Global CEO Excellence Awards 2020

12 CEO MONTHLY / GLOBAL CEO EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2020 , Best Biotechnology Consulting CEO 2020 (Central Europe): Davide Staedler During his studies in Biology at theUniversity of Lausanne (Switzerland), twenty-two year oldDavide Staedler founded TIBIO, a consulting company for scientific challenges. Inmore than a decade, TIBIO has grown exponentially all thanks to the guidance and leadership of Davide. Following his recent recognition in the Global CEO Excellence Awards 2020, we profiled Davide to discover more about howhe established himself as the best biotechnology consulting CEO 2020 for Central Europe. Established in 2009, TIBIO was initially designed to specialise in the scale-up processing of cultures of microorganisms for the production of enzymes and organisms able to catalyse chemical reactions, including the degradation of pollutants. As the years went by and the experience the firm acquired in the industrialisation of biotech process increased, TIBIO’s activities shifted from pure production and application of biotech products, to consulting services in biotechnology and chemistry. Today, Davide and the team propose two unique services. The first is selling and applying their own biotech-solutions, such as the patented ODB System for the decontamination of dielectric oils in industries. The second service TIBIO provides is offering businesses pure consulting services. Many of the customers the firm offer these unique services to fall into two categories. Half of their clients are start-ups in chemistry and life sciences who need the support for the industrialisation of their own process. The other half are established companies and state companies that want to externalise a number of R&D activities in biotech and chemistry, or that are interested in TIBIO’s biotech products. TIBIO have adopted a customer- oriented approach to their service, as they focus on the development of high-quality, custom-made and cost-effective scientific solutions. The consulting services the team consistently delivers are fully comprehensive and include both scientific aspects that regulatory aspects. In addition to these unique services on offer, another strength of the firm is the highly qualified specialists and their international network. During the early stages of a project, when the client has approached TIBIO for scientific support, the team take into account two fundamental points. They are to provide the right high-level scientific specialists and, most importantly, that they listen carefully to the customer so they are able to truly understand and characterise the issue behind their request. It must be noted, that the overall success of a scale-up or application in life sciences often depends on certain key details. If a new customer ask TIBIO for one of the firm’s own products, for instance the ODB System, the approach is based on a fully comprehensive management of the situation. However, the firm’s approach in general is based on three simple steps: listen and understand the needs, identify key steps and to fully takeover of the issue. Paving the way and leading by example is award-winning biotechnology consulting CEO, Davide Staedler. When he was twenty-two years old, he founded TIBIO, an impressive accomplishment for someone so young. Following establishing his successful business, Davide obtained a Master of Sciences in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Lausanne, then later a rightfully earning his doctorate (PhD) in organic chemistry from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (Lausanne). If all of this was not impressive enough, Davide has also had successful industrial and academic careers. In addition to his role as CEO of TIBIO, Davide was appointed in 2015 as the Chief Scientific Officer of the Scitech Research laboratory, one of the most important analytical laboratories in Switzerland. As for his academic careers, he was appointed Lecturer at the Faculty for Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne in 2014, then in 2019 Private Docent in Pharmacology and Toxicology at the same University. Aside from accumulating an impressive wealth of experience and knowledge, Davide also takes times to be involved in mentoring and supporting start-ups. As a member of the board for start-ups such as Levatura (Swiss company specialised on Jun20020 the production of custom-made yeasts for the beer and alimentary industry), he also supports foundations like the Association Fiordaliso (helping children in Switzerland) and the Blackwasn foundation (Swiss foundation for research on orphan diseases). Basing his leadership style on listening and sharing ideas with the team, Davide considers that the respect for a leader is gained from a combination of their experience and knowledge. However, his vision is not imposed but rather based on evidence and common objectives. When Davide founded TIBIO in 2009, it was immediately after the 2008-crisis and so the economic situation was still difficult. Moreover, the firm initially started with green solutions which, unfortunately, were further impacted by the crisis. During this time, Davide learned some valuable from the post-crisis situation. For instance, he learned the importance to have a flexible structure in terms of custom-oriented solutions. Since TIBIO operates within niche and high-tech sectors, their main challenge, oneDavide has encountered throughout his career so far, is to remain flexible enough to meet the evolving needs of customers and to remain up-to-date with any changes. For this, the team at TIBIO collaborates closely with