Innovators in Practice: Entrepreneurial Mindset & Leadership
Join Colin Foster for an Innovators in Practice session on Entrepreneurial Mindset & Leadership. Colin will explore frameworks for founder resilience, decision-making under uncertainty, and building effective early-stage teams that thrive through growth and change.
About Colin: Colin Foster has over thirty years of experience as a public and private life science company Chairman, Executive Chairman, Board Member, CEO, and entrepreneur with direct leadership experience across the R&D-manufacturing-commercial continuum in therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and over-the-counter (OTC) consumer healthcare products. As CEO, he has led multi-billion-dollar, mid-sized, and start-up life science companies/divisions in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom/Ireland & Israel, financing, building, turning around, and optimizing them organically and through transformational transactions.
Colin is currently Chairperson & CEO of Cytosolix, Inc., an early stage, venture-backed oncology therapeutics company (solid cancers) spun out of Yale University, Chairperson of Saatient Therapeutics, Inc., an oncology therapeutics company (hematological/solid cancers) spun out of Columbia University, a Board Member of NBO Pharma, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Yale University, an Executive-in-Residence & Senior Industry Advisor at Columbia University, and a member of the New York University Langone Health Investment Committee. Previously, Colin was CEO of iSci Management, a strategic advisory firm, Board Member & CEO of Bioblast Pharma Ltd, a publicly traded (NASDAQ), clinical-stage biopharma company, Executive Chairman of Ivenix, Inc., a US-based venture-backed medical device company, a co-founder, board member, and CEO of Optherion, Inc., a US-based, venture-backed therapeutics and molecular diagnostics company and board member of several other life science companies. Colin also served as President & CEO of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation USA, Region Head of the North American Pharmaceuticals Group of Bayer AG, and a member of Bayer AG’s Global Pharmaceutical Operating Committee. Over ten years with Bayer in therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics, he held progressive commercial and general management roles in Canada, the USA, and United Kingdom/Ireland, culminating in his role as CEO of the multi-billion-dollar North American Pharmaceuticals Group.
Colin has a B.Sc. in Zoology and Microbiology from the University of Toronto, an M.B.A. from the Ivy School of Business at Western University in Canada, and his Canadian Securities Certificate. He is a citizen of Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
This event is part of Yale Ventures’ Innovators in Practice series, a speaker and workshop program that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and experts to train Yale’s Venture Associates in the fundamentals of startup leadership and venture creation. Each session offers candid, experience-based perspectives on the challenges and rewards of building impactful companies.