Virtual Lunch & Learn: The Scientist-CEO Communication Trap: Why Brilliant Founders Create the Exact Problem That Stalls

Join us for a Virtual Lunch & Learn presented by Dr. Yoanne Clovis as she explores how PhD and MD founders can adapt their communication approach as their companies grow.

As the scientist who discovered and developed your product, you are the best person in the company to explain the science to other experts in your field. You can close the first round and convince the first hires, usually also scientists. But scientists often fall into the expert trap, when your deep expertise prevents them from connecting with non-experts, like angel investors and non-scientist executives who could become your next hire or your next partner. What made you credible in the lab becomes a liability as the team grows.

This session looks at the specific pattern PhD and MD founders fall into somewhere between fifteen people and sixty: the founder keeps leaning on the science and insists on leading the communications alone, long after the company has outgrown that approach. Dr. Clovis will walk through when things tend to change structurally, why “I’ll handle it myself” stops working, and what early-stage and pre-Phase II leaders can put in place now to maintain scientific integrity while growing the company.

Speaker: Dr. Yoanne Clovis

Dr. Yoanne Clovis, is the founder of Yoanne Clovis, LLC, where she helps scientist-founders and early biotech teams keep their science communication clear and consistent as the company grows. She holds a PhD in Neurobiology and Molecular Biology from the Italian Institute of Technology and the University of Genova, and spent more than a decade as a commercial operator inside early-stage biotechs, running sales, marketing, brand strategy, and go-to-market, before founding her practice. 

Yoanne serves on the board of NSBE PRO PDX and The Beautiful Way Foundation, and served as a TiE Oregon charter member in 2025, helping angel investors vet new opportunities. Yoanne also runs a pitch coaching program for pre-seed and seed biotech founders preparing for a raise or a major partner conversation.

This program was organized by Oregon Bioscience Incubator. https://www.otradi.org/