The Biotech Startups Podcast

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr-helping life sciencestartups 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-specialsavings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners.

"Our vision is really to transform the food system. We want to be able to nourish and nurture people, the planet, and animals, and we do that by producing better-for-you ingredients through sustainable methods."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Fengru Lin, CEO & co-founder of TurtleTree, who is leveraging precision fermentation and a people-first culture to bring the high-value milk protein lactoferrin to market while reshaping how the food system serves both consumers and farmers. They discuss TurtleTree's strategic refocus from cell-based milk to commercially viable ingredients, the importance of business-centric leadership in biotech, and how thoughtful team-building enables faster execution, better fundraising narratives, and earlier commercialization.
Key Topics Covered:

• Transforming the food system: TurtleTree’s vision, mission, and B2B2C positioning.
• People as core assets: Early HR leadership, culture-building, and empowering world-class scientists.
• Strategic refocus: Moving from cell-based milk toward precision fermentation & lactoferrin.
• Commercialization strategy: B2B sales, product integration, and “Intel Inside”-style branding.
• Food system impact: Price volatility, farmer pressures, and lactose-free & plant-based applications.
• Fundraising & leadership: Navigating tough markets, investor skepticism, and business-led biotech.

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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep256
Find our guest, Fengru Lin, at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fengru/Website: https://www.turtletree.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:SupplySide West ingredients conference: https://www.supplysidewest.comIFT FIRST Annual Event and Expo (Chicago food conference): https://www.ift.org/events/ift-first-annual-event-and-expoWorld Economic Forum feature on lactoferrin & precision fermentation: https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/posts/lactoferrin-supports-immunity-boosts-gut-health-and-improves-digestion-but-right/1441804124654488Global Dairy Trade lactoferrin pricing overview: https://www.globaldairytrade.infoMerck KGaA company overview: https://www.merckgroup.comDow Corporate company overview: https://corporate.dow.com/en-us.htmlThermo Fisher Scientific company overview: https://www.thermofisher.com
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:TurtleTree: https://www.turtletree.comAbbott: https://www.abbott.comFonterra: https://www.fonterra.comMerck KGaA: https://www.merckgroup.comDow: https://corporate.dow.com/en-us.htmlThermo Fisher Scientific: https://www.thermofisher.comSalesforce: https://www.salesforce.comGoogle: https://www.google.comExcedr: https://www.excedr.com
Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:37 TurtleTree’s mission to transform the food system02:22 Building an HR-first, people-centric culture04:08 Business-centric leadership as a “big symphony”07:10 Empowering experts & orchestrating the team08:12 Shifting focus from cell-based milk to lactoferrin10:44 Commercial logic of lactoferrin vs whey & casein13:11 Choosing precision fermentation over heavy CapEx15:03 B2B2C strategy & “Intel Inside”-style branding16:53 Impact on farmers, dairy, and plant-based milks18:13 Fundraising realities & gross margin discipline20:55 Stories of investor skepticism about “business” founders23:30 Walking scientists through investor communications26:03 Conferences, customer feedback & vegan demand for lactoferrin27:35 Team gratitude & advice to her 21-year-old self27:53 Outro

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.

🧬 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.

"Sales is really a numbers game. It's about how many you can fill at the top of the funnel and how many you can convert over time."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, host Jon Chee continues his conversation with Fengru Lin, CEO and co-founder of TurtleTree. Fengru shares how rigorous sales training at Salesforce and entrepreneurial autonomy at Google Cloud shaped her approach to customers, investors, and organizational change—then traces how a cheese-making hobby, poor dairy supply chains, and exposure to cell-based meat and seafood startups led to TurtleTree’s founding, early patents, and strategic pivot toward precision fermentation of high-value milk proteins.
Key Topics Covered:

