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Lab to Startup

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Rating
★★★★★
5
from
3 reviews
This podcast has
63 episodes
Language
English
Explicit
No
Date created
2021/09/08
Latest episode
2026/01/20
Average duration
63 min.
Release period
56 days

Description

Hundreds of thousands of researchers around the world are working to improve life and address imminent threats to humanity. Often, the research ends up in the "Scientific valley of death" in the form of publications and patents that never see the light of the day. Welcome to "Lab to Startup" a podcast aimed at showcasing the effort needed to translate lab research to startups. The show has two main goals: 1. Sharing the stories of those scientists and engineers who have successfully founded startups based on the research at university and national labs. 2. Highlighting the resources and tools needed to help those aspiring to launch startups in the deeptech space. We also want this show to be a way to communicate those technology development stories to the general public (taxpayers funding the research) in the hope that they will continue to support such research and startups. About the host Naresh Sunkara, Ph.D. is a chemical biologist, entrepreneur and the founder and Executive Director of the Berkeley Postdoc Entrepreneurship Program at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been running this program for the past ten years that has helped graduate students and postdocs at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and at several other universities in the US. He was previously a postdoc at UC Berkeley developing lipid nanoparticles for delivery of mRNA based drugs targeting viruses and cancers.

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Cold Plasma Meets Machine Learning: The SirenOpt Story of Solving Manufacturing's Nanoscale Blind Spot
2026/01/20
Jared O'Leary, Ph.D., is the co-founder and CEO of SirenOpt, and Ali Mesbah, Ph.D. is his cofounder and also his former PhD advisor. Ali is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley.   SirenOpt is a Berkeley spin-out that is solving one of manufacturing's biggest blind spots. Their PlasmaSens platform uses cold atmospheric plasma and AI to non-destructively inspect thin films and nanomaterials in real-time—catching defects and inconsistencies that traditional methods miss entirely. They're helping manufacturers of batteries, semiconductors, and aerospace components accelerate R&D, optimize production, and dramatically improve quality control.   In this episode of Lab to startup, we talk about how the industry currently solves the problems, and how SirenOpt is improving them; Then we deep dive into their technology; the origins of the startup from research at UC Berkeley; customer discovery, especially importance of relationship building and how it is different from just interviewing potential customers; lessons from working with industry; their fundraising journey and many other topics including Jared's experience working at Theranos.   Shownotes: https://www.sirenopt.com/ Advance coatings, thin films and micro/nano scale materials are critical in several industries. But manufacturing these components are inherently probabilistic SirenOpt providing hardware and software solutions for real time tracking Overview of current solutions   SirenOpt technology overview Initial medical applications Challenges with cold atmospheric pressure plasma Transition from an academic project to startup journey Feedback from industry Lessons from Jared working at Theranos Importance of transparency and building trust while working with customers Importance of academic thinking while building deeptech startups Market exploration: Foray into battery industry Customer discovery vs relationship building Support from Ali: from an academia-industry relationship point of view Venture scalability: Demonstrating the size of the market Working with semiconductor industry Lessons from working with academic PI as your cofounder Fundraising journey Role played by accelerators and incubators: Berkeley Skydeck & Activate Lessons from hiring Long term vision & lessons transitioning from academic scientist to a startup CEO
Designing the Future of Drug Delivery: How AI is Solving RNA's Biggest Challenge
2025/12/09
