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April 6, 2025
There was a time when early-stage Life Sciences Tools and Diagnostics companies waited to hire commercial leadership.
They’d focus on science.
Build the product.
Raise more capital.
Then bring in someone to sell it.
That playbook is changing — fast.
Capital is tighter. Dilution matters. Investors want to see a go-to-market strategy before they write the next check — not after. Without product-market fit, they’ll walk away from early-stage funding.
In Diagnostics, especially, the commercial path begins with payer strategy — not just sales. Waiting too long can derail momentum and slow downstream progress.
Strategic acquirers want to see traction, systems, and a team in place. That means commercial leaders need time to architect infrastructure well before revenue shows up.
The best companies use upstream marketing to shape clinical development, product-market fit, and positioning — not just launch planning.
This is where many companies go wrong.
They hire someone too tactical.
Too late.
Or too expensive for the stage they’re in.
What you need in early-stage commercial leadership:
• Someone who can shape market entry strategy — not just manage reps
• Someone comfortable working cross-functionally with Investors, the CEO, and Market Access
• Someone who can represent the company in BD, investor, and strategic partner conversations
• Someone who knows how to build systems that scale — even before there’s a sales team
Before you hire, make sure you define what success looks like at this stage.
At Alder Brooks, we help CEOs and Investors recruit early commercial leaders who understand the stage — and know how to build the foundation for growth.
That doesn’t mean hiring a full commercial team.
It means hiring the right person to lead the thinking, shape the system, and prepare the business for scale.
These are the traits that matter most when hiring commercial talent early.
