Taking a biotech public is not the obvious job for a scientist-founder CEO, yet plenty of US scientist-leaders have done IPOs, and in Europe as companies aim directly for Nasdaq. A new breed of scientist-founder has emerged – PhD-carrying entrepreneurs who want to personally help translate their ideas into companies, but investors will seek a CEO with more experience selling ideas to investors and potential partners. What does it take to stay the course from scientist-at-large to CEO? In Vivo reviews the many, varied paths toward biotech CEO, and what it takes to lead a company to IPO and beyond.