Yogev Debbi and Prof Avi Schroeder (Technion Israel Institute of Technology), co-founded Mana bio along with Dr. Kira Radinsky and Roy Nevo. They are leveraging data, machine learning and high throughput screening to design novel Lipid NanoParticles for targeted extrahepatic delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics and vaccines. Lipid nanoparticles are microscopic fatty bubbles that deliver genetic medicines into your cells—think of them as the FedEx trucks of molecular biology. Remember the mRNA vaccines that saved millions during COVID? They used lipid nano particles as the delivery vehicle.. The little secret behind those vaccines is that we got lucky. Those lipid nanoparticles worked beautifully for the liver and immune system. But if you try to deliver RNA to your brain, your lungs, or a tumor, those would be a massive failure! Scientists are still running thousands of experiments hoping to stumble onto the right formulation. This actually was my postdoc work as well, which makes this episode very special. I always wished there was a better way to design these delivery vehicles—and that's exactly what today's guests have built with AI." We talk about how they founded and currently building Mana Bio- a big part around how biologists and chemists can interact with technologists, especially data and AI geeks to build something important. Their story provides a great framework for scientists and tech folks to work together. Shownotes: https://www.mana.bio/ How Avi got started using data/AI to design LNPs Optimizing LNP formulations targeting different organs Working with Bob Langer and Dan Anderson @MIT Yogev transitioning to gene editing Defining the problem & cross disciplinary conversations and projects Language that helps interactions between scientists and software/AI folks Deepdive into the platform- building data sets Data scraping, validation, improvisation, new data generation (both positive and negative data) Cleaning data and normalization Work in the wet lab: 'I trust my colleagues and believe data can be replicated" Data moats: Proprietary data vs public data Daily routine in the lab and interactions with the data/AI team Cross Functional dynamics Scientists trying to save money vs optimizing for more valuable time Lab hypothesis predictions vs AI predictions: competitive spirit Factoring in errors by the machines and humans Business model: Building customized solutions for drug delivery Potentially becoming a pharma company Regulatory affairs Fears that keep them up Dynamics of a diverse founding team: Roy Nevo and Dr. Kira Radinsky (the other two co founders) Message to academia: "Publish more data- including failures. This will accelerate science" Omri Drory, Kira Radinsky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5hX3vq3iNk
Solving the CRISPR delivery problem using a proprietary peptide-based platform
2025/05/20
Dana Foss and Ross Wilson are the cofounders of Editpep, a biotech startup focused on developing CRISPR-based therapeutics. They are using a proprietary peptide-based delivery platform that enables targeted delivery to specific cell types, particularly for hard-to-reach areas like the brain. While Dana Foss is the CEO, Ross Wilson is also an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and also the Director of Therapeutic Delivery at the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of those very few academics that co-founded a startup and is very active in building Editpep. Ross explains how he does it all so well! Dana was  previously a postdoc in Ross Wilson's lab, where she developed the technology. Ross was a postdoc in Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna's lab. Now he has his own lab and collaborates with Jennifer Doudna at the Innovative Genomics Institute.  In this episode of lab to startup, we will explore their initial decisions that lead to launching the startup; existing CRISPR delivery technologies, their challenges, and then do a deep dive into their delivery technology. opportunities,; fundraising efforts, and their future goals. Shownotes https://www.editpep.bio/ CRISPR Delivery problem and current solutions Existing solutions like AV, LNPs are mostly limited to mice Ribonucleoprotein, a complex of RNA and protein (RNP): Technology deep dive Outsiders bringing in fresh perspective Dana transitioning out of academia: working on a shared goal Hard to shepard the technology towards the patient by depending on a third party Self motivation and gumption: Ways to move technologies out of the lab Early stage co-founder chemistry Ross's innovative role being an academic and entrepreneur Fundraising journey Open mindedness to non-traditional investors Investors: Berkeley Skydeck,  Lindonlight Collective Filters for selecting investors Getting to market: Parallels from other delivery companies like Alnylam Counterintuitive decisions Future goals Connecting the dots
Altitude Lab Fund- Supporting healthcare founders in challenging times
2025/03/11
