How to set up your life sciences business for a successful IPO

In the third installment of our four-part series, our Senior Partner and VP, Claire Perry is in discussion with another admirable leader, Bonnie Anderson, Co-founder and Executive Chairwoman at Veracyte, a global diagnostics company. In their conversation, Claire and Bonnie discuss a range of topics from what it takes to start and run a successful business to what executive-level women in the workplace can do to support the next generation of female leaders, and much more.

Bonnie H. Anderson’s career spans over 40 years in regulated diagnostics and life science markets. She co-founded Veracyte in 2008 and served as Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board until June 1, 2021, when she assumed the role of Executive Chairwoman. Ms. Anderson led Veracyte’s initial public offering in 2013, spearheaded commercialization of its market-leading products, and was the architect of the company’s vision to become a global enterprise with a growing menu of advanced genomic diagnostics tests and its own distributed instrument platform.

Prior to Veracyte, Ms. Anderson provided strategic consulting services to venture capital firms and early-stage businesses following 18 years in leadership positions at Beckman Coulter. She serves on the boards of Bruker Corporation, DNA Script, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and is a trustee emeritus of the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences. Additionally, Ms. Anderson is President of the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine and previously served on the board of Castle Biosciences. She has received numerous awards for her industry leadership, including: the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation (2017); “Fiercest Women in Life Sciences” (FiercePharma, 2017); “100 Most Creative People in Business” (Fast Company, 2015); “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” and “Bay Area’s Most Admired CEOs” (San Francisco Business Times, 2013 and 2014); and “Women of Influence” (Silicon Valley Business Journal, 2013). Under Ms. Anderson’s leadership, Veracyte has been named a “Top Workplace” by the Bay Area News Group, based solely on employee feedback, for seven consecutive years (2014-2020). Ms. Anderson graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Medical Technology and in 2012 was honored with a “Distinguished Alumni” award.

Topics covered:

• Establishing a company in an economic crisis
• Challenges of starting a business
• When to go public through IPO
• How running a public company differs from running a private company
• Valuable lessons in running a successful profitable business
• Advice for securing your first board position
• Supporting the next generation of female leaders

For more insights from life science leaders, see further episodes from our Women CEOs and Founder Series: