I have known Damien since he became the lab manager for the new lab next door to my postdoctoral lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. I witnessed firsthand his impressive skills at managing a rapidly growing and successful lab. When I learned of his professional consulting business, and was ready to start my own lab, I knew right away that I would need his help. Damien was instrumental with helping me to plan my lab’s budget for the first 5 years and to negotiate my startup package. He toured my new institution with me, spoke with the engineering department to help plan renovations for the space, and advised me on the optimal placement of lab equipment. He spoke with our procurement specialists and vendors to help me get the best deals on the lab equipment. Importantly, he also prescreened candidates, interviewed them over the phone, and helped me to hire my first lab manager, which was a great hiring decision. He then met with her regularly over Skype and later visited the lab to teach her critical lab management skills, including ordering, speaking with vendors, budgeting, and even troubleshooting some experimental protocols. He has also given me valuable advice to help with managing the people in my lab. With Damien’s help, my lab was operational much sooner than I expected. Since most new PI’s are well-trained to do science but have essentially no training in lab management, I really don’t know how anyone can effectively start a new lab without Damien’s guidance.