On the origin of life's true milestones

I recently turned 50. Had you asked me five years ago, I’d have predicted achieving this milestone to be “a big deal”, and perhaps one that would be at least a bit concerning. But these days it honestly feels like just another in a long list of milestones that we experience in life. When you think about it, we’re constantly doing something for the first time. It’s just that most of these things are inconsequential so we don’t explicitly mark the occasion. But then there are other seemingly small things - decisions made, steps taken, which prove in hindsight to be monumentally important milestones. We just didn’t know it at the time.

And this is what I want to write about today. I’m admittedly not sure if this will be interesting to anyone but me, though I certainly hope it is. Fair warning - this is a long post. It’s definitely less casual than how I’ve been writing on this still-new blog v2.0. But I awoke super early yet again today, and I feel like reflection is the order of the day for me as I contemplate this latest age milestone!

Foundational decisions are made

After graduating high school, I entered university in my home state of NY, ostensibly on a course towards a career in medicine. To be honest, I initially struggled due to a poor balance between my rigorous academic schedule and my social life. But there were at least three milestones during this time that set the stage for all that came to pass later. The first of these was deciding as a sophomore to work in a lab as an undergrad research associate in order to improve my attractiveness as a medical school candidate. My (otherwise lousy) college advisor had suggested this course of action after sharing his rather candid opinion of how poor my chances of getting into med school were based on my grades to date.

Having an interesting, fulfilling, and overwhelmingly positive experience in that lab, in which I met one of the early mentors in my life, led to milestone number two. In my senior year, I decided against med school in favor of graduate school. I had caught the research bug in a big way! I applied and was accepted to a PhD program in the same lab. This is counter to standard practice in science, and my mentor (by then also my advisor) tried to talk me out of it. But I knew it was the right fit for all the important reasons, and in the end he was happy to have me stay with the group. And so I started out on this path the summer after I graduated with my BS.

The third milestone came two years into my PhD program. My friend and fellow lab member, Sarah, had recently left with her MS, and was working at a CT biotech startup. She encouraged me to apply for a job at her company - “hey, it’s a free trip even if you’re not sure you’re interested!”. The truth was that while I loved being a grad student (really!) I was becoming disillusioned with academia so seeing alternative paths seemed a fun idea. I was excited by all I saw on the trip, had a great interview, and was offered a job. After some real soul searching, I decided to leave my PhD, take the job, and write a Master’s thesis on the work I’d done so far instead. This was a huge decision and one that surprised and confused most of my academic colleagues. My advisor was stunned and tried to talk me out of it (years later he did agree it had worked out well for me!). But it was a foundational pivot that led to my 23-year career…

Early career moves pave the way

18 months after starting that job, I left my second role there for a large pharma company. I worked in a great group, had a wonderful boss, and the benefits were great. But after two years there, I was bored, saw no prospects of quick advancement, and was itching for change. I like keeping up connections so I emailed my friend Mike from the startup about meeting for lunch. When we got together, he described the new biotech startup he was at. I told him to let me know if they ever had any openings for my background. He was surprised at this given he thought my pharma job was pretty amazing. Shortly thereafter I was contacted to interview there and I took the job. And that’s where I met Lorri, my future wife. Perhaps a more traditional milestone but I love how something so important came to pass because of a chance lunch conversation! These “butterfly effect” occurrences are so fascinating to me.

A second milestone came about six years later. Lorri and I had been living in Maine for three years, having left the fray of biotech in favor of lifestyle change. We lived in a beautiful (yet often cold) part of the world, had great friends nearby, hiked often, and had far less intense science jobs that we enjoyed. We’d recently had a child and were considering the reality of being far from our families. We decided to move back to CT, leveraging my old startup connections to land a job at yet another early stage biotech. That shift led me to the then-new field of “next generation sequencing”, and a ten-year, two-company stage in my career that vastly expanded my network, accelerated my goals towards financial independence, and served as a jumping off point for where I am today. I also made some of the best and longest term friends of my life so far.

After nearly five years at that job, now part of a respected international biopharma company where I had a pretty great career trajectory and could have readily been a “lifer”, I contemplated next steps. Lorri and I had known for a long time that we wanted to retire early but now thirteen years into my career, we still didn’t have a real “plan” to do so. We were merely diligently saving, curtailing expenses, and hoping to get there…someday. And so we decided to roll the dice again, and leave the comfortable career path hoping to hit it big. And so milestone three in this career phase had me joining yet another scrappy startup down the road - also in sequencing. And it was this decision which led me to yet another essential pivot less than two years later.

The final pieces fall into place

To be honest, the critical milestone that took me into this last phase of my career fell into my lap. I merely had to realize the opportunity in front of me and take action - but I almost didn’t! I’d been in CT at this latest startup for a couple of years, and we’d been acquired by a much larger CA-based company. No, I wasn’t able to cash out and move to a villa in Tuscany - the sale was good for my family but it was not life changing money. Anyhow, at a leadership conference during cocktail hour, I learned of a job opening at the parent company which my current boss asked me if I’d consider. I told him I’d think about but honestly wasn’t sure it was a good fit. It was a substantial promotion but I loved my current job and team - still part of the same group just at the larger corporation, and wasn’t sure the greatly increased scope was worth all the hassle.

I took my martini back to a table in the lounge where I chatted with a peer about what had just transpired. After hearing me out she looked me in the eyes and plainly said “I hear what you’re saying but think about what you’d need to take this job. This is your chance to ask for things. They don’t come up that often, and I’d seriously consider that before turning it down”. In one of those rare moments of clarity (despite having had a few drinks), this idea really resonated. I sensed that time was of the essence as this role needed to be filled, and I was a strong candidate for it. I thought for a few minutes, called Lorri, and we quickly strategized. I hung up and shared my (admittedly ambitious) requests with my boss. I then saw him walk over to the head of the parent company, talk briefly, shake his hand, after which he walked over to me. The job was likely going to be mine - with all I’d requested, detailed offer to follow.

I got the title I’d requested and a good raise. But most importantly, the company moved my family to the Bay Area in California - my biggest ask. Being based in CA turned out to be the change I needed to truly accelerate my trajectory. I stayed at this company another three years. Being based at the main office enabled further role transitions and promotions, moving me closer to our goals, and also put me proximal to many more opportunities at other companies. CT simply couldn’t compare in that respect. This led me to the final six-year stint in my 23-year career, one at which we finally achieved our goal of financial independence at age 46 (and Lorri at 44) and early retirement at 47 (and 45).

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I love looking back at the decisions we made along the way and contemplating how they all fit together to lead us to our eventual goal. As always, I’d be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the role that luck and good timing had to play. Clearly, a lot had to fall into place to enable this path we undertook to work out. Yes, we also had to be ambitious, take risks, and work hard. Most importantly we had to trust in ourselves that things would work out and that we could always change path if needed. I’m so thankful for the 50 years full of exciting milestones that I’ve been able to experience so far. Here’s to hoping I’ve got 50+ more still yet to come! Best wishes to you and your own family in achieving all of your goals. Thanks 🙏

image credit: Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash