February 26, 2024

Dillan DiNardo - Designing States of Consciousness: Unique Approaches to Psychedelic Drug Development

1 hour

Dillan DiNardo, CEO of Mindstate Design Labs, joins Paul F. Austin in exploring the use of AI to design human states of consciousness.

Find episode links, summary, and transcript here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-236-dillan-dinardo/

Dillan shares his background growing up in a religious community and his journey into psychedelics. He discusses the origin story of Mindstate Design Labs, and the role of language and AI in understanding altered states of consciousness. Dillan also talks about his experience suing the DEA and winning, advocating for the research of psychoactive substances.

In this conversation, Dillan sheds light on unique approaches to psychedelic drug development. He envisions “expanding the psychedelic world” to design states of consciousness never before imagined—with therapeutic potential.

Dillan DiNardo is the CEO of Mindstate Design Labs, a next-generation psychedelic biotech company designing novel altered states of consciousness for mental health therapeutics. The company's mission is to map the biological basis of the varieties of psychedelic experience, enabling the precision design of novel altered states and a deeper understanding of the biological basis of consciousness. Mindstate Design Labs' backers include Y Combinator and founders of OpenAI, Neuralink, AngelList, Coinbase, Instacart, and Twitch.

Prior to Mindstate Design Labs, Dillan worked in a $1 billion venture fund, executing and managing biopharma, medical device, and health tech investments ranging from pre-seed to publicly traded companies.

Highlights:

Dillan’s journey from fundamentalist religious upbringing to finding psychedelics

Sasha and Ann Shulgin, Tom Ray, and the origin story of Mindstate Design Labs

Joining startup accelerator Y Combinator

Intentionally designing states of consciousness

The role of language and AI in altered states of consciousness

Suing the DEA and winning

Links:

Mindstate Design Labs: https://www.mindstate.design/

Dillan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dillandinardo

Episode Sponsors:

New Brew’s non-alcoholic kratom and kava seltzers. Use code THIRDWAVE25 for 25% off.