Chandana Haque is the Executive Director of Altitude Lab, a healthcare startup accelerator building a community of diverse entrepreneurs in Utah. Altitude Lab was cofounded in 2020 by Chandana and Chris Gibson, the co-founder & CEO of Recursion in Salt Lake City. They recently announced the launch of a pre-seed venture fund aimed at supporting early-stage biotech startups impacted by recent federal funding policy shifts.   This pre-seed venture fund is dedicated to funding the highest impact ideas transitioning from basic research to industry. In partnership with Altitude Lab, they provide capital, lab space, and mentorship to high-potential SBIR reviewed companies, offering continuity for startups affected by recent funding policy changes while strengthening Salt Lake City's position as a national biotech hub.   We talk about the Altitude fund, Altitude lab, lessons learned from other ecosystems; support from Recursion, better ways to support healthcare founders and many other topics.   Shownotes Altitude lab fund: a pre-seed venture fund dedicated to funding the highest impact ideas transitioning from basic research to industry.  Fund announcement: https://ir.recursion.com/news-releases/news-release-details/altitude-lab-launches-pre-seed-venture-fund-anchored-recursion Altitude labs: a health care accelerator building a community of diverse entrepreneurs in Utah Lessons learned (and unlearned) from Boston and Bay Area startup ecosystems Criteria for selection: Technology vs market readiness Founder fit, connecting founders to the right resources Turning a scrappy startup to a fundable one Overhyped areas in biotech Finding winners and lost opportunities Support from Recursion Pharma  Supporting diversity: Anecdotes of diverse founders Support from the University of Utah
Partnering to accelerate therapeutics: A primer on forming alliances and their management
2024/12/10
Monica Rosoff, the founder and CEO of LBBAL™ Alianza. Prior to launching Alianza, Monica was a partnering executive with roles of increasing seniority at Genentech, Gilead, Kite and Exelixis. Over the course of over two decades, she had the opportunity to lead and participate in a wide diversity of deals, negotiations, diligence exercises, alliances, technology transfers, M&A integrations, dispute resolution negotiations, amendments and terminations–at all stages of the drug development and commercialization lifecycle and in multiple therapeutic areas. Dr. Rosoff earned a doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of Washington and conducted her postdoctoral work at Stanford. We talked about lessons learned from her experiences in alliance management, especially for early stage startups.  Shownotes Monica Rosoff https://lbbalalianza.com/ Monica's entry into alliance management Principles that guide a good partnership: What's best for the patient? Find synergies, timing and motivations Who to approach at a big pharma when identifying a partner? Evaluating motivations of a big pharma: Get specific Building trust Performing due diligence-How? Power dynamics: How to deal with a big partner when you have a power imbalance? Role of lawyers Communicating failures Have a list of "To-dont's" as opposed to "To-do" list Conflicts might be important Repeating problems: Lessons learned How to prepare for unexpected changes at big companies? Conflict resolution: What to pick fights on? Allocating resources
From Pitches to Stories: Transforming Complex Ideas into Engaging Narratives
2024/09/10
Zack Shildhorn is an investing Partner at venture firm Lux Capital. He played multiple key roles that helped the firm scale from less than $100M to more than $4B in assets under management. After witnessing thousands of pitches, he saw that even the most disruptive startups often struggled to develop effective narratives. Having worked closely with leading technology companies as an investor and Board member, he brings a unique ability to connect with key stakeholders and distill complex ideas into engaging and relatable presentations. In order to help founders beyond Lux, He launched a firm called Series Z, to help a select group of tech companies and funds bring their vision to life. Zack also recently partnered with Khosla ventures to help founders there as well.  Zack kindly agreed to share some of the lessons from his experience teaching the art of storytelling to founders and VCs. I think you will benefit tremendously from this episode.  Show Notes: Series Z: https://www.series-z.co/ Zack Schildhorn: https://x.com/zacktrak Most founders are in a challenged position Repetition, iteration, feedback Founders have the disadvantage of not knowing an investor's mindset Selling vision: Why should investors care? Framing your pitch: Ways to capture investor's attention How to appeal to the emotions of an investor? Fear and greed Starting a presentation with words and not slides Presenting technical idea: How not to inundate listeners with too much data Reframing problems: Addressing known apprehensions How to not get offended by a question or being defensive? Media links: Power of Narrative for Entrepreneurs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llii7frwco Framing your pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4V89rywlR0 Pitching investors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYkOoRJGuvk
