• Building LaunchBio: From "lunch club" to national nonprofit supporting early-stage life science founders
• Navigating leadership challenges: Taking the CEO role during a pandemic and pivoting to virtual programming
• Creating Investor Connect: Developing curated matchmaking between startups and appropriate VCs
• Expanding biotech ecosystems: Building thriving life science hubs in emerging markets like Dallas
• Launching HiveBio: A new accelerator program for underrepresented founders in the life sciences

• Growing up in 4-H raising pigs: Early lessons in economics and grit
• Mixing science & business: Blending molecular biology training with business strategy at CU Boulder
• Cold-calling challenges: Cutting teeth in biotech sales at SeraCare Life Sciences
• Pivoting through crisis: How a spinal cord injury reshaped career priorities
• Building the shared lab space movement: Pre-WeWork innovation for life sciences

• Navigating clinical trials from discovery to FDA approval with a biomarker-driven approach
• The importance of translational biology and how Auron integrates it from day one
• Building a lean biotech startup, from early fundraising to assembling a high-impact team
• Securing big pharma partnerships in a challenging biotech market
• Leveraging AI and machine learning to map cancer biology and identify new drug targets

• Kate Yen’s journey from aspiring physician to PhD researcher at UCLA
• How her postdoc in Charles Sawyers’ lab sparked her passion for translational research
• Transitioning from academia to industry and learning drug discovery at Merck
• Taking the leap to join Agios Pharmaceuticals and leading the IDH program
• The role of collaboration in biotech, from academia to CRO partnerships

• Oguzhan's journey from Turkey to Stanford
• BillionToOne's origin, including Y Combinator's role and initial funding challenges
• The company's innovative prenatal testing approach
• Expansion into oncology with blood tests for therapy selection and monitoring
• Oguzhan's personal struggles with immigration issues while starting the company and the support of his mentors

• Oguzhan's upbringing in a small Turkish town
• His early passion for science, deciding to become a scientist at just 10 years old
• Oguzhan's experience in Turkey's rigorous education system
• His transition to studying at Princeton
• Oguzhan's PhD journey at Stanford

• How Parag scaled Hercules Capital into a multi-billion-dollar life sciences fund
• The challenges of building a strong company culture in investment firms
• Why evergreen capital structures can be a game-changer for biotech startups
• The founding story of K2 HealthVentures and its mission-driven approach
• How balancing work, family, and entrepreneurship leads to long-term success

• How Parag’s NYC upbringing shaped his leadership and risk-taking mindset
• His transition from molecular biology to finance and investing
• Key lessons from his early career in credit and venture lending
• How he helped shape biotech venture credit and redefine startup financing
• When to use debt vs. equity in life sciences fundraising

• Jason Foster's journey from Virginia to London
• The critical role of culture in company success
• Ori Biotech's mission to increase accessibility of cell therapies by developing scalable manufacturing solutions
• Challenges in commercializing cell therapies and the need to consider commercial viability alongside safety and efficacy
• Jason's leadership insights, including the concept of being a "trusted advisor" and the importance of transparency in team building
  
  

• Jason Foster's early entrepreneurship, from paper routes to creative ventures
• His transformative time at Columbia Business School, learning valuable lessons about decision-making and international perspectives
• Jason's entry into healthcare through Merck-Medco
• His experience growing a small pharmaceutical company from 5 to 400 employees, focusing on addiction medicine
• The decision to move his family to London to start the European branch of the business
  
  

• Scaling Genialis during COVID-19 and refining the company’s mission
• The importance of company culture and building a motivated, cohesive team
• Developing krasID and the Genialis supermodel to advance cancer diagnostics
• Raising Series A funding amid biotech market challenges
• The role of leadership and innovation in driving biotech success and shaping the future of precision oncology.