• Customer-Centric Sales Systems: How Salesforce’s CRM, service, and marketing stack turns complex sales into a data-driven funnel
• Sales as a Scientific Process: Why touchpoints, funnels, and conversion metrics matter for life science tools and investor outreach
• Managing the Emotional Side of Sales: Building resilience, community, and mentorship to handle constant rejection
• Executive Buy-In & Organizational Change: Translating “exec connect” lessons from Salesforce to innovation adoption at TurtleTree
• Hobbies as Startup Catalysts: How learning to make cheese exposed dairy supply issues and inspired a cell-based milk vision
• Patents & Commercial Reality: Drafting foundational IP, avoiding “kitchen sink” claims, and pivoting to precision fermentation proteins

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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep255
Find our guest, Fengru Lin, at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fengru/Website: https://www.turtletree.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:Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Basics: https://www.salesforce.com/crm/what-is-crmStrategic Selling & Complex Stakeholder Management: https://www.salesforce.com/sales/strategic-sellingManufacturing ERP for Better Production Planning: https://kanhasoft.com/blog/manufacturing-erp-production-planningPrecision Fermentation for Dairy-Identical Proteins: https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/formo-foods-precision-fermentation-casein-dairy-protein-self-gras-cheeseComparing Lab-Cultured Dairy vs Traditional Dairy: https://eureka.patsnap.com/report-comparing-lab-cultured-dairy-vs-traditional-dairy-nutritional-metricsHealth Canada Approves Lab-Grown Milk: https://www.greenprophet.com/2026/06/health-canada-approves-lab-grown-milkThe Best ERP Systems for Small Food Manufacturers: https://www.top10erp.org/blog/the-best-manufacturing-software-for-your-small-business
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.comGoogle Cloud: https://cloud.google.comTurtleTree: https://www.turtletree.comMemphis Meats / Upside Foods: https://www.upsidefoods.comBlueNalu: https://www.bluenalu.comFonterra: https://www.fonterra.comAbbott: https://www.abbott.com
Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:37 Inside Salesforce’s customer-centric sales machine02:35 CRM, service, and marketing clouds as one seamless funnel04:19 Why sales is scientific—and critical for life science startups05:40 Sales, ERP systems, and operations in food manufacturing06:49 Applying sales funnels to investor outreach07:35 Handling rejection and building emotional resilience in sales08:36 Mentorship, “know your audience,” and selling up the chain10:09 Selling into large pharma vs small biotech organizations11:17 Executive buy-in, customer success, and organizational change12:46 Autonomy and “owning a business” at Google Cloud Taiwan14:19 Cheese-making hobby, Southeast Asia dairy challenges, and supply chains16:16 Discovering cell-based meat, imagining cell-based milk, and talking to experts18:06 Bootstrapping, hiring scientists, and filing TurtleTree’s first patents19:04 Patent drafting lessons, avoiding kitchen-sink claims, and commercial timelines

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.

🧬 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 can do whatever you want. You can achieve whatever you put your mind to."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Fengru Lin, CEO and co-founder of TurtleTree, a biotech company using precision fermentation to produce LF+, the world’s first sustainably made lactoferrin, and ultimately reimagine how food is produced. Drawing on a nontraditional path into biotech—from Girl Guides in Singapore to sales roles in transactional security and global regulatory environments—Fengru shares how an early love of planning, operations, and people has shaped her approach to leadership and company building.
Jon and Fengru explore how strict but empowering parenting in Hong Kong and Singapore instilled self-reliance, how organizing school camps and long-distance cycling trips foreshadowed operational excellence, and how early internships at places like SeaWorld, Daiwa, Nestlé, and a growing marketing agency clarified what she did and didn’t want from her career. They also discuss what it’s like to do high-stakes, detail-oriented sales across Asia in a heavily regulated industry, the importance of connecting scientists and business leaders, and why rigorous standards and regulatory thinking became foundational for TurtleTree’s commercialization strategy.
Key Topics Covered:

• Early Values and Self-Reliance: How a strict but supportive upbringing in Hong Kong and Singapore shaped Fengru’s confidence and drive.
• Girl Guides and Leadership: Why planning camps and earning the President’s Girl Guide award honed operational and leadership skills.
• Choosing Tech and Business: How studying information systems and marketing positioned her for a booming tech and finance job market.
• Learning from Internships: What SeaWorld, Daiwa, Nestlé’s Milo plant, and a marketing agency taught her about work, scale, and culture.
• Sales in a Regulated World: Lessons from global transactional security sales and a detail-obsessed CEO that still inform TurtleTree’s approach.
• Connecting Science and Business: Why “knowing just enough” science to connect people and ideas is a superpower in biotech startups.

