has those de-risked assets, good potential opportunities for growth down the line in biotech—it could be a potential acquisition, a potential partnership with a large pharma company, a large patient base or a very unique patient base that gives them an edge—investors will go to it.
[Naji Gehchan]
And you mentioned when we’re thinking about de-risked assets, is it human-level data, clinical-stage companies that you’re feeling are getting more reward today?
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah. Those Phase 2 assets, you know, those companies that are looking at starting or already in Phase 3. But yes, the human data has been a key component of the companies that have been able to tap the public markets successfully.
[Naji Gehchan]
Great. And looking ahead, so if you’re looking like the next five years, what excites you most in the life sciences? Because I know you cover beyond just biotech. So what is the most exciting piece in life sciences when you think five years ahead?
[Johanna Grossman]
I think it’s the use of data, right? And I hate to say it, but AI.
I feel like you can’t have a conversation nowadays without the words AI, but the use of data and being able to really just aggregate the data—a patient’s data—from multiple sources, from your lab tests, from your doctor’s visits, from your history, and really kind of help better target that patient’s illness or predisposition to something.
So that’s what excites me the most, is really just the amount of data that we are able to access nowadays, and the use of AI in order to help interpret it.
[Naji Gehchan]
Yeah, no, it’s certainly an exciting field. What to do with it. We know this data exists. Now we’re able to gather it, as you’re saying, and then what is the next step for us, even as individuals and humans, to use it and leverage it?
And I’m intrigued. Actually, you brought the AI word, which is the word of the decade, probably, and century.
Certainly, we’ve heard about it in biotech, like drug discovery. We’re all looking into ways of use cases, even in drug development. I’ve had several guests here who are building companies basically on how to improve our drug development path, not only the drug discovery piece.
So I’m always intrigued from your lens, like in the capital markets, beyond capital deployment in anything AI these days.
But really, as you’re looking into companies, are you leveraging AI to think through investments, or are investors leveraging AI to do it? How are you doing it, and how should we think about it as operators and execs in biotech?
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah, so if I had to maybe break down that a little bit.
Internally, I use AI every day. It helps me comb through the thousands of companies that are out there, their research, their pipelines, their upcoming milestones, all of the above, and really kind of helps me get up to speed on different types of drugs, mechanisms of action, et cetera, before I have even my very first conversation with a company.
I think investors are really intrigued about the use of AI in biotech, how quickly it could potentially find new targets or help design new potential drug candidates.
And so what we’re really kind of waiting for now is those proof points.
Right? Like, yes, an AI machine can spit out thousands of potential candidates, but can we synthesize them? Can we put them into assays? Can we then get them through the process of a clinical trial and prove out that, yes, AI helped us not only find the target, build the medicine, maybe even design the clinical trial in a much more streamlined way to get us to an FDA approval quicker?
So, I mean, at the end of the day, we’re still going to have to maybe kind of go through the process and the standard process, but hopefully, as these proof points come out, we’ll be able to shorten that FDA approval pathway, that time of discovery from lab to humans, et cetera.
[Naji Gehchan]
Yeah, no, 100%. I’m a big believer in that.
When you think about it, actually, the moment—there are pieces… science humbles us, right? The moment you put a drug in patients, how many times we’ve been humbled on what’s happening and even the outcomes.
But at some point, to your point, there are so many pieces of this journey that can be optimized, right? From the moment you read out your data until you get approved.
If you think about it, it’s really a human factor, right? The data is the data, and then it becomes just like the right analysis and making the decision of getting the drug approved somehow.
So yeah, I’m very excited like you on what AI can bring to all of us as people and our industry.
If you’re imagining you’re advising a CEO, one of those CEOs who are looking to go public, their company’s growing, beyond the capital access from going public, what would be your biggest advice as they start getting ready for this milestone in the company?
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah, so I guess it kind of just depends on what the goal of the IPO is.
For many biotechs, it is raising money, right? And being able to take this asset from Phase 2 to Phase 3.
But for many other companies, outside of biotech, it really is about potentially sometimes visibility, credibility.
So really understanding why the company wants to go public will help—or will actually help me help advise them—how to prepare, right?
So if it’s about capital and it’s about raising money, then we need to start working on getting your story out there sooner rather than later, right? Getting some thought leadership opportunities out there for them to really tell their story, why their company exists, why investors should be involved.
And if it’s on the visibility side or the credibility side, it’s really kind of just understanding what are the pieces that come with that?
Is it to get customers? Is it to expand in different regions or different countries?
And so that, of course, will bring its own set of prep materials that come along with that.
So, whenever I do work with founders or with companies, I really try to understand why. The why.
Why are we here? Why are we having this conversation? Why do you want to go public?
[Naji Gehchan]
Okay, that’s great advice.
Another piece, as you were telling your story, you mentioned specific people who influenced your journey. So I’m sure you’re big on mentorship and helping others.
So I’d love advice, actually, not for CEOs, but really for young scientists. Yourself, 15 years ago, as you were graduating with a PhD and doing this great science, and you’re dreaming of building a company, what would you advise yourself?
[Johanna Grossman]
I would say keep an open mind, honestly.
You know, I was dead set on being a doctor when I was growing up, and that did not happen. And I took several twists and turns along the way, and it was all due to the fact that, one, I had an open mind, and two, I was able to just share my insecurities and my thought process with others that helped me kind of define and sort of narrow down what potentially I could do.