• Rafael’s move to Baylor College of Medicine and Houston’s vibrant medical community
• Innovations in molecular cloning and synthetic biology tools at Baylor
• Bridging biology and AI through collaborations with University of Ljubljana researchers
• Founding Genialis and shifting its focus to predictive biomarker development
• Lessons from biotech pivots that shaped Genialis as a leader in precision oncology

• Rafael's graduate studies at Yale, where mentors fostered his independent research approach
• His diverse marine biology and genomics projects, preparing him for synthetic biology
• Rafael's transition to the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) for synthetic biology and biofuels research
• The collaborative environment at JBEI, including access to cutting-edge technology and bioinformatics tool development
• Rafael's insights on choosing the right lab environment and the growing acceptance of entrepreneurship in academia
  
  

• Rafael's upbringing in rural South Carolina, influenced by his parents' intellectual hippie activist background and nature
• How his French cell biologist uncle sparked his love for science through snorkeling 
• Rafael's journey at Dartmouth, initially pursuing chemistry but ultimately finding his passion in evolutionary biology and ecology
• His post-college experiences alternating between scientific research and culinary pursuits
• The pivotal decision to attend a marine biology program at Friday Harbor instead of accepting an offer to cook on a private yacht
  
  

• How a Thanksgiving article about Dr. Sam Gambhir inspired the founding of Earli
• Earli’s groundbreaking approach to revolutionizing cancer detection using synthetic biology
• The challenges of translating scientific discoveries into real-world clinical applications
• Overcoming obstacles and achieving breakthroughs in diagnostics and therapeutics
• Cyriac’s unwavering commitment to transforming cancer into a manageable condition

• Launching Shopkick during the 2008 financial crisis and securing funding against the odds
• Partnering with Best Buy, Macy’s, and Target to pioneer in-store rewards using ultrasound technology
• Overcoming GPS limitations with innovative hardware solutions
• Switching from retail tech to life sciences, with a focus on AI and engineering
• Cyriac’s vision for digital clinical trials to accelerate drug development

• How Cyriac's early fascination with technology manifested through building a digital clock from scratch
• The transformative experience in Tokyo that served as a "reset button," exposing him to radical cultural differences
• His strategic career progression from Roland Berger to McKinsey
• The pivotal move from a failing mobile auction business to pioneering "mobile marketing" 
• The challenging transition to CBS Mobile, where starting from zero employees allowed him to leapfrog competitors by implementing innovative features 
  
  

• How Cyriac's entrepreneurial journey began at age 8 selling at flea markets, leading to selling his first computer program at 15 to a newspaper company
• His transformative exchange year in Texas at age 16 and how it allowed Cyriac to reset his identity
• How his graduation event transformed his school into a beach with Coca-Cola sponsorship and TV coverage
• How he created and hosted a late-night radio show, balancing academic demands with creative pursuits
• How his experience studying in Japan revealed valuable lessons about cultural perspectives
  
  

• Why securing a patent is only the first step in IP protection
• Weighing litigation versus licensing to safeguard your IP
• Leveraging technology transfer and academic collaborations for innovation
• Driving innovation through incremental advancements in your IP portfolio
• Kate’s journey from scientist to partner, with insightful advice for those navigating career transitions

• Building a strong foundation for your IP and the importance of well-crafted provisional applications.
• Aligning scientific advancements with proactive patent strategies to maximize long-term value.
• The critical timing for startups to address IP concerns, from tech transfer to scaling operations.
• The nuances of international patenting and strategic decisions on global protections.
• Practical tips for founders on prioritizing IP investments to strengthen their company and attract investors.
  
  

• Kate's transition from patent agent to lawyer, highlighting challenges of pursuing a law degree while working full-time
• The culture shock scientists face in law school, adjusting to ambiguity and lack of definitive answers
• The extensive reading required in law school compared to scientific literature, requiring a different approach
• The collegial culture at Kate's law firm, fostering an environment where former scientists can thrive
• How patent law work provides exposure to diverse scientific fields, offering continuous learning opportunities

• How growing up as youngest of six influenced Kate's leadership style of giving autonomy while providing guidance
• How early exposure to science through her father's engineering and a chemistry set ignited her scientific interests
• The research at Michigan's yeast lab and Northwestern's MS research that developed key multitasking abilities
• Kate’s unexpected shift from bench science to patent law through colleagues at Marshall Gerstein
• How career paths in science evolved from strictly academic to broader acceptance of industry and alternative paths

Enriched Notes:

