The Biotech Startups Podcast

Part 1 of 4.

My guest for this week’s episode is Sandy Paige, co-managing director of the Seabright Ventures Fund, a search fund investing in the US middle market, with a focus on life sciences and cleantech. Sandy is an expert CEO, most recently leading and scaling Explora BioLabs before its acquisition by Charles River Laboratories for $295 Million dollars.

Prior to Seabright, Sandy led The Jackson Laboratory as a Site Director and a Director of International Distribution from 2008 to 2018. Before The Jackson Laboratory, Sandy spent time as a general manager, consultant, and financial analyst, gaining extensive experience in a wide range of industries outside of the life sciences.

Join us as we sit down with Sandy to talk about his childhood watching his father as a CEO, and how he learned to leverage his hustle and found value as a team player. Sandy also discusses the benefits of multifaceted education and how a wide range of experiences can lead to more opportunities. Lastly, we cover his time going from politics to industry, his journey to getting an MBA, and his path into corporate entrepreneurship.

Find Our Guest, Sandy Paige, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanielsandypaige/
https://seabrightventuresfund.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:56 Episode start, Sandy’s childhood growing up in Maine, watching his father as a CEO
04:53 Deciding not to become a zero-to-one entrepreneur, the value of hustling and being a team player
07:05 The benefits of a multi-disciplinary liberal arts education and of having a varied background of experiences
09:41 Taking the opportunities provided and taking things job-by-job, how a letter led to a job opportunity
13:20 Working for Angus King, following up on things people recommend and saying yes at critical moments
18:42 Moving into industry, going to Fairchild Semiconductor, getting an MBA
23:16 Benefits of exposure to broader business operations, corporate entrepreneurship as a career path
26:43 Entrepreneurship as risk aversion, managing risk-return profiles to find a path
28:35 Outro

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
Entrepreneurship https://www.excedr.com/category/entrepreneurship
Liberal Arts Education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education
Laboratory Management https://www.excedr.com/category/laboratory-management
Minimize Overhead Costs https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-to-minimize-overhead-costs
Managing the Impact of Rising Interest Rates & Inflation https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-to-manage-the-impact-of-rising-interest-rates-and-inflation
Explora Biolabs https://ir.criver.com/news-releases/news-release-details/charles-river-laboratories-acquires-explora-biolabs
Salzburg Seminar for American Studies https://www.salzburgglobal.org/multi-year-series/american-studies
Bath Iron Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_Iron_Works
Fairchild Semiconductor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Semiconductor
VC Term Sheet Glossary https://www.excedr.com/resources/vc-term-sheet-clauses-and-terms
Writing a Startup Business Plan https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-write-a-business-plan-for-biotechs
Business Entities & Their Differences https://www.excedr.com/resources/what-are-the-differences-between-business-entities
Babson College https://www.babson.edu/
Funding an R&D Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/rd-startup-funding-first-steps

People Mentioned:
Buzz Fitzgerald https://www.c-span.org/person/?36913/BuzzFitzgerald
Angus King https://www.king.senate.gov/The 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.

Part 3 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Maneesh Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Mirvie, a life science company that predicts pregnancy complications before they happen by revealing the underlying biology of pregnancy health. Mirvie is dedicated to shaping the future of pregnancy health through simple, personalized blood tests. Before Mirvie, Maneesh was a founder, CEO, or executive of five successful start-ups, which include Parallele Bioscience, Auriphex Bioscience, Ion Torrent, Butterfly Network, and Cirina.

All of the businesses successfully exited or commercialized to the likes of Affymetrix, Illumina, Life Technologies, the FDA, and GRAIL, respectively. Join us as we sit down with Maneesh to talk about how finding the biggest unmet need led to the founding of Mirvie after leaving GRAIL.

Maneesh also discusses the maternal health crisis and the state of the market for pregnancy health. We also cover his thoughts on how to create an empathy-centric culture that balances being collaborative and understanding with achieving aggressive goals. Lastly, Maneesh discusses the intricacies of fundraising during recessions and the critical importance of hitting milestones, especially the ones investors value most. Please enjoy my conversation with Maneesh.