Turning great science into impactful medicine: Lessons from Corey Goodman, Pioneer in Science and Venture Capital
2024/07/16
Corey Goodman, Ph.D., is the managing partner of venBio, a venture capital firm he cofounded in 2011. venBio already has 7 FDA approved drugs on the market, saving and improving lives. Corey spent 25 years as Professor of Biology at Stanford University and Evan Rauch Chair of Neurobiology at U.C. Berkeley, where he was a HHMI Investigator, Head of the Neurobiology Division, and co-founder and Director of the Wills Neuroscience Institute. Corey co-founded seven biotechnology companies, and led one of them (Renovis) as President and CEO from a private to public company until its acquisition by Evotec. Two of the companies he co-founded have been acquired and three have done IPOs to date.  He then moved to Pfizer, where he was President of the Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center and a member of the executive leadership team. We talk about transformation of UC Berkeley as a startup powerhouse;  his entrepreneurial journey starting with the founding of Exelixis while being a faculty at UC Berkeley; role played by mentors and co-founders; lessons learned from founding startups that founders today could benefit from; changing careers at various stages of his life as he turned 50 and 60 (he recently turned 73); lessons from big pharma; experiences and lessons from partnerships and acquisitions by big pharma; and his experiences investing. Show Notes: Corey Goodman, Ph.D. Corey Goodman's autobiography: https://www.sfn.org/-/media/SfN/Documents/NEW-SfN/About/History-of-Neuroscience/20220914_HON_volume12_goodman.pdf Turn around story of UC Berkeley entrepreneurship: remarkable 10 years People and leadership matter Carol Christ Exelixis: Corey's first startup, co-founded with Gerry Rubin. George Scangos joined the company as CEO in 1996;  Learning from genetic modeling organisms Find a big brother/sister who can help you: Role played by Stelios Papadopoulos and Ed Penhoet Donald Kennedy: Corey's mentor Taking risks at various stages of life: Turning 50, 60, and now 73 Life as an executive at Pfizer and lessons learned in that space Big pharma companies are unbelievably inefficient in early stage drug discovery James Allison: Immune checkpoint inhibitors Importance of academia and startup ecosystem in drug discovery Lessons from big pharma acquiring biotechs: What, when, how and what not to do Lessons learned from biotech partnering with big pharma: Don't partner on everything- keep some to yourself Operator VCs: Investors/board members who went through building companies are more valuable than those who come from consulting backgrounds Building teams Transition to Pfizer and out: "Come change the world" Launching VenBio: Everybody's voice matters Investment thesis
Pushing Boundaries: Abhishek Tripathi's Experience with NASA, SpaceX, UC Berkeley and Startups
2024/06/25
Abhishek Tripathi, is the Director of Mission operations of the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Abhi is also the Chair of the Air and Space track startups at Skydeck, which is UC Berkeley's startup accelerator program. For over two decades, Abhi has been at the forefront of human and robotic space exploration. At SpaceX, he spearheaded the certification of both the cargo and crew Dragon programs, a pivotal achievement in commercial spaceflight. His expertise was further showcased as Dragon Mission Director, where he orchestrated a dozen critical cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station. Abhi's technical acumen reached new heights when he assumed the role of Dragon Chief Engineer for Flight Reliability on the groundbreaking Crew Demo 1 and Demo 2 missions. Prior to his transformative work at SpaceX, Abhi honed his skills during a decade-long tenure as an Aerospace Systems engineer at NASA, laying the foundation for his remarkable career in space technology.  We talked about the lessons learned from Abhi's journey at NASA, SpaceX and his work at the University of California, Berkeley, where he continues to lead several space missions. He shared some of the lessons learned from working at a highly demanding job at SpaceX; and also translated his experiences into lessons for startups and life in general. And Yes, he did share some of his experiences working with Elon Musk. Show Notes: Abhishek Tripathi https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/ Setting overarching goals that ties with the vision for a company Building factories to vow consumers and the larger population (new age moats) Journey at NASA Try to work at a cutting edge company before launching a startup, (except if you are a deeply involved in a