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San Diego Business Journal, June 29, 2009
Biotech Profile - Joel Martin.
By: San Diego Business Journal Staff
Joel Martin is president and CEO of Altair Therapeutics, which is
developing novel therapeutics to treat human respiratory diseases.
Altair’s lead product is AIR645, the first in a class of inhaled drugs
that incorporate second-generation antisense chemistry.
Martin was a partner at Forward Ventures from 2001 through 2008, where he invested in biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Previously, Martin was co-founder and CEO of Quantum Dot (acquired by Invitrogen, now Life Technologies), a pioneer in nanotechnology applications in the life sciences, and he was founder and CEO of Argonaut Technologies, a provider of automation technology for medicinal chemistry.
Dr. Martin was also a member of the early scientific team at Isis Pharmaceuticals, which discovered the asthma drug being developed at Altair.
RESUMÉ
- Name: Joel Martin.
- Company: Altair Therapeutics.
- Titles: President and CEO.
- Education: B.S. and M.B.A., University of Michigan; Ph.D., UC San Diego.
- Birthplace: Michigan.
- Age: 52.
- Current residence: San Diego.
- Family: Yes!
BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY
Essential business philosophy: Know what you don’t know.
Best way to keep a competitive edge: Listen, learn and look outward.
Guiding principles: Don’t get too full of yourself. Be a grown-up and hire people who are smarter than you.
Yardsticks of success: Looking in the mirror and knowing that you’ve done the right thing for your company, your family and the world.
Goals yet to be achieved: Wow, too many to name; see one of my drugs get approved, become a great guitar player and grow my hair back? The first one might actually happen.
JUDGMENT CALLS
Best business decision: Working with extraordinary people.
Worst business decision: Working with less than extraordinary people.
Toughest business decision: Opposing a reverse merger public offering; right call, but tough.
Biggest missed opportunity: I was hand-wiring my own computers in the early days of personal computing but chose not to follow my mother’s advice to go into it as a business.
Word that describes you: Thoughtful.
TRUE CONFESSIONS
What you like best about your job: I adore my job. The people are great, the technology superb and we are doing something very important.
What you like least about your job: The current business environment in general and the biotech environment in particular are very tough right now.
Pet peeve: Bumptious blowhards (hey, the alliteration popped into my head).
Most important lesson learned: Don’t tie your identity too closely to your company; your company is not you.
Person most interested in meeting: Barack Obama.
Three greatest passions: Family, surfing and music.
First choice for a new career: Fantasy career? Rock star! Real career? I’m good with what I’m doing!
PREDILECTIONS
Favorite quote: “The only man who makes no mistake is the man who does nothing.” — Theodore Roosevelt.
Most influential book: “The Winner’s Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life,” by Richard H. Thaler.
Favorite status symbol: A custom longboard.
Favorite restaurant: Die Walskipper Restaurant, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa — barbecued fish and shrimp right on the beach.
Favorite place for business meetings: San Diego, of course!
Favorite vacation spot: Kauai, Hawaii.
Favorite way to spend time: Hanging with my family, surfing or practicing with my rock band.
What’s on your iPod: I’m a bit of a music nut, so it’s maxed out with everything from early rockabilly to Jack Johnson.
What do you drive: A surfboard, when I can find the time.
Do you use a GPS: Yes, saves me from asking directions!
Do you use a PDA: Unfortunately, yes. I would like to wrest control of my life back from my BlackBerry!