About Joseph Belanoff
Joseph Belanoff, co-founder and CEO of Corcept Therapeutics, discussed his career trajectory in a September 2021 TEDx talk. He described transitioning from working on Wall Street to attending medical school at Columbia, stating that the "main object of working on Wall Street" was to retire early, which did not align with his personal values. Belanoff said he pursued drug development because he was concerned that licensing his intellectual property to a large company could result in it "sitting on the shelf." He noted that his company raised approximately $320 to $330 million before generating any revenue and that the average time to bring a drug to market is 12 to 15 years.
Belanoff said his company is "worth about three billion dollars" and that its financial success was meaningful because his "core value, which was helping others, is really served well by my company." He stated that he continues to see patients every Thursday afternoon and teaches a course, adding that his board supported this from the beginning. Belanoff remarked that "there's no benefit you can ever get for anything without a potential cost" and that giving up seeing patients would have been that cost if his drugs had never succeeded. He advised that "an attitude that you're going to be okay with adjustment" is key to success.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Joseph Belanoff's recent appearances.
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Transcript (1 segments)
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Joseph Belanoff0:03
I hope I'm visible to you. I think I'm probably last among everyone here in using audio visual equipment, but I'm glad to be here. I want to tell my life story because it's very different. The older I get, the more reluctant I am to give people advice because life takes individual twists and turns. You can start in one place and end up in a similar but different place. You learn from people who are important to you. I was an English major at Amherst College. The skills of writing and communicating have been very useful. Being a good communicator is key for entrepreneurs. One piece of advice: don't narrow yourself into a place without flexibility. Life has many twists and turns. After college, I worked as a paralegal in a law firm but quickly realized law wasn't for me. I learned card counting in blackjack, which helped me get a job on Wall Street. I worked in quantitative finance, found it lucrative but not fulfilling. I decided to go to medical school at Columbia at age 30 and really enjoyed it. I chose psychiatry because you hear great stories and learn about the brain. I did my residency at Stanford and started research, which led to patents. To avoid my patents being shelved, I started my own company, Corcept Therapeutics. The drug development cycle takes 12 to 15 years, very different from tech. We raised over $300 million before getting any revenue. I negotiated with my board to continue seeing patients every Thursday and teaching at Stanford. Perseverance is key. Now the company is worth about $3 billion. But the real value is helping others. My hope is that we'll meet in person soon, maybe next year. The vaccine for COVID will work. Life has twists and turns, but all your foundational work and ability to adjust will help you succeed.