research area during postdoc or similar compelling situation) Picking advisors: Pick tactical advisors instead of strategic ones End all instances of gatekeeping (one of the rules set by Musk) Leading the Dragon mission to deliver cargo to ISS Regulations: Working with NASA/government for approvals 'Bring me a rock exercise" Experiences working on Falcon 9 mission Transition to academia https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/ "Other than the brutal pace of Space X, we have many of the elements of Space X at Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley." Space track https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/ What startups in the space track should possess Timing, funding, technology readiness SSL LEADERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACTS https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/administrative-contacts/ https://x.com/SpaceAbhi
Lessons from Evolution of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem at UC Berkeley
2024/04/30
Richard Lyons, Ph.D., is the Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer, at the University of California, Berkeley. Rich is an economist and the former dean of the business school. Rich will become the next chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley.  We talk about a wide variety of topics around the Evolution of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem at Berkeley. We covered topics like paradigm shifts, cultural transformations, overcoming inertia; global impact and many others.  I hope you get some insights from this story, and walk away with appreciation and potentially actionable steps if you are trying to build startup ecosystems on your campuses. Show Notes: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/rich-lyons Report on entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley from the Faculty Entrepreneurship Committee: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/2018-08/Entrepreneurship_at_Berkeley.pdf  UC Regents taskforce report: From Discovery to Societal Impact: A Roadmap to Unleashing UC Innovation and Entrepreneurship: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/may21/g1attach.pdf Cultural transformation at UC Berkeley: https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/berkeley-named-top-university-for-number-of-venture-backed-companies-founded/#:~:text=PitchBook%20has%20ranked%20Berkeley%20%231,public%20university%20for%20startup%20founders. Bakar fellows program: https://bakarfellows.berkeley.edu/ Cultural transformation to embrace entrepreneurship Mission of academic institutions is impact Overcoming inertia at academic institutions Ecosystem dynamics & talent pipeline Start with "Yes, if" framework to address difficult questions Pilot programs Berkeley RIC  I&E Council Inclusivity: Dual degree program  Berkeley Changemaker program Failures and hurdles Ethical considerations Parts of the ecosystem that could be replicated and hard to do so by other universities Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET)
Civilization Ventures: Lessons learned from founding, exiting and applying them to support founders as an investor
2024/04/09
Shahram Seyedin-Noor is the founder and managing partner at Civilization Ventures. Shahram received a JD from Harvard and worked at Wilson Solsinis and Cooley before going into investment banking at firms like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. He then entered the startup world co-founding several startups. He eventually ended up Angel investing and in 2017, launched Civilization Ventures, focused on supporting cutting-edge innovations in health tech and biology. Shahram has over a dozen exits under his belt, which is a phenomenal achievement. Here are some of his investments: Rewrite (acq. by Intellia), Replace (acq. by Tome), Lemonaid (acq. by 23andme), Singular Bio (acq. by Invitae), Rocket Pharma (listed on Nasdaq), Palamedrix (acq. by SomaLogic), Foresight Diagnostics, BillionToOne, Omada and others. Shahram takes an active role in company building. Prior to founding CV, Shahram was the founding CEO/Chairman of Inspirna, an oncology therapeutics company currently in Phase 2 human trials, and the CFO and VP of Corporate Development at NextBio, a genomics software pioneer acquired by Illumina. Shownotes: https://www.civilizationventures.com/ Success has a thousand fathers but failure is an orphan Accountability: Few people blame themselves for failure and give credit for success to others Evolution of mindset: Don't let others dictate what you can or supposed to do in life EQ is more/equally important than IQ Transition from law school to startups Advice for recruiting a non-scientific co-founder Rewrite therapeutics acquired by Intellia Investment thesis at Civilization Ventures: Drive to do things differently Lessons learned from exits Contact email: [email protected]
