ABOUT US

Founder & CEO

Eliette Krakora

Eliette Krakora is the Founder and CEO of THRIVE Consulting. She has lived and worked across North America, Europe, and Asia, advising global biopharmaceutical organizations navigating complex, high stakes launches in rapidly evolving markets.

Eliette has materially contributed to launch strategies for therapies representing over $100B in commercial value—spanning ultra-rare gene therapies to primary care medicines reaching millions of patients worldwide.
Her work combines deep analytical rigor, customer and competitor insight generation, creative foresight, and strategic narrative clarity — enabling leadership teams to make confident decisions before the future is fully known.

She is known for embedding scenario planning and uncertainty-based launch design as repeatable capabilities within launch teams — helping organizations align faster, decide smarter, and execute with conviction.
Eliette has partnered with organizations ranging from the largest global biopharma companies to first-time launchers preparing to commercialize their inaugural therapies.
She holds a Master’s degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and studied at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Based in Los Angeles, working globally.

THRIVE Team

Joel Smylie

Principal

Joel Smylie is a Principal at THRIVE Consulting, specializing in launch excellence, strategic decision-making under uncertainty, and the development of organizational capabilities that enable consistent, cross-functional launch performance. Over the past decade, he has supported more than a dozen product launches across major therapeutic areas, helping leadership teams navigate evolving evidence, competitive shifts, and market complexity with clarity and confidence.

Joel’s expertise sits at the intersection of rigorous analytics and strategic facilitation. He works closely with Commercial, Medical, Access, and Operational leaders to translate ambiguity into structured scenarios, decision pathways, and clear “no-regret” priorities that guide launch investment and execution choices in dynamic environments.

In addition to product-specific launch strategy work, Joel has led strategy and co-creation workshops across 20+ disease areas and helped embed launch and commercial excellence systems and playbooks across regions, enabling teams to plan and operate with greater consistency and strategic alignment. He has also facilitated global training programs designed to elevate decision quality, strategic thinking, and cross-functional collaboration.

Joel holds Master’s degrees in Strategy, Innovation & Management Control from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and in International Business from Queen’s University in Canada, as well as a B.Sc. from Cornell University. He is based in Toronto and works globally.

Andrea Lenhardt

Vice President & General Counsel

Andrea is VP and General Counsel for THRIVE. Prior to joining THRIVE, Andrea was a partner with the law firm Bassi, Edlin, Huie & Blum LLP. She spent 10+ years as a litigator, specializing in the representation of companies, including Fortune 100 and 500 companies, in all phases of civil law and motion practice; providing strategy recommendations and evaluations; and advising on regulatory / compliance matters.

Andrea earned a B.A. from UCLA and graduated cum laude with departmental honors. She earned her J.D. from Loyola Law School and was named to the Dean’s Honor List and served as Articles Editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.

Andrea currently lives in Los Angeles. She is also a published poet and singer-songwriter who plays guitar and trumpet.

Jessica (Yunjoo) Bae

Associate Consultant

With a firm educational foundation in biochemistry, Yunjoo (Jessica) has always been driven by her passion for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. She completed her B.S. from Loyola University Chicago, graduating with summa cum laude. Pursuing advanced studies, she earned her M.S. from New York University. Her academic journey led her to contribute to significant research in an infectious disease lab, enhancing her expertise and dedication to the field.

Leveraging her robust leadership abilities and a keen interest in the consulting realm, she decided to pursue her career in consulting.She currently resides in New York and enjoys pilates and spending quality time with her friends and family. Always an adventurer at heart, she relishes in planning travels and exploring new destinations during her free time.

George Norsig

Senior Advisor

George has several decades in C-level strategy consulting experience including positions as Senior Director at McKinsey and Senior Partner at Monitor Group. His singular focus has been on leadership, both in teams and business units, dealing with very complicated client situations requiring holistic thinking, considerable creativity in problem-opportunity definition, design of new problem-solving tools, and constructing innovative solutions. Many of these situations have been corporate turnarounds and transformations, and new business creations in the technology, healthcare, business services, and energy industries.

Shondip Ghosh

Senior Consultant

Shondip is an independent strategy consultant with 14 years of consulting and operating experience. He has advised clients on issues including growth strategy, marketing strategy, customer experience innovation, and new business creation. Shondip was previously a consultant at Monitor Group, a global strategy consulting firm, where he advised clients across North America, Europe, and Asia. Shondip’s operating experience comes from his time as co-founder and CEO of Banyan Energy, a cleantech startup. As the CEO, he raised venture financing, developed the team, and built commercial relationships with global top 20 solar companies.  He was the lead inventor of Banyan’s core technology, with five issued patents.  Shondip has an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, a Bachelor’s in Physics from Harvard University, and has previously served as Adjunct Faculty for the Bay Area NSF Innovation Corps.  He currently resides in San Francisco, but is often found on a hill in the beautiful Bay Area, or adventuring around the world.

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