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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep254
Find our guest, Fengru Lin at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fengru/Website: https://www.turtletree.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:Lactoferrin in Nutrition and Immune Health (overview article): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7940821Introduction to Precision Fermentation for Food Ingredients: https://www.goodfoodinstitute.org/reports/precision-fermentationAlternative Protein and Foodtech Overview: https://gfi.org/resource/state-of-the-industry-report-alternative-proteinsRegulatory Strategy Basics for Emerging Biotechs: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/development-approval-process-drugsUnderstanding EMV and Global Card Payment Standards: https://www.emvco.com/emv-technologiesIntroduction to Operational Excellence in Manufacturing: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/the-journey-to-operational-excellenceSystems Thinking for Complex Supply Chains: https://hbr.org/2010/02/a-simpler-way-to-think-about
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:TurtleTree: https://www.turtletree.comSingapore Management University: https://www.smu.edu.sgNestlé: https://www.nestle.comDaiwa Securities Group: https://www.daiwa-grp.jp/englishSeaWorld Orlando: https://seaworld.com/orlandoUnderwriters Laboratories (UL Solutions): https://www.ul.comVisa: https://www.visa.comMastercard: https://www.mastercard.comAmerican Express: https://www.americanexpress.comWPP: https://www.wpp.com
Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:37 Fengru’s Hong Kong childhood and her mother’s mindset lessons02:41 Girl Guides, planning camps, and earning the President’s Girl Guide award04:18 Discovering a love for operations and connecting the dots05:09 Choosing information systems and marketing at SMU07:27 Why she never expected to end up in biotech09:20 Bridging scientists and business: knowing just enough science10:57 Cycling 2,010 km and what long rides teach about planning12:16 Internships at SeaWorld, Daiwa, Nestlé Milo, and a marketing agency14:13 Inside Nestlé’s Milo plant and the fragility of food systems15:50 Landing a first sales role at Collis and learning global standards18:08 A detail-obsessed CEO, proposals, and lessons in quality20:44 Selling into regulated financial markets across Asia

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.

🧬 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.

"It's only a question of when, not if, we will see the first drug that was designed by artificial intelligence approved by the FDA."
In this final episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast series, Jon Chee sits down with Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs, to unpack where AI value is actually being created in biopharma—and what comes next. Mati lays out three pillars driving a post-hype phase of sustainable growth, explains why the industry is structurally conservative for good reasons, and shares how AION Labs is already preparing for the quantum computing wave before it arrives.
Key Topics Covered:

• Where AI Value Is Being Created: Why pharma has moved past the hype cycle into sustainable, evidence-based growth.
• The First FDA-Approved AI-Designed Drug: Why it's when, not if—and what 60+ AI clinical programs signal about the road ahead.
• Virtual Patients and Preclinical Innovation: How AI simulation of human disease biology could replace animal models that keep failing.
• Why Pharma Giants Don't Get Disrupted: What Pfizer, Novartis, and Roche lasting over a century means for startups aiming to go the distance.
• Building AION Labs to Outlast Its Founder: The sustainable venture studio model—and why quantum computing is next on the roadmap.
• The Best Advice Mati Ever Received: A mentor's ten-year framework—and the story of reminding that mentor of his own advice.