Humba Ventures: Investing in Deep Tech Startups with Engineering Focus
2024/02/27
Leo Polovets is the Co-founder and General Partner at Susa Ventures. Leo focuses on enterprise software and technical products at Susa. About two years ago, He also started Humba Ventures, a fund that invests in deep tech and critical national sectors like energy and defense at Humba.   Leo led Susa's investments in Mashgin, People Data Labs, Scalyr, and Treasury Prime. Having been a software engineer for 10+ years, Leo approaches challenges with an engineering mindset and supports portfolio companies in vetting and hiring technical talent. Prior to Susa, Leo was the second engineering hire at Linkedin, where he worked on the first versions of products like LinkedIn Jobs and LinkedIn Groups. Leo then worked on payment fraud detection algorithms at Google, and was also an early engineer at Factual, where he built data processing software. Leo received a bachelor's degree in Engineering and Applied Science (Computer Science) from Caltech. We talk about lessons that translate from investing in traditional startups; explore lessons learned about market sizing, pricing, team dynamics, managing burn, scaling, valuation and many other topics in the deep tech space.   Shownotes: https://humbaventures.com/ Leo's presentation on "Exploring Startup Ideas" https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1C-JFkqsY40tidqPD1OZbV3-OXPAyrsPIV5Q_00PkToQ/edit#slide=id.g221d008c440_0_35 Thinking about making money for scientific founders Thinking about market attributes for a potential startup Intro to Humba ventures Investing in deep tech Founder-market fit; Time to make money Investment thesis Communication: between team members, to investors and beyond Working with startup teams: Commercialization Pricing in deep tech: Think of value being created How to ask for money for your product? Aloha robot- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaaZ8ss-HP4&t=5s Story telling Manage your burn! Scaling: Calibrating on talent; learning to delegate; firing Bs and B+s on the team Keeping up with new technologies Thoughts on valuation What Leo likes to hear while being pitched to
Berkeley Skydeck- Catalyzing the growth of deep tech startups at the world's number one ranked public university.
2024/02/13
Caroline Winnett is the Executive Director of Berkeley Skydeck, a startup accelerator at the University of California, Berkeley. Skydeck started as a mentoring space in 2012 and soon translated into one of the leading startup accelerators in the world. SkyDeck was Formed as a partnership between UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, the College of Engineering, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. While it offers all the benefits of a traditional accelerator, what makes Skydeck special is the vast resources of the world's number one ranked public university. The robust and vibrant ecosystem includes a deep network of advisors, industry partners, and attracts some of the best investors. I have seen its evolution first hand because of my own association since my postdocs days at UC Berkeley We discuss the evolution of the startup ecosystem at UC Berkeley and then dive into how Skydeck has been supporting deep tech startups, challenges and lessons learned.   Shownotes: Berkeley Skydeck: https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/ Startup resources at Berkeley: https://begin.berkeley.edu/ Berkeley named top university for number of venture-backed companies Evolution of startup ecosystem at UC Berkeley: Pre & post Skydeck Changing academia-industry relations Skydeck is just not for UC Berkeley community Support for deep tech startups at Skydeck Criteria for picking deep tech startups for accelerations Lessons learned from working with scientific and faculty founders Scalability and market potential of deep tech startups Partnerships with corporations: realistic expectations Picking advisors Commercializing deep tech startups Investing in deep tech: Evaluating founders Tips for applying to Berkeley Skydeck Apply here: https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/apply/
Medtech Innovator and Biotools Innovator: accelerator for medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies
2024/01/16
