CapEx & Reagent Sales All Omics Commercialization Team Building & Coaching Go-to-Market Strategy
kjdonner@gmail.com, 770-727-5878
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What drives me? What's my passion?
I genuinely love this stuff!
There is nothing quite like the thrill of a Team walking into a room with a brilliant scientific team, earning their trust, and watching a deal come together through persistence, creativity, and relationship building. I am energized by the hunt, passionate about the science, and deeply fulfilled when a technology I believe in finds its way into the hands of researchers who need it.
While I love closing the deal, I am just as excited about building the team that makes it possible. I thrive in environments where teammates sharpen each other, challenge assumptions, and where healthy debate makes the strategy stronger. I do not want a team that simply executes orders; I thrive with collaborators who bring conviction to every conversation and hold me as accountable as I hold them.
There is something incredibly rewarding about the full aspect of talent development. For new talent, I invest in fundamentals and watch them find their voice in front of technically discerning customers until they solve the pain points (exceeding quotas they once thought were out of reach). For seasoned veterans, I raise the ceiling, challenge comfortable patterns, and help them rediscover their competitive edge. Coaching dozens of professionals across my career is a legacy I value as much as the revenue numbers.
At my core, I live where breakthrough science meets commercial execution. With 25+ years at this intersection, spanning spatial biology & single cell genomics to proteomics & multi omics platforms, I am as curious today as I was starting as an FAS at Molecular Devices. I keep sharpening my own saw, staying close to the science so I can lead with respect and expertise.
If you are building something bold in life science tools, spatial biology, or diagnostics and need a commercial leader who has done it before and loves every moment of it, let’s do this!
Let's accelerate clients pursuit to SAVE PATIENTS LIVES!
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Versatile commercial leader with 25 years of progressive experience driving revenue growth across early-stage startups, growth-stage companies, and world-leading scientific organizations including ProteinSimple, ACD, Affymetrix/Thermofisher, Molecular Devices/Danaher, and Bio-Techne. Deep expertise in CapEx and reagent-based selling across Genomics, Proteomics, and Multi-omics platforms via both Research-Use-Only & Diagnostics. Consistent Presidents Club achiever and award-winning executive utilizing a strategic industry network of 12,700+ Linkedin contacts to accelerate market entry and revenue growth. Dual-certified in Consultative Value and Challenger Sales, pivoting methodologies to match company maturity and customer buying stage to transform nascent teams into accountable, high-performance organizations.
NA, Head of Commercial Countable Labs
August 2025 to March 2026 North America
Leadership and Team Building
Joined as first Commercial Head to lead a Market Development stage org (Series A) toward Early-stage commercial; assumed a dual-role mandate, personally driving pipeline while simultaneously constructing the commercial organization from the ground up.
Drove the evolution of the commercial org by implementing structured processes, KPI-based accountability, and a comprehensive operating model. Shifted the team from a founder-dependent reactive state to a proactive, fully functional unit centered on goal-aligned OKRs & tiered communication, creating commercial rigor & ensuring a culture of transparency & consistent results.
Strategically assembled a full North America commercial team by recruiting, onboarding, coaching & mentoring; consisting of 4 Regional Account Executives from leading life science tools companies, 2 Field Application Scientists and a Sales Development Representative, implementing an in-person engagement strategy that accelerated deal progression.
Go-To-Market Strategy and Commercial Infrastructure
Developed a comprehensive North America Commercial Business Plan encompassing annual strategy, operating budget, product forecasting, quota plans, incentive compensation and account stratification.
Introduced an Ideal Customer Profile framework focused on Cell and Gene Therapy, Clinical Oncology (MRD/Molecular Diagnostics) and rare RNA/DNA biomarker validation, aligning sales & internal partners around shared customer language, pain points and conversion criteria.
Eliminated a pattern of no-ROI pilots by launching Assay Services to generate near-term revenue and qualify CapEx buyers, while simultaneously lowering adoption barriers through flexible acquisition models like rentals, reagent rentals & refurbished systems.
Revenue Generation and Pipeline Growth
Leveraged my high-engagement LinkedIn network of 12,700+ C-suite, KOLs and scientists across Cell & Gene Therapy R&D, CMC Manufacturing, and Multi-omics to bypass traditional gatekeepers and facilitate early-stage market access for complex technical solutions. Proactively utilized this social network to accelerate the initial prospecting phase.
Personally spearheaded foundational revenue growth by sourcing & advancing opportunities with high-growth logos, key examples include industry leaders like Novartis, Eli Lilly, Astellas, Voyager, Adverum, BioMarin, Arrowhead Pharma, Bio-Techne/Asuragen.
Created a high-velocity Sales Team that drove a 71.8% surge in sales-generated opportunities; achieved through the rollout of Ideal Customer Profile prospecting, rigorous opportunity curation, and disciplined funnel management.
Exceeded Commercial Q4-FY25 Booking OKRs and delivered a 3.1x increase in Total Weighted Opportunities along with 3.8x growth in Assay Services pipeline within the quarter, directly seeding future CapEx conversions.
Process, Systems and Sales Cycle Optimization
Optimized the commercial tech stack (Salesforce, HubSpot, Scileads) by leveraging AI tools for personalized outreach and lead optimization & establishing rigorous SLAs for full pipeline visibility. By pairing this AI-driven automation with the Challenger Sales methodology, I accelerated the adoption of novel technologies and institutionalized a scalable, data-driven process for recruiting sophisticated buyers.
Enhanced sales velocity by streamlining pre-sales ownership and addressing friction early in the cycle; implemented parallel-path vendor setups and one-way NDAs, freeing technical support resources to prioritize advanced Assay Service delivery and advanced customer support.