Find Our Guest, Maneesh Jain, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maneesh-jain-2509388/
https://www.mirvie.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:43 Episode start, founding Mirvie after leaving GRAIL, finding the biggest unmet need
04:08 Detecting abnormal developments during pregnancy, the state of the market for pregnancy medicine
07:23 The maternal health crisis and working to resolve it, finding safe methods of diagnosis
09:04 Creating a collaborative and supportive environment with aggressive goals, empathy as a core value
11:55 Fundraising during recessions, hitting your milestones, and creating/proving your own value
14:08 Finding milestones investors value most, the importance of asking “why” for prioritization
17:16 What’s in store for Mirvie in the next year or two, shifting paradigms for pregnancy health
20:20 Shoutouts to people who have supported Maneesh over the years
22:29 Advice to a 21-year-old self, self and team success are the same thing
24:37 Outro

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
GRAIL https://grail.com/
Mirvie https://www.mirvie.com/
Hematology Analyzers https://www.excedr.com/clinical-equipment/hematology-analyzer
Medical Imaging https://www.excedr.com/blog/medical-imaging-and-radiology-overview
New Drug Applications https://www.excedr.com/blog/ind-application-process
FDA Drug Approval Process https://www.excedr.com/blog/fda-drug-approval-process-guide
Clinical Trials https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_trial
Principal Investigator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal_investigator
Series A, B, & C Funding https://www.excedr.com/resources/series-funding-explained
Funding Options for Startups https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
What Is a Seed Round https://www.excedr.com/resources/seed-round-funding-explained
Bootstrapping Your Biotech Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-bootstrap-biotech-startup
Invert (Charlie Munger Model) https://modelthinkers.com/mental-model/inversion
Stanford Genome Technology Center https://med.stanford.edu/sgtc.html
Affymetrix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affymetrix

People Mentioned:
Charlie Munger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Munger
Maya Angelou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou The 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.

Part 2 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Maneesh Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Mirvie, a life science company that predicts pregnancy complications before they happen by revealing the underlying biology of pregnancy health. Mirvie is dedicated to shaping the future of pregnancy health through simple, personalized blood tests.

Before Mirvie, Maneesh was a founder, CEO, or executive of five successful start-ups, which include Parallele Bioscience, Auriphex Bioscience, Ion Torrent, Butterfly Network, and Cirina. All of the businesses successfully exited or commercialized to the likes of Affymetrix, Illumina, Life Technologies, the FDA, and GRAIL, respectively.

Join us as we sit down with Maneesh to talk about having the confidence to learn new things outside your comfort zone and how it is likely to be a core skill for future generations. Maneesh also discusses leveraging learnings from the semiconductor industry's supply chain to find new paths to innovation.

Lastly, we cover his thoughts on how to maintain culture when going through mergers and acquisitions, and how using the power of liquid biopsies led to his success at Cirina and later Mirvie. Please enjoy my conversation with Maneesh.

Find Our Guest, Maneesh Jain, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maneesh-jain-2509388/
https://www.mirvie.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:38 Episode start, starting Aurifex BioScience, company scale and its effect on innovation
04:38 Getting out of your comfort zone, having the confidence to learn something new
06:29 Going to Ion Torrent, leveraged learnings from supply chains in the semiconductor industry
09:58 Scaling a team and designing go-to-market strategies as the first commercial hire
13:30 Acquisitions and mergers, keeping culture intact when having a partner company
15:25 Butterfly Network, clinical applications of using ultrasounds on a chip, democratizing technology
19:24 Working with the FDA, founding Cirina and the power of liquid biopsies
22:36 Early detection of cancer, building teams across the world
25:54 Biggest challenges and triumphs at Cirina, global applications of clinical studies
27:44 Outro

Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
Stanford Genome Technology Center https://med.stanford.edu/sgtc.html
Bootstrapping Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-bootstrap-biotech-startup
Illumina https://www.illumina.com/
DNA Sequencing with Illumina https://www.excedr.com/blog/featured-manufacturer-illumina
Next Generation Sequencing https://www.excedr.com/biotech-life-sciences/ngs-next-generation-sequencers
NGS Overview https://www.excedr.com/blog/next-generation-sequencing-101
454 Life Sciences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/454_Life_Sciences
Medical Imaging https://www.excedr.com/blog/medical-imaging-and-radiology-overview
FDA https://www.fda.gov/
Cirina/GRAIL https://grail.com/press-releases/grail-and-cirina-combine-to-create-global-company-focused-on-early-detection-of-cancer/
Lab Equipment https://www.excedr.com/blog/medical-lab-equipment-list

People Mentioned:
Mostafa Ronaghi https://www.linkedin.com/in/mostafa-ronaghi-505440/
Jonathan Rothberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Rothberg
Min Cui https://www.linkedin.com/in/min-cui-64bb178/ The 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.

