Chris Robinson: Chief Talent Officer, Third Rock Ventures | Talent Take Five #3

In this episode of Talent Take Five, I sit down with Chris Robinson, Chief Talent Officer at Third Rock Ventures, to discuss why 70% of biotech startups fail—and it has nothing to do with bad science. Chris has helped build over 60 biotech companies from scratch, proving that great teams beat great science every time. With Third Rock's track record of 46 exits and 25+ approved drugs, Chris shares the hard-won lessons most founders learn too late.

Key Topics:

Why betting on people beats betting on breakthrough science (the data behind Third Rock's success)

The #1 hiring mistake founders make: fixating on technical expertise while missing leadership capability

"War-time" vs. "peace-time" leaders: How to identify who's built for today's brutal biotech market

The one founder trait you can't teach or fake (hint: it's not intelligence)

Why the "starters" are rarely the "finishers" in scaling companies

Mark Levin's leadership philosophy: Hire people who can run the race faster than you

The trust equation: How the first 20 employees set culture that can't be changed later

The inflation trap: Why racing for bigger titles and compensation destroys careers

Where AI will transform recruiting—and where human connection will always win

Real talk on China's biotech rise, FDA chaos, and what the talent shortage actually means

About Chris Robinson:

Chris is Chief Talent Officer at Third Rock Ventures, where he's spent 15 years building management teams and launching companies in one of the industry's most successful venture firms. Third Rock has raised $4.2 billion and launched 70 companies using their unique "company creation" model—not just funding startups, but building them from day one. A former Marine, Chris brings 25 years of experience in biotech recruiting and has been instrumental in establishing the "operational venture capital" approach that's reshaping how life science companies are built.


Third Rock Ventures: thirdrockventures.com

About Talent Take Five:

A podcast for executives and HR leaders navigating the future of work and how to build and keep high-performing teams. Host Andrew Sterling brings 11 years of staffing and HR search experience to conversations with industry thought leaders who are reshaping how we hire, develop, and lead people.

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