Biotech & Breweries

Jan D'Alvise is the President & CEO at Acasti pharmaceuticals and holds a BS in Biochemistry from Michigan Technological University and an MBA from University of Michigan.

Eric Venn-Watson holds an MBA from UCSD, was a Navy Flight Surgeon and is a current US Navy reservist.

Steph Venn -Watson is a veterinary epidemiologist and public health scientist who has past experience working at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, DARPA, the CDC and WHO.

For this episode I spent some time talking with Eric & Steph Venn-Watson and we had a fantastic conversation while we tried a few beers from Modern Times. Our conversation led us through where Eric & Steph got their starts and how their unique paths and Steph's time studying Navy dolphins let them to an exciting discovery and the launch of their companies Epitracker & Seraphina Therapeutics.

Andrew Rudd holds a PhD from UCSD and is the founder and CEO of Palm Therapeutics.

We shared some beer from Alesmith and talked about his company Palm and their work with Lipids. We also dug into the process of applying for grants and how that has been a valuable alternative to venture capital and what the next milestones are as they continue to grow.

I recently had the chance to catch up with Scott McLaughlin and share some beers from Protector Brewing. Scott is a former counterintelligence officer of the United States Marine Corps, UCSD Rady MBA, and current Vice President of Business Development at Gene Go Cell. Our conversation covered a wide variety of topics including what the transition from the military to the life science world was like, how Gene Go Cell is trying to help breweries manage their yeast, their effort to develop a common sense COVID navigation strategy and more.

Kim Kamdar is a Senior Partner at Domain Associates and holds a PhD in biochemistry and genetics from Emory University.

We tried a few beers from Belching Beaver and talked about the world of Venture Capital, including how Domain got it's start, what it's like to be a San Diego based VC and how fortunate timing carried them through COVID.

Ana Moreno holds a PhD in Bioengineering from UCSD and is the founder and CEO of Navega Therapeutics.

Ana and I had a few hard kombuchas from June Shine while we discussed the source of her entreprenurial spirit, Navega's goal of giing people an alternative pain management solution, the mythical place known as JLabs and more.

Mark Van Oene, COO at Pacific Biosciences (PACB) joined me for a couple beers from Harland Brewing - the Sunken Isles Hazy IPA (6.8%) and the Lilikoi Sour (6.0%). While we enjoyed our beer we dug into how he got his start in genomics, why San Diego has become a genomics hotbed, how COVID has impacted the fundraising landscape and much more.

For more on Harland Brewing you can visit HarlandBeer.com

For my first episode I hosted Killu Sanborn from Oxford Finance and we shared the Drink This Or the Bees Die (Golden Honey Ale, 6.5%) and Liquid Jam (Hazy IPA, 7.5%) from Duckfoot Brewing.

We covered a range of topics including how Killu got her start lending to biotech companies, her take on the current funding environment, the silver linings to COVID and more.

To try the beers from Duckfoot go here: www.duckfootbeer.com