In this episode, Bernardo Cervantes, Co-founder at Concerto Biosciences joins host David Thomann for episode #8 of the Slice of Life Sciences Real Estate podcast.

Bernardo has a Ph.D. from MIT in Microbiology, Microbiome, and Synthetic Biology and then, I believe, jumped immediately into becoming a Co-Founder, unlike some of the other founders we have had on the show. Concerto Biosciences is less than two years old and is unlocking the potential for microbial consortia…we’ll dive into much more about Concerto along with the responsibilities Bernardo has for this fast-paced early-stage company. 

What you’ll learn in this episode: 

• Cervantes’s story/background
• Career shaping experiences

Questions we cover about Cervantes: 

• Where did you grow up, and did you have people or events in your life that inspired the interests you pursued later on in life?
• Did you know what you wanted to study when you got to college and at what point did you start knowing what you wanted to do after undergrad? 
• Did you go straight to MIT after you graduated Cal Berkeley? 
• Tell us a little bit about some of the publications you had during your time at MIT and any particularly important projects you worked on 
• Whether at Berkeley or MIT, did you have any mentors that got you thinking about entrepreneurship or how does a young man like you decide to start something rather than, I don’t know, go to a large pharmaceutical company for x amount of years before taking a leap of faith? 

What You’ll learn about Concerto Biosciences: 

• How did Concerto Bio come about, what was the motivation, and who are your co-founders/did you meet at MIT? 
• For the non-PhDs, what does Concerto do in the simplest of answers? 
• What is the problem your team is solving and are you the first company to pinpoint microbial ensembles? 
• What impact will this have on the world or differently put, what are the therapeutic combinations your team is discovering that are benefitting people and what other applications is the future goal? 
• We know you are a Co-Founder, but working at an early stage and growing startup must mean you wear a lot of hats and have many responsibilities…can you share what a day in the life of Bernardo is like? 
• I know Concerto has only been around since 2020, but what notable successes has your team had? You have been in the news lately, which is exciting. 
• As you look back on the past ~ 2 years, how has it been being a co-founder right after receiving your Ph.D. and what do you believe are the key tools that make your team and your culture as exciting now as day 1?
• What are the biggest challenges a growing and early team like yours faces… Is it as you would have expected? 
• There are a lot of entrepreneurs who listen to this podcast so I always like to ask two questions, 1) was there a specific moment you knew you wanted to be an entrepreneur? And 2) any advice you’d give to another Ph.D. about starting a company? 

This podcast is produced by Slice of Media, INC.