Part 1 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Maneesh Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Mirvie, a life science company that predicts pregnancy complications before they happen by revealing the underlying biology of pregnancy health. Mirvie is dedicated to shaping the future of pregnancy health through simple, personalized blood tests. Before Mirvie, Maneesh was a founder, CEO, or executive of five successful start-ups, which include Parallele Bioscience, Auriphex Bioscience, Ion Torrent, Butterfly Network, and Cirina.

All of the businesses successfully exited or commercialized to the likes of Affymetrix, Illumina, Life Technologies, the FDA, and GRAIL, respectively. Join us as we sit down with Maneesh to talk about how his fundamental curiosity and perseverance have been a mainstay across his career.

Maneesh also discusses how he views entrepreneurship as a way to improve lives and make positive societal impacts. Lastly, we cover his time during undergrad and graduate school, how it led to spinning out ParAllele BioScience, and the many lessons its merger with Affymetrix provided. Please enjoy my conversation with Maneesh.

Find Our Guest, Maneesh Jain, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maneesh-jain-2509388/
https://www.mirvie.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:20 Episode start, Maneesh’s fundamental curiosity and thirst for knowledge, the value of perseverance
04:43 Entrepreneurship as a way to improve people’s lives and make a societal impact, time at CalTech
07:02 Undergraduate lab experience, turning knowledge into practical applications, mentors
09:36 Graduate school at Stanford, taking big open-ended problems and breaking them down
12:17 Moving to a field that is going to have its “Magic Decade”, transitioning to life sciences
15:00 Benefits of being a “clean slate”, working at the Stanford Genome Technology Center
17:24 Finding a project to spin-out, ParAllele BioScience and finding co-founders
22:28 The importance of showing basic scalability, going through the merger with Affymetrix
26:30 Learning about product differentiation, understanding technology and market life cycles
29:50 Outro

Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
Entrepreneurship https://www.excedr.com/category/entrepreneurship
Lean Business Plan https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-write-lean-business-plan
Reducing Startup Costs & Expenses https://www.excedr.com/blog/startup-costs-and-expenses
CalTech https://www.caltech.edu/
SURF https://www.nist.gov/surf
Biotech Accelerators https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-accelerators
Accelerator vs. Incubator https://www.excedr.com/resources/accelerator-vs-incubator
Human Genome Project https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project
Stanford Genome Technology Center https://med.stanford.edu/sgtc.html
Computational Biology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_biology
ParAllele Bioscience https://www.outsourcing-pharma.com/Article/2005/06/01/Affymetrix-acquires-ParAllele-BioScience
Tech Transfer https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-tech-transfer
Spinning Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup
Do You Need a Co-founder https://www.excedr.com/resources/do-you-need-a-co-founder-for-your-startup
Error Bars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_bar
Affymetrix https://www.linkedin.com/company/affymetrix/
Illumina https://www.illumina.com/

People Mentioned:
Amnon Rariv https://www.linkedin.com/in/amnon-yariv-12a75766/
Ron Davis https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-davis-56a34852/ The 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.

Part 3 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Alok Tayi, Founder of Vibe Bio, a life science company that funds and guides high-potential drug programs through value inflection points. Vibe Bio’s core comprises a community of scientists, patients, and partners dedicated to helping biotechs find the promising treatments that patients deserve.

Prior to founding Vibe Bio, Alok started and ran several life science-focused software companies, including PreScouter, TetraScience, and the Life Sciences division at Egnyte. Join us as we sit down with Alok to talk about the origins of the Biotech2050 podcast, how serendipity has played a role in his career, and how he does his best to create those opportunities for others.