• Founding Verve Therapeutics and pioneering gene editing for cardiovascular disease
• Tackling medicine adherence with one-and-done gene therapies
• Leadership lessons from starting and scaling biotech startups
• How patient stories inspire innovation in genetic medicine
• Stoke’s vision for genetic medicine and transformative treatments for diseases like Dravet syndrome

• Barry’s switch from academia to industry, and the challenges of his role at Merck
• Navigating drug development and the rigorous standards of pharmaceutical research
• Leading patient-centered clinical development at Biogen to create impactful therapies
• Exploring the potential of RNA medicine at Pfizer and Moderna
• Working on Moderna’s lipid nanoparticle technology, the basis for the COVID-19 vaccine

• Pioneering research using transparent zebrafish embryos to study cardiac development
• Helping establish the myCHOICE program at University of Chicago
• Managing concurrent roles at Harvard Medical School and Mass General
• Gaining invaluable crisis management experience as a pediatric cardiologist leading emergency resuscitations
• Making the strategic career transition to biopharma to combine basic science with clinical work

• Barry's upbringing as one of five boys in a family of physicians
• A transformative moment watching a child regain sight that crystallized his career path
• His foundational experiences at Haverford College where he discovered his passion for biology
• His journey through the MD-PhD program at the University of Chicago
• How education, critical thinking, and resilience shaped his leadership approach

• The complexities of building partnerships with Big Pharma as a startup
• Insights on developing relationships with larger organizations and patient foundations
• The importance of mutual goals and the art of aligning incentives 
• Transcripta’s progress with their groundbreaking Drug-Gene Atlas, combining genetics, AI, and high-throughput data to redefine the future of drug discovery

• Chris’ transition from Eli Lilly to the startup world, embracing the excitement and uncertainty of a smaller company.
• Navigating investor relations and honing the skill of translating science into business language.
• Developing Transcripta Bio’s discovery engine, a scalable approach to drug discovery.
• Leveraging AI, genetics, and high-throughput data to reduce failure points in drug development.

• How he got recruited to Eli Lilly through persistent outreach by VP Jose Caro, who recognized Chris's potential 
• How Chris advanced rapidly from obesity research to heading lead generation biology at Lilly Indianapolis
• His experience successfully leading a complex $20M lab buildout in NYC after Lilly's ImClone acquisition
• Transitioning to biotech as CSO at Fulcrum Therapeutics, where he gained valuable experience in investor relations and helped raise $200M in public markets
• What it means to serve as CEO developing an innovative "drug machine" platform that combines machine learning with wet lab approaches 

• Chris’ childhood growing up on Long Island and his experience with early heart surgery at 12 years old
• How those early experiences shaped his passion for science and medicine 
• His pivotal experiences at Cornell University, where a summer fellowship studying insulin signaling sparked his transition from pre-med to research 
• His groundbreaking PhD research at SUNY Stony Brook developing transgenic mice, leading to publications in Science and Nature 
• The strategic decision to pursue pharmaceutical research over academia, leveraging key connections to launch his industry career at Wyeth 
• His leadership philosophy’s emphasis on respect, teamwork, and balancing immediate results with long-term vision

• Michael’s journey from graduate studies to co-founding Nuclera
• The unique challenges scientists encounter in the business world
• The importance of adaptability and key lessons in developing/marketing a breakthrough product
• Michael’s insights into navigating big pharma’s lengthy sales cycles and building successful partnerships
• Creating a Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy for a biotech and identifying early adopters

Links:

Enriched Notes:

Timestamps:

• The influence of growing up in a data-driven family
• Learning to do the damn dishes in the lab
• Getting into the NIH Oxford Cambridge Scholarship Program
• Learning that what got us here won’t get us to where we need to be
• Differences between lab work in the UK versus the US

Timestamps:

• Neela’s transition from AbbVie to Seattle Genetics and business development
• Her meeting with Good Therapeutics CEO and how it changed her career trajectory
• Her move to Good Therapeutics as Chief Business Development Officer
• Neela’s experience leading Good through its acquisition by Roche, and the importance of strategic deal structuring
• Her current role as CBO of Bonum Therapeutics and focus on developing cytokine therapies for oncology