Why Leen Kawas Believes Founders Should Stay Close to the Science
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Biotech startups often face a familiar tension: the need to scale as a business while still advancing complex scientific programs. For many founders, this creates a pull away from the laboratory and toward investor presentations, board meetings, and market strategy. Leen Kawas, co-founder and managing general partner of Propel Bio Partners, argues that the best founders resist that drift. In her view, staying close to the science is not only a safeguard against distraction but the foundation of long-term success.
Kawas’s conviction is rooted in her own experience. As a scientist and inventor turned entrepreneur, she co-founded Athira Pharma and guided it from early-stage research to late-stage clinical trials and a public offering. Now, as an investor, she advises a new generation of biotech leaders. In both roles, she has seen how founders who remain connected to the core science make stronger decisions, attract better partners, and preserve the mission that drives innovation.
The Science as Compass
Kawas often describes science as the compass for biotech ventures. Markets shift, financing environments tighten, and competition can intensify—but the underlying science determines whether a company has a future. Founders who lose sight of this risk building infrastructure, teams, and strategies around ideas that cannot stand the test of rigorous inquiry.
She emphasizes that staying close to the science does not mean founders must spend every day at the bench. Instead, it means remaining engaged with the data, the development process, and the real challenges of moving discoveries through trials. Founders who understand the nuances of their science are better positioned to communicate its promise and its risks, both to investors and to regulators.
Avoiding the Drift Toward Abstraction
One of Kawas’s concerns is that as companies grow, founders can drift into abstraction—speaking more in financial metrics than in scientific milestones. She cautions that while financial literacy is essential, biotech is not like other industries. Revenue models, market share, and exit strategies are only meaningful if the underlying science delivers.
By staying close to the science, founders ensure that every business decision is anchored in reality. They can better evaluate timelines, anticipate setbacks, and adjust strategies based on evidence rather than assumptions. Leen Kawas sees this as the discipline that separates resilient companies from those built on overpromises.
Building Credibility With Stakeholders
Kawas also points out that proximity to the science strengthens credibility. Investors are more likely to commit when founders can articulate the technical underpinnings of their programs with clarity. Regulators respond more positively to leaders who understand the details of their submissions. Even within teams, scientists are more motivated when they see that leadership respects and understands their work.
She argues in this piece on Principal Post that credibility is not created through polished presentations but through authentic engagement with the science itself. Founders who can bridge the gap between laboratory detail and strategic vision earn the trust that sustains companies through inevitable challenges.
Science as the Source of Mission
Beyond strategy and credibility, Kawas believes that science is also the source of mission. Biotech founders are often motivated by the possibility of improving patient lives. Staying close to the science keeps that purpose vivid. Data is not just numbers on a chart; it represents progress toward therapies that could transform or save lives.
Kawas warns that when founders drift too far from the science, the sense of mission can fade into generic business language. By contrast, when leaders remain engaged with the research, they can inspire teams, investors, and partners with a vision that is both technical and human.
The Investor’s Perspective
Now as a venture capitalist at Propel Bio Partners, Leen Kawas applies this philosophy to the companies she supports. She actively looks for founders who demonstrate scientific engagement. In her view, these leaders are more likely to build enduring companies because they can navigate the uncertainties of biotech with grounded judgment.
She contrasts this with founders who lean too heavily on business credentials alone. Without a strong connection to the science, such leaders may excel at raising capital but struggle to steer the company when scientific hurdles arise. For Kawas, the best investment is in founders who integrate both perspectives but never lose sight of the science at the core.
A Model for Enduring Innovation
Leen Kawas’s belief that founders should stay close to the science is more than advice; it is a model for how biotech can endure. By keeping science central, leaders anchor their companies in the only factor that truly determines long-term value. They also ensure that the mission—the promise of better therapies—remains visible to all who contribute.
Her career demonstrates this lesson in practice, and her investments carry it forward. For Kawas, the future of biotech depends not only on funding and markets but on founders who remember where innovation begins: with the science itself.
To learn more about Leen Kawas, check out her profile on crunchbase.com.