
'Gap years' are for adults, too: Ex-Foundation exec Steve Kafka joins Third Rock after globetrotting break
After taking off the past 7 months to travel the world and spend time with family, former Foundation Medicine exec Steve Kafka is joining the startup foundry Third Rock Venture as their latest venture partner.
Kafka has spent the bulk of his career in finance and operations at various biopharma outfits, most recently serving as president and COO of Foundation. This will be Kafka’s first post in the VC world, but that’s not unusual for Third Rock partners. In fact, the VC firm makes a habit of bringing in guys like Kafka. Just last week, another venture partner — Jeff Tong — was telling me about Third Rock’s unusual appetite for industry execs that have more experience running companies than investing in them. That’s because the firm is a bit nontraditional in its model, operating like a “startup studio” — building out companies themselves rather than investing in existing ones.
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