In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Belden Menkus speaks with Juho Jalkanen, CEO of Faron, a biotechnology company on a mission to bring cutting-edge immunotherapy to as many patients as possible, currently focused on difficult-to-treat cancers.

In their conversation, they discuss:

· How immunotherapy uses the patient's own immune system to attack disease, and why that makes it such a promising treatment.

· Faron's business strategy, rooted in absorbing the financial risk of scientific research, and how they keep pharmaceutical partners updated as they "de-risk" the product through clinical trials.

· Why Faron's steadfast commitment to research, rather than shedding it for a safer business case, as many biotech companies do, is its greatest commercial asset.

· Juho's own path from vascular surgeon to CEO, rooted in his desire to help as many patients as possible.

Faron: https://faron.com/

Menkus & Associates: https://www.menkus.com/

Supported by Norman Broadbent: https://www.normanbroadbent.com/

Belden Menkus is the Managing Director of Menkus & Associates, the strategy firm for businesses with a broader purpose. His McKinsey training combined with more than 30 years working at Board and ExCo level gives him both the analytical rigour and the insight that complex, high-stakes leadership situations demand.

Belden hosts The Purposeful Strategist, a weekly podcast. It explores how senior leaders bring purpose to life through strategy.

In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Belden Menkus speaks with Peter Haden, Chief Executive of Fletchers Group, one of the UK's leading personal injury and clinical negligence law firms. As a PE-backed firm, a major focus for Fletchers is scaling while maintaining service and values. In their conversation, they discuss:

· The relatively new role of private equity in the legal space, and how it plays out at Fletchers.

· How Peter and his exec team manage through rapid change, including weekly review meetings across every aspect of the practice.

· The strategic thinking behind how Fletchers approaches acquisitions.

· The unique challenges of a firm built around caring for clients who are facing serious injury or malpractice.

· Why Peter sees doing right by people and doing right by the business as the same thing.

Fletchers: https://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/

Menkus & Associates: https://www.menkus.com/

Supported by Norman Broadbent: https://www.normanbroadbent.com/

Belden Menkus is the Managing Director of Menkus & Associates, the strategy firm for businesses with a broader purpose. His McKinsey training combined with more than 30 years working at Board and ExCo level gives him both the analytical rigour and the insight that complex, high-stakes leadership situations demand.

Belden hosts The Purposeful Strategist, a weekly podcast. It explores how senior leaders bring purpose to life through strategy.

In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Belden Menkus speaks with David Ferguson, Executive Chair at Seccl, about how a broader purpose can drive a successful business strategy in the financial sector.

Seccl provides the back-end infrastructure for numerous investment and wealth management companies including Monzo’s pensions and GoHenry’s Junior ISA.

In their conversation, they discuss:

· How Seccl has matured since David joined in 2022.

· What a financial sector which promotes “investing well” should look like.

· Seccl’s choice to work with companies who have transparent consumer-facing practices, and to decline working with companies who don’t.

· How Seccl’s financial infrastructure can serve as a springboard for smaller companies to enter the market, increasing competition in the marketplace.

· David’s thoughts on the current and future state of the wealth management sector.

Seccl: https://seccl.tech/

Menkus & Associates: https://www.menkus.com/

Supported by Norman Broadbent: https://www.normanbroadbent.com/

Belden Menkus is the Managing Director of Menkus & Associates, the strategy firm for businesses with a broader purpose. His McKinsey training combined with more than 30 years working at Board and ExCo level gives him both the analytical rigour and the relational experience that complex, high-stakes leadership situations demand.

Belden hosts The Purposeful Strategist, a weekly podcast. It explores how senior leaders bring purpose to life through strategy and reflects the same questions that drive the consulting work.