Alok also discusses how medical conditions in his family led to Vibe Bio’s creation, and how Vibe’s goal is to pinpoint diseases with unmet needs, leveraging AI to find medicines with the highest chances of providing cures. Lastly, learn how Vibe Bio can offer newly spun-out biotechs benefits at every inflection point. Please enjoy my conversation with Alok Tayi.

Find Our Guest, Alok Tayi, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aloktayi/
https://www.vibebio.com
https://www.biotech2050.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:44 Episode start, starting the Biotech2050 Podcast, biotech innovation and facilitating those conversations
05:20 Fostering connections, serendipity’s effect on Alok’s journey and creating those opportunities for others
08:26 Diseases in the family and how they sparked Vibe Bio’s mission, the challenge of funding cures rather than finding them
10:47 Developing medicine from outside the industry, democratizing the drug development domain
12:54 Exponential scaling in expenses leads to medicines gravitating toward economic potential, recency bias
14:34 “Activation energy”, pinpointing unmet needs in industry and leveraging AI to find highest potential cures
17:26 Key inflection points to know, what Vibe Bio brings to those inflection points
20:58 Vibe Bio’s plans during the next couple of years
22:37 Alok’s shout outs, giving advice to a younger self, growth is non-linear, think long term
25:18 Outro

Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
Biotech2050 Podcast https://www.biotech2050.com/
Clora https://www.clora.com/
JPM Conference https://www.jpmorgan.com/about-us/events-conferences/health-care-conference
Biotech Podcasts to Listen To https://www.excedr.com/blog/biotech-podcasts-to-listen-to
Vibe Bio https://www.vibebio.com/
What Is Capital Outlay https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-capital-outlay
Venture Capital https://www.excedr.com/category/venture-capital
Angel Investors https://www.excedr.com/resources/angel-funding-and-angel-investors
Seed Round https://www.excedr.com/resources/seed-round-funding-explained
Series A, B, & C Funding https://www.excedr.com/resources/series-funding-explained
Activation energy https://www.britannica.com/science/activation-energy
Slush Fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slush_fund
Tech Transfer https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-tech-transfer
Spinning Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup

People Mentioned:
Rahul Chaturvedi https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulchaturvedi/
Sam Stupp https://stupp.northwestern.edu/cv/
George Whitesides https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-whitesides-7ba1189/
John Kelty https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kelty-96926885 The 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.

Part 2 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Alok Tayi, Founder of Vibe Bio, a life science company focused on funding & guiding high-potential drug programs through value inflection points. Vibe Bio’s core comprises a community of scientists, patients, and partners dedicated to helping biotechs find the promising treatments that patients deserve.

Prior to Vibe Bio, Alok started and ran several life science-focused software companies, including PreScouter, TetraScience, and the Life Sciences division at Egnyte. Join us as we sit down with Alok to talk about his transition into entrepreneurship from academia and how that experience led to PreScouter.

Alok also covers his experience navigating the tech transfer ecosystem and offers some key takeaways from his time as a serial founder. Alok also discusses founding TetraScience, his time at Egnyte hyperscaling its life sciences division during Covid, and tips for managing people during that rapid growth. Please enjoy my conversation with Alok Tayi.

Find Our Guest, Alok Tayi, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aloktayi/
https://www.vibebio.com

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:50 Episode start, Alok’s transition into entrepreneurship, the origins of PreScouter
03:35 Learning the go-to-market aspect of building business, the importance of doing sales
06:14 Enterprise sales and its duality, PreScouter takeaways for founders, the power of a .edu email address
09:28 Navigating the tech transfer ecosystem, taking tech from one industry to an adjacent one
11:13 How TetraScience came about, efficiency and data capture for science,
16:17 Moving on to Egnyte, building out the life science business unit, scaling from 1 to 60 employees
18:22 Experience working through Covid, biotech’s rapid growth and building something large quickly
22:11 Managing personnel during hyperscaling, importance of keeping your people on the same page
25:40 Outro

Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
Entrepreneurship https://www.excedr.com/category/entrepreneurship
Marketing & Sales Strategies for Startups https://www.excedr.com/blog/marketing-sales-strategies-for-biotechs
Principal Investigator (PI) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal_investigator
PreScouter https://www.prescouter.com/home/
Enterprise Sales https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/enterprise-sales
Tech Transfer https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-tech-transfer
Spinning Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup
TetraScience https://www.tetrascience.com/
Machine Learning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning
Egnyte https://www.egnyte.com/
Capital Outlay https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-capital-outlay
Bootstrapping & Scaling Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-bootstrap-biotech-startup
Creating a Budget for Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-create-budget-biotech-startup
What is CapEX https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-capex
Lattice Mismatch https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/lattice-mismatch


People Mentioned:
Vineet Jain https://www.linkedin.com/in/vineetkjain/
Rajesh Ram https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramrajesh/
Amrit Jassal https://www.linkedin.com/in/amritjassal/
Kris Lahiri https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-lahiri-135bb2/
David Spitz https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspitz/ The 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.

Part 1 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Alok Tayi, Founder of Vibe Bio, a life science company focused on funding & guiding high-potential drug programs through value inflection points. Vibe Bio’s core is a community of scientists, patients, and partners that are dedicated to helping biotechs find the promising treatments that patients deserve.

Prior to Vibe Bio, Alok started and ran several life science-focused software companies, including PreScouter, TetraScience, and the Life Sciences division at Egnyte.

Join us as we sit down with Alok to talk about how his experience at SUNY as a teenager sparked his journey into science and showed him the combination of software and science that has been a common trend throughout his career.

Alok also speaks to the importance of mentors, especially those he found at Cornell, Northwestern, Tokyo, and Harvard. Alok also covers how his time as a postgraduate working with George Whitesides changed his outlook on how to think, focusing on how to make an impact. Please enjoy my conversation with Alok Tayi.

Find Our Guest, Alok Tayi, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aloktayi/
https://www.vibebio.com

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:45 Episode start, Alok’s early journey into science, the combination of software and science
03:41 Serendipitous timing and its influence on Alok’s trajectory, the intersection of tech and biotech, the importance of good mentors
06:33 Experience at Cornell, the growth of materials science after the dot com bubble burst, motivation to get a PhD
09:45 Choosing Northwestern for a PhD, the benefits of working in Sam Stupp’s lab
14:27 Equipment in labs not being utilized, the difficulty of keeping people in the scientific discipline
18:33 Being a JSPS Fellow at University of Tokyo, Japan’s culture of hard work and other differences
23:33 Time at Harvard, pursuing a postdoc with George Whitesides
25:55 George Whitesides’ view on how does one think, working on things that have an impact, solving problems
28:17 Outro

Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
University at Albany, SUNY https://www.suny.edu/
Materials Science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_science
General Lab Equipment https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment
Liquid Handlers https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/liquid-handler
Industrial Robots https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/industrial-robots
High Content Imaging https://www.excedr.com/blog/an-introduction-to-high-content-imaging
What Are Immunoassays https://www.excedr.com/resources/what-are-immunoassays
Cell Imaging Systems https://www.excedr.com/microscopes/cell-imaging-system
Bioanalyzers https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-does-a-bioanalyzer-work
Nanotechnology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology
Molecular Biology https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-molecular-biology
X-Ray Crystallography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography
Organic Electronics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_electronics
Northwestern University https://www.northwestern.edu/
Science Exchange https://ww2.scienceexchange.com/s/
Scientific Equipment Leasing https://www.excedr.com/leasing
Staffing Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/blog/staffing-your-startup
“Todai” University of Tokyo https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/
JSPS Fellowship https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-fellow/
Harvard University https://www.harvard.edu/
Li Ka Shing Center https://bds.berkeley.edu/lks
Quad Chart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_chart
First Principles https://fs.blog/first-principles/

People Mentioned:
Michael Carpenter https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-carpenter-a6705a142/
George Malliaras https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgemalliaras/
Sam Stupp https://stupp.northwestern.edu/cv/
George Whitesides https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-whitesides-7ba1189/
Stephen Sass https://www.mse.cornell.edu/news/memorial-stephen-l-sass
Elizabeth Iorns https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethiorns/
Fraser Stoddart https://stoddart.northwestern.edu/fraser-stoddart/
Aida Takuzo https://www.linkedin.com/in/aida-takuzo-b38672150/ The 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.