Paul Grand is the founder and CEO; Ayelet Marom is the Program Director for BioTools Innovator, which focuses specifically on biotools; and Jim West is the Associate Director, BioTools Innovator, who was previously the Co-Founder and CEO of, Clara Biotech, which was founded in 2018 and was acquired by Innovaprep in the summer of 2023. Jim was the first founder to go through the biotools program. In this episode of lab to startup, we first discuss some of the challenges that affect medtech and biotool technology startups, and then go into ways that medtech innovator, an accelerator program is helping founders in this space, especially around lessons learned and how the program has evolved into one of the best accelerators in this space. https://medtechinnovator.org/about-us/ Founding story of Medtech Innovator Things medtech startups struggle with: Articulating value proposition; understanding reimbursement; having the wrong CEO; staying in stealth mode; choosing the wrong indication Medtech innovator "Value program" Value coaches from established companies like J&J How startups get accepted to the program No equity, no fees and no strings attached for being a part of the program Bringing the right investors to the table to support founders Biotools innovator program: https://biotoolsinnovator.org/ Challenges in the biotools space How investors are different in this space Pay for Service as a model Story of Jim West, Founder and CEO of Clara biotech, that went through the program Advice on slide decks Info session videos: https://www.youtube.com/@Medtechinnovatorchannel
Metcela - Treating chronic organ diseases using a novel fibroblast-based technology
2024/01/02
Kenichi Nogami is the co-founder and CEO of Metcela, a clinical-stage biotechnology startup pioneering the research and development of fibroblast and stem cell-based therapy for chronic heart diseases that currently have limited therapeutic options. We talk about the current treatments for heart failure and how the fibroblast technology could help this space. We explore the founding story; setting smaller milestones and fundraising to meet those goals; the role of recruiting firms in hiring in japan; building a flat structure at the startup, as opposed to a hierarchical system that Japan is generally known for; and how Ken's investment banking experience helped with acquisition of another biotech startup; and many other stories. Shownotes https://www.metcela.com/en/ Fibroblast technology for treating Heart failure Current treatments and potential of regenerative capabilities Founding story: Investment banker meets a PhD student and launch a startup Nedo, Japan: Technology-Based Startup Support Program https://www.nedo.go.jp/english/activities/activities_ZZJP_100091.html IP: University waives its right to file a patent and the startup files the patent Co-founder chemistry Business model evolution Immune response challenges developing cell therapy for heart diseases Fundraising stories: Raising money from Japanese investors vs those outside Japan Raising from university derived VCs Cell manufacturing challenges Acquiring a startup while being a startup Evolution as a CEO Team and hiring process: Supply drove the hiring more than demand in many cases Building culture Hierarchy vs flat structure: decision making process Challenges building a biotech startup in Japan- talent, infrastructure; and need to expand globally
Lessons learned from a scientist entrepreneur turned investor
2023/11/28
Caleb Bell III, Ph.D., is a venture partner at Corundum Systems Biology and also the President of Corundum convergence institute. We talk about the founding story of Bell biosystems; how they were able to work at various labs around the country with very little money; building teams, culture; raising money, interacting with investors, leadership transitions; and also how the company filed for bankruptcy, although after he left the startup;. Kalub agreed to dip into his experiences both as a founder and investor, and share some of the lessons learned around all these topics, which I believe will be very helpful for aspiring or current founders out there. Shownotes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb3/ Early life as an entrepreneur and grad school training Thoughts on working with law firms: corporate vs IP attorneys Inspiration for launching Bell Biosystems (hint: Listening to NPR science Friday) Labs around the country helped perform the initial proof of concept experiments Market hypothesis Convincing the right kind of people to work with you: challenges and lessons learned Advice on recruiting and growing teams Culture: Two types of sins Becoming a manager from a founder Communicating with investors: Being a good steward of money Magnetic cells Thoughts on charging early customers;price discovery Sophisticated vs unsophisticated investors: Do your research! Leadership transitions Transitioning to investing: PE, VC Lessons learned from time at the PE firm Corundum systems biology https://www.csb.co.jp/

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5 out of 5
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★★★★★
awojdyla 2022/08/03
Excellent podcast on deep tech
Highly recommended podcast for anyone with (or without!) a phd who would like to understand how to turn their research into companies
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