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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep253
Find our guest, Mati Gill, at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matigill/?originalSubdomain=ilWebsite: https://aionlabs.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:Top Equipment Needs in AI-Driven Drug Discovery Labs: https://www.excedr.com/blog/top-equipment-needs-in-ai-driven-drug-discovery-labsFDA Artificial Intelligence in Drug Development: https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/center-drug-evaluation-and-research-cder/artificial-intelligence-drug-developmentQuantum-Machine-Assisted Drug Discovery: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44386-025-00033-22025 Trends in Biotech Venture Capital Funding: https://www.excedr.com/blog/trends-in-biotech-venture-capital-fundingInsilico Medicine's AI-Designed Drug Pipeline: https://insilico.com/aboutBiolojic Design — First Computationally Designed Antibody in Clinical Trial: https://biolojic.com
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:AION Labs: https://aionlabs.comTeva Pharmaceuticals: https://www.tevapharm.comPfizer: https://www.pfizer.comAstraZeneca: https://www.astrazeneca.comMerck: https://www.merck.comAmazon Web Services (AWS): https://aws.amazon.comBiolojic Design: https://biolojic.comInsilico Medicine: https://insilico.comXaira Therapeutics: https://www.xaira.comBioMarin Pharmaceutical: https://www.biomarin.comAlnylam Pharmaceuticals: https://www.alnylam.comBiogen: https://www.biogen.comAmgen: https://www.amgen.comNovartis: https://www.novartis.comRoche: https://www.roche.comIsrael Innovation Authority: https://innovationisrael.org.il/en/
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:22 What's Overhyped and What's Underhyped in AI/ML03:39 Sustainable Growth: The Post-Hype Phase of AI in Biotech03:56 Three Pillars Unlocking AI Value in Drug Discovery06:52 Will a New Generation of Pharma Giants Emerge?09:45 The Money Furnace: Can Biotech Be Built Without Boatloads of Cash?12:15 What's Next for AION Labs: Sustainable Models and Quantum Computing15:02 Closing Questions: Shout-Outs and Best Advice Ever Received18:04 The Mentor Story: Reminding Someone of Their Own Advice18:10 Outro

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.

🧬 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.

"I said we're not signing the investment agreement until you either commit or identify a top employee that speaks the language of the customers that you're going to innovate for."
Jon Chee sits down with Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs — an Israeli venture studio backed by AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Teva, AWS, and the Israel Biotech Fund. Mati breaks down how AION Labs builds AI-native pharma companies from the ground up: industry-grade problem statements, multidisciplinary teams, and pharma partner POC commitments locked in before a startup is formed.
Key Topics Covered:

• Israel's Bio-Convergence Policy: How the IIA identified a market failure and built the incentive structure behind AION Labs.
• Venture Studio vs. Traditional VC: Why AION Labs builds deal flow systematically and why pharma R&D expert time outweighs capital.
• Problem Statement Discipline: What makes a challenge worth building a company around, and why POC commitment must come first.
• Multidisciplinary Teams: The lesson from AION Labs' first shutdown — cross-disciplinary hiring is required before any investment closes.
• Operational Infrastructure First: How pre-approved MSAs and a shared AWS cloud give startups pharma data access on day one, not year two.
• Platform vs. Single Asset: Why AION Labs only backs platform technologies and how Insitro's Combinable acquisition proves it.

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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep252
Find our guest, Mati Gill, at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matigill/?originalSubdomain=ilWebsite: https://aionlabs.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:AION Labs — Wikipedia Overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AION_LabsIsrael's Bio-Convergence Strategy: https://innovationisrael.org.il/en/article/bio-convergence-israels-next-growth-engine/Hatch-Waxman Act Overview: https://phrma.org/blog/40-years-of-hatch-waxman-what-is-the-hatch-waxman-actHow Biotech Partnerships Support R&D: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-researchPhaseV Raises $50M for AI Clinical Trials: https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/phasev-scores-50m-ai-clinical-trial-platformWhat Corporate Investors Look for in Life Sciences Startups: https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-corporate-investors-look-for-in-life-sciences-startups
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:AION Labs: https://aionlabs.com/Teva Pharmaceuticals: https://www.tevapharm.com/Weizmann Institute of Science: https://www.weizmann.ac.il/pages/BioMed X Institute: https://bmedx.com/Israel Innovation Authority: https://innovationisrael.org.il/en/Pfizer: https://www.pfizer.com/AstraZeneca: https://www.astrazeneca.com/Merck (Germany): https://www.merckgroup.com/Amazon Web Services: https://aws.amazon.com/Israel Biotech Fund: https://ibf.fund/aMoon: https://www.amoon.fund/Mobileye: https://www.mobileye.com/DenovAI: https://denovai.com/PhaseV: https://www.phasevtrials.com/
Christian Tidona (CEO, BioMed X): https://de.linkedin.com/in/tidona
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:07 Building Continuity with Academic and Industry Partners04:26 Teva's Third Innovation Pillar: Seeding AI Capabilities in Israel07:46 Israel's Bio-Convergence Policy and the IIA's Role09:52 Stars Align: Personal, Company, and National Timing10:48 AION Labs' Mission and Three Core Goals12:50 Venture Studio vs. Traditional VC Model15:30 POC Commitment Before a Startup Is Built18:34 What Works and Doesn't on Problem Statements24:14 Platform Technology vs. Single Asset Philosophy27:23 Team Composition and the Multidisciplinary Imperative28:36 Pharma Partnerships: POC Sign-Off and Contract Infrastructure46:03 Outro