Biopharma Business Leader, Bio-Techne
ACD Spatial Biology Division
July 2021 to July 2025 North America
Led a team of 11 professionals responsible for driving $40M or more annually across consumables and internal CRO services, covering both RUO and Companion Diagnostic segments within ACD Spatial Biology Division.
Owned and executed the North American commercial strategy for biopharma consumables and services in a complex matrixed organization by orchestrating cross-functional alignment between Sales, Marketing, and R&D; synchronized sales execution with market demand across drug discovery, translational research, and pre-clinical development to ensure seamless delivery.
Drove double-digit overall growth in 2023 and 2024 with a strong gene therapy segment focus, achieving greater than 20% growth in the Gene and Cell Therapy revenue vertical by concentrating commercial team efforts on high-value applications and emerging biopharma accounts.
Institutionalized process optimization and commercial rigor by creating sales enablement programs and a standardized coaching framework; this synchronized complex reagent and high-touch service sales through enhanced Salesforce visibility, KPI-driven dashboards, and rigorous MQL/SQL tracking.
Synthesized field insights into actionable feedback for ACD product, marketing and R&D teams to ensure offerings matched market demand.
2023: Biopharma Team 20.3% growth vs. 2022 2022: Presidents Club Biopharma Team 19% YoY growth vs. 2021; 30% YoY product growth vs. 2021
Academic Business Leader, Academic Medical Centers & Government, Bio-Techne
ACD (Advanced Cell Diagnostics) Spatial Biology Division
January 2017 to July 2021 North America
Led a team of 15 regional representatives promoting RNAscope to Academic Medical Centers and Government accounts with Research Use Only and Diagnostics solutions, delivering greater than 30% CAGR revenue growth from $8M in 2017 to $23M in 2021.
Owned and executed the commercial strategy for academic-focused consumables and services, aligning sales efforts with needs in basic and translational research, pre-clinical development, clinical trials and biomedical research.
Implemented a redesigned sales team structure, pivoting from territory-based to segment-based coverage (academia vs. biopharma) to improve customer engagement and enable revenue growth.
Built and scaled the academic sales team from the ground up, recruiting, hiring and coaching high-potential talent while deepening relationships with top-tier research institutions.
Shifted the academic commercial application strategy from legacy IHC/pathology toward high-growth opportunities in spatial multi-omics, scRNAseq validation and Neuroscience.
2019: Presidents Club 27% YoY growth vs. 2018 2017: Presidents Club 59% YoY growth vs. 2016; 101% vs. plan
Sr. Executive Account Manager & Team Lead (ACD) Advanced Cell Diagnostics
March 2015 to December 2016
Contributed to building a $25M+ life sciences tools business that was acquired by Bio-Techne for $325M.
2016 Presidents Club 70% growth vs 2015; 104% vs plan
ACD shortens the path to personalized medicine by unlocking the power of RNA biomarkers.
Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. (ACD) is a leader in the emerging field of molecular pathology, developing cell- and tissue-based diagnostic tests for personalized medicine. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, ACD was founded and managed by experienced entrepreneurs in the life science industry.
Sr. Sales Specialist, East Coast ProteinSimple
January 2011 to March 2015
Contributed to building a $60M+ profitable life sciences tools business that was acquired by Bio-Techne for $300M.
2014 Presidents Club 123% of plan
2012 Presidents Club 108% of plan
ProteinSimple's goal is simply to help researchers gain a better understanding of proteins and their role in disease. Our strategy is to power protein research by making it simpler and more quantitative, ultimately revealing new insights into the true nature of proteins.
Sr. Account Manager, Southeast Affymetrix, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific
March 2006 to January 2011 Greater Atlanta Area
2008 Americas Top Representative 147% of plan (top of 25 Americas representatives)
2010 Over Plan Performer 105% 2007 Over Plan Performer 122%
Forged a de novo partnership with Jeff & Peggy Vance & Team (UMiami), to capture a high-value, 1,000-sample ($2M) GWAS project for the Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC).
Affymetrix GeneChip® microarray technology is the industry-standard tool for analyzing complex genetic information. After inventing microarray technology in the late 1980s, Affymetrix scientists have been dedicated to developing innovative products that provide researchers with a more complete view of the genome. These products continue to accelerate genetic research and enable scientists to develop diagnostics and tailor treatments for individual patients by identifying and measuring the genetic information associated with complex diseases.
Technical Sales Representative Life Science Division Molecular Devices, part of Danaher
January 2002 to February 2006 Greater Atlanta Area
2003 North American Sales Representative of the Year 150% of plan (top of 20 life science representatives)
2005 Presidents Club 106% of plan
[2002 to 2005] - 211% growth of territory (3.8M)
Oversee and manage Southeast sales territory for MDC Life Science’s genomics, microplate detection, liquid handling and reagent product lines. Provided monthly revenue and product forecasting. Maintained a high level of technical, applications and competition competence for Life Science products, including conducting demonstrations, installations and training.
Field Application Scientist Molecular Devices
January 2000 to January 2002 San Francisco Bay Area
2000 Molecular Devices Outstanding Sales Support Award
EDUCATION
Virginia Tech: BS, Double major: Biochemistry & Chemistry
CORE COMPETENCIES
Commercial Strategy & GTM Development
CapEx & Reagent Sales across Omics Platforms
Team Building and Talent Development
Challenger Sales and Consultative Value Selling (Certified)
Ideal Customer Profile Framework Design
Salesforce, HubSpot, SciLeads
AI-Enhanced Sales Operations
Power BI, Pivots & Advanced Analytics Pipeline Forecasting & Revenue Operations
Cross-functional Leadership
Early-stage Company Commercialization
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