The Biotech Startups Podcast

🧬 Sales Skills & Resilience: Hidden Drivers of Biotech Success | Rabia Khan (Part 3/4)


Listen Later

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.
As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners.
"You have to be curious. You have to enjoy the problems as opposed to view them as problems. You can view them as puzzle pieces that you get to put together, which is a lot of fun."

In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Rabia Khan shares the pivotal experiences that shaped her approach to biotech innovation, from her time at BenevolentAI and Sensyne Health to building and leading high-performance teams at the intersection of biology, machine learning, and clinical data. Rabia discusses the challenges of aligning scientists and engineers around a shared language, the importance of integrating platform and program development, and the cultural shifts needed to drive real innovation in drug discovery. She also reflects on the value of curiosity, risk-taking, and the lessons learned from managing major pharma partnerships and scaling teams under intense pressure.
Key topics covered:

  • Bridging Biology & Machine Learning: Breaking barriers to spark drug discovery innovation.
  • Platform vs. Program Development: Integrate or stagnate—unite teams to win in biotech.
  • Building & Leading Teams: Scaling fast and thriving in high-stakes pharma.
  • The Power of Curiosity & Risk-Taking: Question, risk, and grow—breakthroughs follow.
  • Sales & Resilience in Biotech: Master selling and stay tough to succeed in science.

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.
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, Rabia Khan, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabiatkhan/ Website: https://www.serna.bio/ 
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:ICD-10 Codes and the Classification of Disease: https://icd.who.int/browse10/2019/enHubSpot CEO on 20VC: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/20vc-hubspot-ceo-on-where-value-accrues-in-saas-ai/id958230465?i=1000699464274The Economist’s Approach to Business Clarity and Value Creation: https://businesslibrary.uflib.ufl.edu/economicsbooks
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:BenevolentAI: https://www.benevolent.com/Sensyne Health: https://www.sensynehealth.com/Serna Bio: https://www.serna.bio/
Steven Hamblin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenrhamblin/?originalSubdomain=ukKate Yen, Ph.D.:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-yen-448b22108/
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:04 The Importance of Shared Language Across Disciplines03:02 Platform vs. Program Development in Biotech06:02 The Platform-Program Dichotomy and Capital Market Perspectives07:29 Aligning Machine Learning Engineers and Biologists09:30 Changing the Culture of Biology to Embrace Engineering Practices11:07 The Role of Curiosity and Naivety in Innovation12:18 Starting a Company: Risk-Taking and Support Systems17:11 Transition from BenevolentAI to Sensyne Health22:16 Challenges of Working with Clinical Data and ICD-10 Codes25:17 Building and Scaling a Machine Learning Team at Sensyne Health31:03 Leadership, Mentorship, and Hiring for Growth33:14 The Underrated Power of Sales Skills in Biotech36:57 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.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Biotech Startups PodcastBy Excedr

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

22 ratings


More shows like The Biotech Startups Podcast

View all
WSJ Your Money Briefing by The Wall Street Journal

WSJ Your Money Briefing

1,714 Listeners

Marketplace by Marketplace

Marketplace

8,634 Listeners

Bloomberg Intelligence by Bloomberg

Bloomberg Intelligence

403 Listeners

Odd Lots by Bloomberg

Odd Lots

1,866 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

1,941 Listeners

Bold Names by The Wall Street Journal

Bold Names

1,448 Listeners

The Readout Loud by STAT

The Readout Loud

316 Listeners

The Journal. by The Wall Street Journal & Spotify Studios

The Journal.

5,952 Listeners

Biotech 2050 Podcast by Biotech 2050

Biotech 2050 Podcast

61 Listeners

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

5,430 Listeners

Business Of Biotech by Ben Comer

Business Of Biotech

88 Listeners

BioCentury This Week by BioCentury

BioCentury This Week

30 Listeners

Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

Huberman Lab

28,598 Listeners

Biotech Hangout by Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Brad Loncar, Tim Opler & more

Biotech Hangout

18 Listeners

Ground Truths by Eric Topol

Ground Truths

50 Listeners