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Episode Description:

"Entrepreneurship is great, but, for me, family always came first. [My] wife and kids always came first. I didn't miss a single game or show or anything of the kids, whether it was at 3 PM or 5 PM or 7 PM, I did that. And then I figured out the work otherwise."
We’re revisiting some of our previous episodes over the holidays this year. Our next rerelease is part 2 of this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast with Parag Shah, where we discuss his journey from leading the life sciences practice at Hercules Capital to founding K2 Health Ventures. Parag shares candid insights about the pivotal moment he transitioned from banking to private credit, his decision to join Hercules as one of the first employees, and the challenges of scaling a fund from $25 million to over a billion dollars as a public BDC.
Parag offers rare transparency about the difficulties of navigating toxic corporate culture while building a successful business, and how those experiences shaped his vision for K2 HealthVentures. He emphasizes the critical importance of work-life balance in entrepreneurship, revealing how he never missed a single one of his children's games or shows despite the demands of building investment firms. The conversation explores the strategic advantages of evergreen fund structures versus traditional LP/GP models, and how K2's unique approach of combining debt and equity across the capital stack, along with dedicating a percentage of profits to underserved healthcare, represents a new model for impact investing in life sciences.Key topics covered:

• Transitioning from banking to private credit and joining Hercules Capital in its earliest days
• Taking Hercules public and scaling from $50 million to over $2 billion in life sciences investments
• Navigating difficult corporate cultures and the importance of building intentional company culture
• Achieving sustainable work-life balance as an entrepreneur without sacrificing family priorities
• Founding K2 HealthVentures with an evergreen structure and dual mission of profit and purpose

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Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ 
Find Our Guest, Parag Shah, at these links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paragshah333/ https://k2hv.com/  Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin 
Resources & Articles:Biotech Startup Fundraising https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-optionsVenture Debt Financing https://www.excedr.com/blog/venture-debt-for-biotech-startups-overview Business Development Companies (BDCs) https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bdc.asp Evergreen Fund Structures in Private Capital https://www.hamiltonlane.com/en-us/knowledge-center/evergreen-funds Understanding LP/GP Relationships: https://visible.vc/blog/general-partner-vs-limited-partner/ Private Credit and Venture Debt Explained https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/venturecapital.asp 
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:Comerica Bank: https://www.comerica.com ​Hercules Capital: https://www.htgc.com 
Roy Liu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roy-liu-36a35/Anup Arora: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anup-arora-368ba81/Meghan FitzGerald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanmfitzgerald/John Hale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hale-770158b/
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:11 Pivoting to Private Credit and Starting a Fund13:06 Importance of Corporate Culture in Firm Building14:50 Going Public: Benefits and Pressures of a Public BDC18:60 Knowing When It's Time to Leave23:33 Taking a Break and Finding Balance29:34 Founding K2 HealthVentures38:30 Raising $400 Million: A Stark Contrast42:14 Evergreen Structure and Long-Term Partnership45:04 Working Across the Capital Stack48:46 The Value of Co-Founders53:14 Looking Ahead: Growth and the K2 Foundation54:38 Shout Outs and Gratitude57:43 Advice to Your 21-Year-Old Self01:02:06 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.