Episode 108 — Ted Harding — Apnimed

Dave is joined by Apnimed CHRO Ted Harding, who shares strategies for leading HR through commercialization, building highly engaged virtual teams, and maintaining culture during rapid organizational transformation on the 108th episode of The Hennessy Report podcast. Ted speaks about navigating the shift from clinical-stage biotech to commercial operations. He also shares how to preserve culture while scaling from 60 to potentially 200+ employees, proven tactics for virtual team engagement, and strategies for integrating new commercial talent. Some highlights from the episode: Virtual Team Engagement: How Apnimed maintains one of the most connected cultures despite being fully virtual—including twice-weekly all-company meetings, strategic in-person gatherings, and relationship-building practices that work Commercialization Talent Strategy: Building entirely new skill sets for market access, payer relations, and sales while finding "culture adds" who evolve your organization without disrupting core values Leading Through Change: Managing reductions in force while living company values, evolving culture like a child through different life stages, and preparing teams for transformation Early Career Lessons: Why taking the harder path builds unique skills, the critical importance of building relationships before influence, and learning humility as an HR leader The episode concludes with Keystone's Coach's Corner featuring Walt Morgan, demonstrating the "pause, paraphrase, pause" technique for developing a coaching mindset that drives collaboration, empowerment, and higher retention.