Part 3 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is James Evans, Founder and CEO of PhenoVista Biosciences, a contract research organization that works with biopharma clients of all sizes, from start-ups to established global companies.

Before starting PhenoVista, James spent a decade at MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research as a Postdoc, a Research Scientist, and finally, Director of the Bioimaging Center.

Join us as we sit down with James to talk about how important it is to be scrappy as an entrepreneur, and how it is critical to adapt to change, as plans rarely remain unaltered. James also speaks to the importance of professional business development and how acquiring that skillset was a huge unlock for PhenoVista. J

James also covers the importance of setting client expectations, and discussing what is coming in the next year for PhenoVista. Please enjoy my conversation with James Evans.

Find Our Guest, James Evans, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgevans/
https://phenovista.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:45 Episode start, finding first lab space, incubator/shared space vs standard lab lease
04:10 Being scrappy, having a plan versus having a strategy, adapting to change
07:08 Phases of company growth,  in-house business development, professionalizing operations for scale and outside investors
08:34 Tips for improving sales and marketing, always trying new things
10:30 Difference between working with large and small clients, setting expectations with clients
12:49 PhenoVista’s coming year, new services in cell & gene therapy, functional assays, toxicology, fundraising for future growth
14:00 Shout-outs to people who helped along the way
15:47 Advice to James’ younger self, dealing with stress, physical and mental health
17:23 Outro

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
Lab Equipment https://www.excedr.com/category/lab-equipment
First Set of Equipment https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment
Autoclave https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/autoclave
CO2 Incubator https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/co2-incubator
Centrifuge https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-a-centrifuge
Lab Automation/Robotics https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/industrial-robots
Lab Balance https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/lab-balance 
Lab Shaker https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/lab-shaker
Liquid Handler https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/liquid-handler
Ultra Low Temp Freezer https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/ultra-low-temperature-freezer
Biotech/Life Science Equipment https://www.excedr.com/biotech-life-sciences
Cell Counter/Analyzer https://www.excedr.com/biotech-life-sciences/cell-counter
Flow Cytometer/Cell Sorter https://www.excedr.com/biotech-life-sciences/flow-cytometer
Microplate Reader https://www.excedr.com/biotech-life-sciences/microplate-reader
RT-PCR https://www.excedr.com/biotech-life-sciences/pcr-systems
Used Lab Equipment https://www.excedr.com/blog/buying-used-equipment
Refurbished Lab Equipment https://www.excedr.com/blog/refurbished-lab-equipment
Startup Bootstrapping https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-bootstrap-biotech-startup
Writing a Lean Business Plan https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-write-lean-business-plan
Marketing, Sales, & Business Development https://www.excedr.com/blog/marketing-sales-strategies-for-biotechs
Reducing Costs & Improving Efficiencies https://www.excedr.com/blog/startup-costs-and-expenses
Cell Painting & High Content Imaging https://www.excedr.com/blog/an-introduction-to-high-content-imaging
Biotechnology Funding Options https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options

People Mentioned:
Alan McNeilly https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-mcneilly-a497a025/?originalSubdomain=uk
Pamela Brown https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-brown-a8140a1a/?originalSubdomain=uk
Paul Matsudaira https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-matsudaira/
Ivan Correia https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-correia-mba-phd-9b026576/
Sanjoy Ray https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjoy-ray-1236051/
PhenoVista Advisors: https://phenovista.com/advisors
PhenoVista Team: https://phenovista.com/our-team The 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.

Part 2 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is James Evans, Founder and CEO of PhenoVista Biosciences, a contract research organization that works with biopharma clients of all sizes, from start-ups to established global companies.

Before starting PhenoVista, James spent a decade at MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research as a Postdoc, a Research Scientist, and finally, Director of the Bioimaging Center.

Join us as we sit down with James to talk about his choice to leave MIT and the job that initiated his move to San Diego where he met his co-founder. James also offers insight into what the early days at PhenoVista were like, and how important it is to learn to tackle miscommunication early.