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.

🧬 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.

"There's one thing that we haven't been able to innovate, which is how to make the day longer than 24 hours. So it's all what you give up."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs. Mati traces his path from juggling a minister's bureau with Israeli law school to joining Teva as an intern with no private-sector experience, then learning a 45,000-person org from the chart up — until Teva's financial crisis handed him the mandate to build the innovation program that became AION Labs.
Key Topics Covered:

• Juggling Government and Law School: Why Mati said yes to a minister's office mid-law-school.
• A Health Crisis as a Reset: Being wounded in a terrorist attack and the priorities it forced.
• Starting at the Bottom of Teva: The deliberate choice to intern at a company he knew nothing about.
• Learning a 45,000-Person Org: Coffee with the former deputy R&D head twice a week, plus a walk through the org chart.
• Never Waste a Crisis: How Teva's financial collapse gave Mati the mandate for a new innovation program.
• Industry-Academia Partnerships: Where collaborations break down and what the Weizmann model gets right.

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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep251
Find our guest, Mati Gill at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matigill/?originalSubdomain=ilWebsite: https://aionlabs.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 Partnerships: How Industry and Academia Work Together: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-researchThe Story of Copaxone — From Weizmann Lab to FDA Approval: https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/cop-1-copaxone%C2%AE-story-drugIndustry-Academia Drug Discovery Collaborations: https://blog.drugbank.com/the-collaboration-between-industry-and-academia-in-drug-development/Brian Chesky on AI Founder Mode — Invest Like the Best, Ep. 471: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brian-chesky-ai-founder-mode/id1154105909?i=1000766196703
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Teva Pharmaceuticals: https://www.tevapharm.comAION Labs: https://aionlabs.comWeizmann Institute of Science: https://www.weizmann.ac.ilDanaher Corporation: https://www.danaher.comThermo Fisher Scientific: https://www.thermofisher.comAirbnb: https://www.airbnb.com
Donna Baron (Dana Bar-On), Head of Academic Collaborations, Teva R&D: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barondanaJeremy Levin, Former CEO of Teva: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_LevinKåre Schultz, Former CEO of Teva: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A5re_SchultzEli Hurvitz, Founder of Modern Teva: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_HurvitzYair Benita, CTO of AION Labs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybenita
Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:56 Three Life Anchors and the Decision to Say Yes06:03 Juggling a Minister's Bureau and Law School08:13 A Wounding, a Reset, and the Decision to Finish09:04 Time Is the One Resource You Can't Innovate09:15 Choosing Teva: Industry Over Government for a Reason13:34 Early Days at Teva — Starting from the Bottom15:09 Strategy for Thriving in a 45,000-Person Organization18:47 Org Chart as Discovery: Meeting Everyone Systematically20:16 Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste22:13 Managing Up, Down, and Across: Teva's Leadership Styles22:49 Building the External Innovation Program from Scratch27:41 The Bio-Innovators Talent Program and Its Origins32:14 What Makes Industry-Academia Partnerships Actually Work34:43 Outro

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.

