Vlad Vitoc, CEO of MAIA

‘’The job of the CEO is to fund the company. You wear all the hats as you start and then you pass on some of those hats to others that joined the team along the way. But the 80% of the time of the CEO is to raise capital. This is the most important thing in an early stage company.”

- Vlad Vitoc on his advice to other CEOs

Vlad Vitoc is the Founder & CEO of MAIA, an immune-oncology company, focused on the development of first-in-class drugs with novel mechanisms of action that are intended to meaningfully improve and extend the lives of people with cancer. Vlad and his team took MAIA public successfully in 2022 in one of the most difficult IPO markets in recent years.

Key Takeaways:

1. Hire for 4 things - Capable, Proven, Ambitious, and Projectable People. Vlad looks for people that are “projectable” in that they can wear many hats and can evolve as the company evolves and grows.

2. The CEO's Main Responsibility. The key advice for a CEO is to find a company, wear all of the hats as a founder, pass on some hats to others, but spend 80% of your time raising capital as this is the most important thing in an early-stage company to create a meaningful value proposition and raise capital.

Topics Covered:

Navigating an IPO in a Challenging Market: Vlad Vitoc, CEO of MAIA 0:00
What is MAIA and the team focuses on? 1:36
IPO Decision 2:23
Changes in the company after IPO 3:33
MAIA's Vision 4:58
Factors to credit for the company's success 7:06
How MAIA started 8:09
Vlad's Role as a CEO 8:55
Finding the right skillset 9:46
Lessons in running the business 11:21
Advice to other CEO 12:46