No Fear: Lessons from Lebanon to Life Sciences with Dr. Moise Khayrallah

Moise Khayrallah grew up in Lebanon, and saw firsthand what real danger looks like as bombs exploded nearby during the Lebanese Civil War. Upon coming to America, Moise had already seen the worst that could happen, so difficult decisions or tense conversations – things that might stress out some entrepreneurs – that all came easy to him.

Dr. Moise Khayrallah is the CEO of Emergo Therapeutics, and Founder of The Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies at NC State University.

Transcript

Trevor: Hey everyone, before we get to this special live episode with Anna Tharrington, I wanted to share a special promotion we’re running. 

Inspired by the Robbie Hardy episode where she shared the unbelievable story about how she used a magic 8-ball to help her decide whether or not to sell her company, we are giving away a Hutch 8-ball to anyone who writes a Founder Shares podcast review. All you need to do is write a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen – and let us know by sending an email to podcast@hutchlaw.com.

Trevor Schmidt:Hello, and welcome to the Founder Shares Podcast. We’re so happy that you’ve chosen to spend some time with us. I’m your host, Trevor Schmidt. I’m an attorney at Hutchison law firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. We work with founders and entrepreneurs as they fight, grind, stress and push to bring their visions to reality. We are inspired by their incredible stories of success, failure, reworking and trying again.

Trevor Schmidt: Today’s guest is Dr. Moise Khayrallah, CEO of Emergo Therapeutics. Moise is a serial entrepreneur in the pharma space, having built, grown, and exited on three pharmaceutical companies prior to joining Emergo in 2017.  

Moise’s entrepreneurial journey is very different from anyone else we’ve had on the show so far. His upbringing in Lebannon shaped what who he would become as a business leader.

Moise: I went to the American university in Beirut, which added quite a bit to my education and my formation. The war came in and that actually added a little bit of a spice, if I may call it that way, to my life in that. It allowed me to learn to be resilient. So during the war, we had to really survive quite a bit. I was in, several times, I was in situations where bombs were falling over my head and in a very precarious, risky situation. And so you had to learn how to survive and be resilient. And also, I have to say that growing in an environment like that gives you a lot of courage to take risks that may scare other people.

So it gave me a little bit of this ability or aptitude, if you want, to be able to tolerate more risks, because I’ve been in much worse situations. So sometimes when I’m sitting across the table from another, business person and I’m trying to negotiate a deal. In the back of my head, I’m thinking what, what’s the worst that can happen? I’ve been in way worse situations than this before. And so that adds a lot, a lot of courage to really take the risks that you need to succeed in business. 

Trevor Schmidt: No fear. That’s what most entrepreneurs need to reach their maximum potential.  Most don’t get it from wartime as Moise did. Instead, maybe they get it from watching a family member run a business. And it turns out, Moise had that as well, as his father worked his way up from waiter to owning a cafeteria in a major hospital.

Moise: And so we all participated in the business. This was a family business, and I remember just basically the days where he was strategizing with my mother, with us, about how to build the business. And so that was one of the early opportunities for me to observe how a small family business starts. And when I was going to school to college in Lebanon, I also want it to be financially independent.

Full Episode Transcript

GIVEAWAY: Inspired by the Robbie Hardy episode where she shared the unbelievable story about how she used a magic 8-ball to help her decide whether or not to sell her company, we are giving away a Hutch 8-ball to anyone who writes a Founder Shares podcast review. All you need to do is write a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen – and let us know by sending an email to podcast@hutchlaw.com.

Hosted by Trevor Schmidt, Founder Shares is brought to you by Hutchison PLLC, and is edited and produced by Earfluence.

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