🧬 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.
"Getting tough feedback, when it comes from a place of someone that wants to help you but is willing to tell you the brutal truth to help you learn and help you grow, is a gift, and not everyone is capable of doing that."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs—a first-of-its-kind AI venture studio backed by Teva, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, and Amazon Web Services. Before AION Labs, Mati spent six years in the IDF, ran a minister's bureau, and rose from legal intern to global legal COO at Teva over more than a decade. Part one covers the formative years: moving from Columbus, Ohio to Jerusalem at 12, extending military service by three years, and the two teachers who handed him D's and changed how he works.
Key Topics Covered:

• Columbus to Jerusalem: How a trial year in Israel at age 12 became a permanent, repeatedly chosen life.
• The Rule of Three: Mati's framework for building a career, prioritizing family, and committing to one other thing—without compromise.
• Two Teachers, Two D's: The English teacher who walked in like Robin Williams and the constitutional law professor who handed Mati a 60, and what both taught him about coasting.
• Six Years in the IDF: Why Mati signed up for three years beyond mandatory service and how those values still drive every major career decision.
• Law as a Foundation: How studying under Professor Amnon Rubinstein—a Knesset member who helped draft Israel's civil rights bills—built the analytical foundation Mati still draws on today.

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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep250
Find our guest, Mati Gill at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matigill/?originalSubdomain=ilWebsite: https://aionlabs.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:AION Labs — AI Venture Studio Overview: https://aionlabs.com/Amnon Rubinstein — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnon_RubinsteinIsrael Innovation Authority — AI and Bioconvergence Programs: https://innovationisrael.org.il/en/Top Equipment Needs in AI-Driven Drug Discovery Labs: https://www.excedr.com/blog/top-equipment-needs-in-ai-driven-drug-discovery-labs20 Biotech Accelerators to Check Out: https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-acceleratorsHow to Spin Out of Academia and Into a Startup: https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startupArtificial Intelligence in the Development of New Drugs — Israel Innovation Authority: https://innovationisrael.org.il/en/drugdiscoveryai2024/
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:AION Labs: https://aionlabs.com/Teva Pharmaceuticals: https://www.tevapharm.comPfizer: https://www.pfizer.comAstraZeneca: https://www.astrazeneca.comMerck: https://www.merck.comAmazon Web Services: https://aws.amazon.comIsrael Biotech Fund: https://ibf.fundIsrael Innovation Authority: https://innovationisrael.org.il/en/
Amnon Rubinstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnon_RubinsteinRobert F. Kennedy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy
Timestamps:00:00 Intro04:40 Columbus to Jerusalem: Moving at 1206:43 A Trial Year That Became a Permanent Life08:31 Parents, Education, and the Jewish Career Joke09:52 Choosing Law Over Science12:44 The Rule of Three: Career, Family, and One Other Thing15:56 Six Years in the IDF and Extending Beyond Mandatory Service17:17 Law School, Constitutional Law, and Professor Amnon Rubinstein19:35 The D That Changed Everything21:35 David Berman and the Dead Poets Society Moment23:32 Brutal Feedback as a Gift25:56 Outro

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.

🧬 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 could have an academic with an idea for a drug, hand it off to a system, and the system could do all the knowledge work required to take that drug through the development and regulatory process—and get it to market. We're very long way away from that. But that's the future we want to work towards."
In part four, Alex Telford, founder of Convoke, covers the platform architecture and roadmap. He walks through Convoke's modular system—building validated structured datasets from trial registries, regulatory filings, and patents, then stitching them with workflow tools for competitive intelligence and document generation. He breaks down how pharma and biotech customers engage differently, why an "everything app" is a trap, and how Convoke is moving from reactive data storage toward proactive, predictive intelligence.
Key Topics Covered:

• Content Quality in the LLM Era: Why spending six months writing the definitive piece beats volume publishing—and how the internet's sorting mechanism rewards genuinely excellent work.
• Convoke's Platform Architecture: Building infrastructure for autonomous drug development through validated datasets, workflow tools, and embedded customer partnerships.
• Big Pharma vs. Biotech Go-to-Market: Why scope of influence—not culture—determines AI adoption speed, and why biotechs move faster despite smaller budgets.
• The Everything App Trap: Why being opinionated about where you deliver value matters more than building every feature.
• From Reactive to Proactive Intelligence: Moving from dataset creation to a system that continuously ingests data and makes autonomous recommendations, starting with trial site selection.

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.
Links: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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep249
Find our guest, Alex Telford at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-telford/Website: https://www.convoke.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:The Agentic Era: Why Biopharma Must Embrace AI That Acts, Not Just Informs: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12048886/What Is Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)?: https://www.databricks.com/blog/what-is-retrieval-augmented-generationAI for Clinical Trial Site Selection: https://pplelabs.com/ai-for-clinical-trial-site-selection/Knowledge Management in Pharmaceutical Companies: https://pharmacores.com/knowledge-management-in-pharmaceutical-industry/Convoke Raises $8.6M to Build the AI OS for Biopharma: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/convoke-raises-8-6m-to-build-the-ai-operating-system-for-biopharma-302533188.htmlAcquired Podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Convoke: https://www.convoke.bio/AION Labs: https://aionlabs.comExcedr: https://www.excedr.com
Mati Gill (CEO, AION Labs): https://www.linkedin.com/in/matigill
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:32 Quality Over Volume: Writing the Best Thing on the Internet05:00 Convoke's Mission — Autonomous Drug Development07:03 Platform Architecture: Datasets, Workflows, and Agents08:37 Big Pharma Use Case: Automating Oncology Indication Refreshes10:34 Biotech Use Case: Reimagining the Organization11:49 Embedding with Customers to Encode Workflows13:08 Being Opinionated: Avoiding the Everything App Trap14:08 Big Pharma vs. Biotech: Scope, Not Culture15:48 Roadmap: From Reactive to Proactive Intelligence17:40 The StarCraft Analogy for Where AI Is Headed18:01 Shoutouts and Gratitude20:11 Advice to Your 21-Year-Old Self21:49 Outro

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.

🧬 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.

"No. I do think you do need to recreate the orchestration. I think you have to retool the organization around these new technologies, and some will not be able to rearchitecture, and they will die. Some will be able to rearchitecture and they will thrive."
In this episode, Jon Chee sits down with Alex Telford, founder of Convoke, to examine why large pharma resists AI transformation. Drawing on seven years at Charles River Associates, Alex maps the coordination tax of siloed orgs, the tacit knowledge lost when experts retire, and why software efficiency is the wrong axis to compete on. His frame: factory electrification — the gains don't arrive until you redesign the whole org around the technology.
Key Topics Covered:

• Re-architecting Around General-Purpose Technology: Why pharma's AI gains won't arrive until the org is redesigned around it.
• The Tacit Knowledge Problem: Why decades of regulatory expertise walks out the door when a scientist retires.
• The Two Paths That Could Disrupt Pharma: Why differentiated target discovery or vertically integrated DTC beat competing on software efficiency.
• LillyDirect and the Consumer Health Bundle: How Eli Lilly's DTC platform hints at a new pharma business model.
• Signal-to-Noise Beats Raw Data: Why more data often makes LLM systems worse, and what Renaissance Technologies' data-cleaning edge was actually about.
• Writing in Public Built a Company: How a blog post led to a podcast, a cofounder email, and Convoke's $8.6M seed round.

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.
Links: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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep248
Find our guest, Alex Telford at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-telford/Website: https://www.convoke.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:The Dynamo and the Computer — Paul David on electrification and the productivity paradox: https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/the-dynamo-and-the-computer-an-historical-perspective-on-the-modern-productivity-paradox.pdfGeneral-Purpose Technologies (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General-purpose_technologyKing – Man + Woman = Queen: The Mathematics of Computational Linguistics: https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/09/17/166211/king-man-woman-queen-the-marvelous-mathematics-of-computational-linguistics/Convoke Raises $8.6M to Build the AI OS for Biopharma: https://www.convoke.bio/blog/announcing-our-seed-fundraisePfizer and Lilly Move Into Direct-to-Consumer Pharma: https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/pfizer-eli-lilly-direct-to-consumer-glp-1/716866/
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Convoke: https://www.convoke.bio/Charles River Associates (CRA): https://www.crai.comAlnylam Pharmaceuticals: https://www.alnylam.comBioMarin Pharmaceutical: https://www.biomarin.comEli Lilly: https://www.lilly.comHims & Hers: https://www.hims.comRenaissance Technologies: https://www.rentec.comBridgewater Associates: https://www.bridgewater.com
Ray Dalio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raydalio/Tobi Lütke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaslutke/
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:12 Rearchitecting Organizations Around New Technology04:06 Encoding Tacit Knowledge Before It Walks Out the Door05:42 Can Large Pharma Digitize 40,000 People?08:23 Target Discovery and DTC: The Two Real Paths to Disruption11:40 LillyDirect and the Vertically Integrated Pharma Model11:59 Remote-First Orgs and the Tacit Knowledge Advantage13:13 Signal-to-Noise Beats Raw Data Every Time16:10 The Data Cleaning Mandate Nobody Wants to Do18:04 The Vibe-Coding Mania and Disposable Software Trap20:45 From NLP Curiosity to Founding Convoke23:55 How Writing in Public Nucleated the Company

