John Griffin

I first worked with John for nearly 15 years at my previous company, SCYNEXIS. In fact, John was the first full time finance employee, grew to become the Director of Finance, and helped take the company public in 2014 on the NASDAQ.  Needless to say, it was a great experience for us all, and John was on the team that made it happen.

When I started a new company, Ribogenics, of course it made perfect sense for me to go back to John for Finance. He came the first day, and we were in business!

John is not only a great numbers guy; he also understands the Biotech ecosystem: investors both public and private, shareholders, partners, principal investigators, administrative support and scientists. He communicates easily with Board members and very quickly gained their trust.  John also communicates well with scientists that may not have all the financial and operational knowledge required to build and grow a Biotech company. He is also very responsive in the demands of the stakeholders and good at prioritizing his job.

In a matter of 6 months, we put in place a complete team with the facility and raised $7M as seed money.  I left the company at the end of 2021, but John stayed on to ensure that the evolution of Ribogenics was well managed.

Overall, when I have my next biotech project, I’m calling John!

I have worked with John in different companies over the last 20 years and would eagerly do so again. I have worked with other Chief Financial Officers, but John is the cream of the crop when it comes to being a true partner to the functions of human resources and employee engagement. He understands the power of leveraging employee engagement to advance the business and improve the bottom line. For more than two decades, John has been my trusted partner with whom I could analyze issues, deliberate options and then create solutions while maintaining our commitments to stakeholders, including our employees.

In addition to being an exceptional partner, John has been a outstanding mentor to me. John not only provides the answer but will also provide the explanation that has allowed me to grow in my understanding of financial and accounting principles. While this has been personally rewarding, it has also allowed me to bring better ideas forward to benefit the company. John makes the people around him better.

John Griffin possesses a strong business acumen and a calm demeanor.  From our very meeting, John exuded confidence leading us to have no hesitations in hiring him.  He’s been so beneficial to our company that 4 years later we are still relying on him to lead our accounting department.