Quang Pham, a former Vietnamese refugee, Marine pilot, and now CEO of Cadrenal Therapeutics, shares his incredible journey of resilience and leadership. He emphasizes decisive action in leadership, the importance of capital discipline in startups, and the reality that hard work alone doesn't guarantee promotions. He also discusses the significance of defining personal success against cultural norms and shares his experience overcoming speaking challenges to attract venture funding. Quang's insights inspire all aspiring leaders.
39:47
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Decisive Leadership Lesson
Military leadership taught Quang Pham to make quick decisions without consulting everyone. - This decisiveness became a core principle he applied in entrepreneurial leadership.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Earn Promotions with Results
Don’t expect automatic promotions in the private sector like in the military. - You must produce results and take initiatives to advance your career.
insights INSIGHT
Define Your Own Success
Success means pursuing what makes you happy, not fulfilling family or cultural expectations. - Quang's choice of military went against Vietnamese cultural norms but was personally fulfilling.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Quang Pham went from being a 10-year-old refugee airlifted out of Vietnam to becoming a Marine pilot, and the CEO of a NASDAQ-listed biotech company. In this conversation, he shares the exact lessons that guided each transition.
Key insight:
On decision-making: “As a young officer, we were taught to make decisions… there’s not enough time to consult with everybody. You gotta make a decision to keep moving and then adjust along the way.” This became his foundational leadership principle across sectors.
On capital discipline: “In the private sector and entrepreneurial world, resources are scarce… you have to treat it with the utmost respect and spend it wisely.” Military spending habits do not translate to startups.
On performance and promotion: “You work hard, but you have to produce results.” Early in his corporate career, he assumed promotions would come automatically. They did not.
On defining success: “You have to follow and pursue what makes you happy. Not what your family or your culture or society wants.” As a Vietnamese refugee, choosing the military was going against all cultural expectations.
On raising capital without pedigree: “I lacked the skills to present to venture capitalists… so I spent a lot of time at Toastmasters picking up new speaking skills.” Within 90 days of leaving his corporate job, he secured venture funding as a first-time CEO.
On pitch strategy: “You have to get to the key points… in the first seven or ten minutes, if not sooner.” Investors have limited attention. He focused his pitch on buyer, payment frequency, and execution, not theoretical market size.
On cold outreach: “It was just three sentences. Who I was, what my company did, something about our common [background].” This approach led to two successful VC rounds.
On leadership transitions: “I knew that I had the skills and the backing and that the baton had to be passed… the company flourished and I was then just a shareholder.” Founders must be willing to step aside to scale.
On AI and decision-making: “There is somebody making decisions for AI, the decision to use AI, the decision to pay for AI… at the end of the day, we still need entrepreneurs and leaders.”
This episode offers practical reflections for those navigating leadership transitions, capital formation, and decision-making in complex, resource-constrained settings.
The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving 