In this episode of the Nucleate Podcast, Anastasia Janas sits down with Shelby Newsad, Partner at Compound VC, shares her journey from a small town in Appalachia to investing in some of the most transformative technologies shaping biotech and beyond. Starting as a first-generation college student with a pre-med background, she realized that commercialization is key to translating scientific research into real-world impact.

Shelby discusses her work at Compound, a thesis-driven, research-centric venture firm investing across AI, robotics, crypto, and biotech. She explains how Compound builds deep expertise in emerging fields — developing theses, connecting with researchers, and creating ecosystems around transformational areas — to become the highest-context investors for early-stage companies. When critical gaps in the market appear, Compound even incubates companies themselves, such as in plant engineering for high-value, lower-regulation products.

The conversation dives into emerging trends like autonomous science, science-driven consumer products, biohacking, and proactive healthcare. Shelby highlights the importance of individual health data ownership, the potential for brain modulation technologies, and why bold, contrarian founders are key to the future of biotech. She shares her optimism for the future, from conservation tech to cancer prevention, and invites listeners to think bigger, move earlier, and reach out with innovative ideas — and to get involved with Compound’s upcoming Research Days in San Francisco.

Time Stamps

00:04 - 00:27: Introduction about research days in San Francisco

00:27 - 01:11: Intro about Shelby 

01:11 - 03:06: Shelby’s background and fascination for science 

03:06 - 10:54: Discussion about translation from academia to real-world products

0:10:54 - 21:12: Compound's investment approach & what makes a good thesis 

21:12 - 24:15: Compound’s incubation model 

24:15 - 30:06: What Shelby looks for when meeting founders

30:06 -37:06: Conversation about biohacking and medical perspectives

37:06 - 40:09: Discussion about potential future technologies

40:09 - 41:32: Contact information and upcoming research days

41:32 - 45:32: Closing thoughts about scientific optimism

FInd more about the Podcast at the Signal Website