The Gradience
Prioritizing Culture with Riley Ennis, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of Freenome
June 21, 2022
Many founders speak to specific actions that enabled the growth of their companies in their respective industries. Some tips might apply in all sectors, while others are specific to certain industries. Here, Riley Ennis of Freenome shares actionable steps that have worked for him in healthcare.
Many founders speak to specific actions that enabled the growth of their companies in their respective industries. Some tips might apply in all sectors, while others are specific to certain industries. Here, Riley Ennis of Freenome shares actionable steps that have worked for him in healthcare.  

In the healthcare system, within a space like oncology — where there’s no magic bullet — the team’s expertise, passion, resilience, shared values, common culture, and faith in the project are the major determinants of the project or company's success. In the same vein, in cases where a hiring firm is needed, the team’s expertise and openness to learning affect how far it might go. Ergo, an investment must be made in both the hard and soft skills of personnel. A founder must also cover all bases concerning the company; invest in research, the team, culture, culture interviews, scaling, and the hiring process, among many other factors that make up a functional and successful company. In achieving this dream company that will stand the test of time while leveraging the wisdom and experience of prospects, there should be a focus on including communication, interdisciplinary, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence in the ecosystem of the early team. 

In this episode of The Gradience Podcast, Nigel is joined by Riley Ennis, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of Freenome.

They cover:

👉 Building the founding team in line with Freenome’s direction 
👉 Riley's secret to hiring industry experts   
👉 Designing a culture through culture ownership and shared values 
👉 Culture Interviews; What to look out for when hiring executives and the leadership
👉 Cultural assessment; The selection process for recruiters/search firms/talent partners 
👉 Riley’s advice to his younger self as a founder 
👉 Advice to young founders; health equity in biotech   
👉 The future of Freenome
👉 Developing an evolving legacy; an enduring culture  

Are you interested in biotech, multi-omics, the use of machine learning, and liquid biopsies in cancer research, early detection, and treatment? If you’re passionate about improving the healthcare system through technology and need insight from an expert on hiring an experienced interdisciplinary leadership team to embark on this journey with, tune in to this episode of The Gradience Podcast, a Podcast by Build Talent.

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👉 Email: info@buildtalent.io 

And connect with Riley here:  

👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/rileycennis    
👉 Website: https://www.freenome.com    

About the Show

“The Gradience” is a podcast by Build Talent & hosted by Nigel Robinson. Where in each episode, we’ll be speaking with a founder or expert as we discuss the art & science of hiring leaders, why it matters, and how you can keep up. 


The Gradience is hand crafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Previous guests include: Riley Ennis of Freenome, Matt Birnbaum of Pear VC, Derek Lo of Medallion, Chandan Lodha of CoinTracker, Jennifer Smith of Scribe

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