So, if there’s one piece of advice, it’s really have an open mind and don’t be scared to really say what you’re feeling or what you’re thinking.
Because you saying it out loud puts it out there, and you get people’s reaction to it, and you sometimes learn a lot from just hearing what others think about what you just said.
Does that make sense?
[Naji Gehchan]
It does, actually. It does make a lot of sense. And just being open, as you said, to those pivots, opportunities.
Were you ever imagining being at the New York Stock Exchange?
[Johanna Grossman]
I always tell people, if you would have told me that I would be working at the New York Stock Exchange when I was in the lab, I would be like, “Are you sure that the fumes in my hood are not getting to your head? Is my hood vacuum working right now?”
I would have never in a hundred years guessed that. That would not have been on my bingo card at all.
[Naji Gehchan]
And how do you feel? Because as you were sharing your story, obviously there’s this passion for science, medicine, helping patients.
How do you feel the connection to your true purpose and why is fulfilled in your current role?
[Johanna Grossman]
I would say in a variety of different ways.
One is being able to help companies really get to that endpoint in ultimately helping patients. I mean, I think that’s sort of number one.
Number two is mentorship has always been a big thing for me, and even though perhaps I’m not mentoring these CEOs, in one shape or form, I feel like I am helping them.
Making an introduction to an investor, giving them an opportunity to share their story, helping them really kind of network.
And sometimes that’s half the battle. Half the battle is making that one introduction that could lead to something.
So I find little bits of it really kind of make my role super satisfying and fun to do every day.
[Naji Gehchan]
Oh, that’s great. And you’re certainly, through this, helping those drugs actually get what’s needed for patients, for them to get to patients.
I’m going to give you now a word, and I would love your first reaction to it, whatever comes to mind first.
The first one is leadership.
[Johanna Grossman]
Okay. I would say leadership for me is being fearless, relentless, and full of courage, and really driving forward a mission.
[Naji Gehchan]
What about biotech?
[Johanna Grossman]
Innovation.
Innovation.
[Naji Gehchan]
Wall Street.
[Johanna Grossman]
Money.
Yeah, I would say, yes.
[Naji Gehchan]
Well, tell me a little bit more. You go there every day. It’s—I don’t know. There’s something special about this place.
[Johanna Grossman]
Yeah. It is something.
I continuously walk into that building and I’m like, wow, there’s so much.
You know, there’s so many trades that pass through. The cables that run the New York Stock Exchange. It’s absolutely awe-inspiring.
And when I bring guests in, and when CEOs and CFOs and management teams come in, you’re just kind of like, wow, because it’s such a foundation of not only our nation, but then also it is sort of a vehicle of innovation, right?
The most innovative ideas have needed capital behind them in order to succeed.
And that’s what the New York Stock Exchange does. It helps drive innovation by helping these innovators raise the capital they need to really change the world.
[Naji Gehchan]
Yeah, it’s certainly about people, science, and capital to advance it, right?
The last one is Spread Love in Organizations.
[Johanna Grossman]
Yes, yes.
Okay. I would say it’s the team.
It’s the team, you know? I feel like there is no “I” in team, and as corny as that may sound, but really, you can’t do things alone.
And the team, not only at the New York Stock Exchange, but at GLG, and in my lab when I was in graduate school, and even in undergrad, I’ve been really fortunate to be with team members that I truly respect and have learned from and am still in touch with.
So, I feel very fortunate in that respect.
I’m not one of these disgruntled PhDs that left the lab because I hated it. I actually loved being in the lab. I loved writing my thesis. I loved defending my thesis.
It was quite the experience, for sure.
[Naji Gehchan]
Any final word of wisdom, Johanna, for healthcare leaders?
[Johanna Grossman]
Oh, I would—I mean, besides being open…
Let me think.
I would say…
Any other words of advice?
Honestly, I would just say keep an open mind. Keep an open mind.
You know, I think—and I see it with people that I sometimes work with, not at my company, but just in general.
I see people are like, “Hey, I want to do things this way because this is how it’s always been.”
And I find that people really miss out on good opportunities, and in learning something new, because they’re just like, “No, this is the way it’s been done, and that’s how we’re going to do it.”
So, I think it really does tie back to keeping an open mind and having that conversation, because you never know where that one conversation can lead, what you’ll learn from that.
And honestly, that’s how I’ve actually continued to progress in my career, is by having a conversation.
[Naji Gehchan]
Well, that’s the power of conversations. I love this.
One last one. If we’re sitting here and having a conversation five years from now, what would you hope we’ll be talking about?
[Johanna Grossman]
Oh, how many amazing companies have gone public, or I have helped to take public, for sure.
And how much more I’ve learned in the five years.
And maybe we won’t be talking about AI and biotech. Maybe we’ll be talking about biotech on the moon. I don’t know. We’ll be talking about different planets by then, especially just with the speed of innovation.
Cancer will be cured, you know, things like that. I hope.
[Naji Gehchan]
Yeah.
Well, same here.
Thanks so much, Johanna, for being with me today and for this incredible chat. It’s been a pleasure.
[Johanna Grossman]
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
Naji Gehchan: Thanks for listening to the show! For more episodes, make sure to subscribe to Spreadloveio.com or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Let’s inspire change together and make a positive impact in healthcare, one story at a time.
Follow us on LinkedIn and connect with us on spreadloveio.com. We’re eager to hear your thoughts and feedback. Most importantly, spread love in your organizations and spread the word around you to inspire others and amplify this movement, our world so desperately needs