Foster Your Culture With Exponential Changes (Not Incremental) with the CPO of Denali Therapeutics

The Culture Code

It’s not so often you get to hear from a CPO who was a company’s first hire.

CPO at Denali Therapeutics, Cindy Dunkle, is exactly that.

She’s done a stunning job of scaling culture on the company’s growth path to 450 employees.

The biotech company injects science into its culture at every turn.

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

1. Culture as the result of “inputs” and “outputs.”

Dunkle: What are those things to add, such as connection, opportunity, and growth? What are those things to subtract, like silos and uncertainty? What multiplies?

2. A patient connection team helps the company engage directly with patients.

Dunkle: This is about how we invest in our communities, disease awareness, and raising money. It’s also about sharing our own experiences with being impacted by the diseases we're treating.

3. Flattened hierarchy + learning on the floor.

Denali’s CEO Ryan Watts was a successful early-career neurobiologist. Stemming from his roots, the company established an environment where new ideas from anyone at any level were energizing.

Dunkle: Even our physical space is an open space concept. There are no offices regardless of level because learning takes place on the floor via informal exposure.

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The originality at Denali is off the charts! 📈

And the science runs deep. 👩‍🔬

Enjoy.