Hear firsthand about the difficulties of running a bootstrapped business, how company growth leads to recurring issues that need solving, and how James forged a business model in the real world. Please enjoy my conversation with James Evans.

Find Our Guest, James Evans, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgevans/
https://phenovista.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:44 Episode Start
02:37 Choosing to leave MIT, the hard way of learning how to defend your data
04:53 Moving to San Diego, meeting PhenoVista’s co-founder (Tony), early days of the company
06:28 Gathering momentum, making the first outside hire (Erika), learning how to handle miscommunication
09:19 Hard lessons learned from moving from academia into a startup
11:06 Experience moving from East Coast to West Coast, creating a truly diverse company culture
13:34 Running a business is incredibly hard, solving recurring problems as the company grows
15:54 Biggest driving factor for creating PhenoVista, democratized access to phenotypic screening
17:40 Being bootstrapped vs. venture capital backed, forging a business model in the real world
20:35 Outro

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
High-Content Imaging https://www.excedr.com/blog/an-introduction-to-high-content-imaging Phenotypic Screening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenotypic_screening
Spinning Out of Academia: https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup
Creating a Budget for Your Startup (VC or Bootstrapped): https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-create-budget-biotech-startup
A Guide to Grant Funding: https://www.excedr.com/resources/grants-public-funding-biotech-startups
Financing Options for Your Startup: https://www.excedr.com/resources/debt-equity-options-funding-startup
How to Limit Co-Founder Disputes: https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-limit-co-founder-legal-disputes
How to Write a Lean Business Plan: https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-write-lean-business-plan
How to Bootstrap Your Biotech Startup: https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-bootstrap-biotech-startup
Fuji Film https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en
EBITDA https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/ebitda.asp

People Mentioned:
Paul Matsudaira https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-matsudaira/
Anthony “Tony” Essex https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-essex-ph-d-85671846/
Erika Martin https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-martin-b357327/ The 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.

Part 1 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is James Evans, Founder and CEO of PhenoVista Biosciences, a contract research organization that works with biopharma clients of all sizes, from start-ups to established global companies.

Before starting PhenoVista, James spent a decade at MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research as a Postdoc, a Research Scientist, and finally, Director of the Bioimaging Center.  Join us as we sit down with James to discuss his late-blooming love of science and how his childhood extracurriculars taught him resilience and problem solving.

James also offers insight into how important his hands-on lab experience was and how crucial it is to have a mentor that nurtures new talent. Learn more about why he left Harvard for MIT's Whitehead Institute, and how his experiences there further fueled his passion for imaging. Please enjoy my conversation with James Evans.

Find Our Guest, James Evans, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgevans/
https://phenovista.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
 
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:14 Episode start
03:38 Non-academic ways of learning resilience, problem solving, and a rebellious nature
06:00 The Belgian lab that lit a fire of inspiration and interest in biology
09:52 Hands-on, functional university experience, the importance of getting research exposure
11:32 Going to Edinburgh for his PhD, differences in experience and nurturing new talent
14:29 Cutting edge molecular biology, choosing to go overseas from Edinburgh to Harvard
17:11 The reason for wanting to switch to the Whitehead Institute, a passion for imaging
19:53 Collaborations with industry, leveraging imaging for computational systems biology
22:30 Helping grad students, common sense approaches to finding quick, reliable answers to questions
26:26 Outro

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
Kickflip https://www.wikihow.com/Kickflip-on-a-Skateboard
UK A-Levels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-level
Erasmus Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus_Programme
Coventry University https://www.coventry.ac.uk/
Mouth Pipetting https://incubator.rockefeller.edu/origins-of-the-pipette-why-todays-scientists-dont-need-to-use-their-mouths/
Transfection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfection
Whitehead Institute https://wi.mit.edu/
Computational Systems Biology http://catalog.mit.edu/interdisciplinary/graduate-programs/computational-systems-biology/
High Content Screening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-content_screening

People Mentioned:
Alan McNeilly https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-mcneilly-a497a025/?originalSubdomain=uk
Pamela Brown https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-brown-a8140a1a/?originalSubdomain=uk
Paul Matsudaira https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-matsudaira/
Sanjoy Ray https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjoy-ray-1236051/The 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.