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.

🧬 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.

"The models are like this bunch of fractured entities — depending on how you prompt them, you can access one fractured space or another."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Alex Telford, founder of Convoke, who spent nearly seven years in biopharma strategy consulting before what he calls "AI psychosis" set him on a different path. Alex traces the arc from biochemistry at Bristol and synthetic biology at UCL to discovering consulting existed only after graduating, joining a boutique Swiss firm two weeks before it was acquired, and learning one core lesson: clients want a recommendation to push back on, not a data dump.
Key Topics Covered:

• The Slot Machine Problem: Why LLMs fail to get it right the first time — data scarcity, epistemic unknowability, and model architecture.
• AI's Good Fits in Life Science: Where LLMs work in biopharma — document analysis, regulatory submissions, clinical data structuring — and where they break down in pure discovery.
• What a Harness Is: A plain-language breakdown of AI operating environments, with Cursor and Harvey as examples.
• The Consultant's Real Job: Why effective strategy means reducing decision friction, not dumping analysis — and why LLMs can't thread that needle yet.
• Coordination Tax in Pharma: How siloed functions and unknowable drug biology make decisions stall — and what AI might actually fix.

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.
Links: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/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=the-biotech-startups-podcast-ep247
Find our guest, Alex Telford at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-telford/Website: https://www.convoke.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:AlphaFold: Highly Accurate Protein Structure Prediction: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03819-2AI-Generated Poetry Is Indistinguishable from Human Poetry: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-76900-1LLMs in Drug Discovery and Development — A Primer: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11984503/Top Equipment Needs in AI-Driven Drug Discovery Labs: https://www.excedr.com/blog/top-equipment-needs-in-ai-driven-drug-discovery-labsElectrification and the Productivity Lag — Why Retooling Takes Decades: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/04/the-latest-technology-isnt-enough-you-need-the-business-model-to-go-with-it/PD-1/PD-L1 Checkpoint Inhibitors in Tumor Immunotherapy: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8440961/
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Convoke: https://www.convoke.bio/Charles River Associates (CRA): https://www.crai.comCursor: https://cursor.comHarvey AI: https://www.harvey.aiAppLovin: https://www.applovin.comUniversity of Bristol: https://www.bristol.ac.ukUniversity College London (UCL): https://www.ucl.ac.uk
Maged Ahmed (Co-Founder, Convoke): https://www.linkedin.com/in/magedaVikas Velagapudi (Co-Founder, Convoke): https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikas-velagapudiAdam Foroughi (CEO, AppLovin): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Foroughi
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:26 Career Pivot and the Accidental Discovery of Consulting05:01 Growing Up Without Good Advisors07:31 Boredom, Shortcuts, and the Slot Machine Problem09:33 Why LLMs Get It Wrong: Data, Unknowability, and Architecture13:55 Good Fits vs. Bad Bets for AI in Life Science20:42 StarCraft Now, Cookie Clicker Later24:36 What Is a Harness?29:34 Joining C1 Associates Mid-Acquisition34:23 First Projects: PD-L1, Lung Cancer, and Learning to Have an Opinion38:51 Coordination Tax and What AI Might Actually Fix44:55 Outro

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.