3 ms·

I'm a software engineer turned VC. I'm very interested in bio startups but am not sure where/how to start, and don't want to be one of those investors that does

I'm a software engineer turned VC. I'm very interested in bio startups but am not sure where/how to start, and don't want to be one of those investors that doesn't have a clue and backs all the wrong companies. If you're willing to share your thoughts on what kind of companies investors should be backing, I'd love to chat. My email is leo at susaventures.com.

aaavl2821 9y ago
I have worked in biotech / biopharma for the last eight years as a founder / venture investor / operator coming from a non biology / chem background. It is an amazing space that needs more smart people from other domains Most engineers / tech VCs have been making initial forays into this world through bio-IT / software driven drug dev. This is potentially a really promising space, but I'd suggest starting with biopharma bc 1) it has been generating some of the best returns in venture the last few years and 2) being good at bio-IT requires a good understanding of biopharma and drug dev Biopharma / therapeutics has generated some of the best returns in venture the last few years but is still mostly dominated by specialist VCs and has almost no seed ecosystem (most startups that end up getting venture funding are seeded within the top funds), so there is huge opportunity for seed investors to find the good opportunities outside of the top 5-10 life sci funds. The number of funded biotech startups and seed investors has not increased in a decade despite a doubling in venture funding and the best m&a / IPO environment ever. It is possible for companies to go from seed to IPO in under five years and $5-10B+ m&a in ~5-7 year timeframes (some good timely examples here: https://lifescivc.com/2018/01/two-carts-two-charts-dissecting-returns-t-cell-therapy-ma/ https://lifescivc.com/2018/01/two-carts-two-charts-dissectin...) Finding the best opportunities in biopharma requires identifying the best science. This requires investors to be at least conversational in biology, chemistry and drug development and to utilize advisors / consultants / PhDs to dive deep into specific tech To orient yourself to the world of biopharma investing, id start by reading more of Bruce booths blogs (he is the author of the post I linked above). He is one of the few life sci VCs who blogs and is also a pioneer in seed-series A biotech investing Also I'd recommend following biopharma news and funding / m&a activity. If you see any investors / people you recognize in press releases call them up. If you see a deal that interests you, take a look at the scientific publications from the company and reach out to the authors and other scientists in the space to hear their thoughts
- lpolovets 9y ago
  Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I really appreciate it! I subscribed to the blog you linked to and had already started reaching out to some of the investors I know that have worked with bio startups. To address the grandparent comment, a lot of them are like me though: people who are interested in the space and making early investments, but not really knowledgeable yet. As a programmer, one of the things I got really excited about a few years ago was the idea of building a programming language for biology (which would leverage discoveries like CRISPR), but from what I can tell that is still very, very far away (if it's even possible).
danieltillett 9y ago
Leo I am not sure how much help I can be as the difficult thing about biotech is the huge background knowledge required to understand the science. This is not a small undertaking even if it is very interesting. One resource I really do recommend is Derek Lowe’s blog In The Pipeline [0]. I have spent hundreds of hours reading through all his posts (he is amazingly prolific) and the very informed (if cynical) comments. It really helped me understand the problems that come up translating a new scientific discovery into a licensed pharmaceutical. Even if you don’t learn anything you will be entertained by his series on "things I won’t work with” [1]. 0. http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/ http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/ 1. http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/things-i-wont-work-with http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thing...
- aaavl2821 9y ago
  Would second Derek Lowe. For newcomers to the space I'd also suggest: -the "six rules of reproducibility" -- with software, in general if someone writes code that works on their system you can use that code and get the same result on your system. This is far from the case in biopharma, especially w academic findings. Failing to understand the dangers of the "reproducibility crisis" is a common pitfall for non scientists: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/10/01/six_rule_of_reproducibility http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/10/01/six... -"software eats the world, but biology eats the pipeline" is a professional drug hunters take on the a16z bio thesis. This post references once by Bruce booth. Bruce booth is far from a Luddite and has invested in several computationally driven drug companies (nimbus being one example) but he suggests that there is a ton of potential, but you need to know the dangers before diving in: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2017/04/28/software-eats-the-world-but-biology-eats-it http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2017/04/28/sof... -the "lessons for a new medicinal chemist" post is also a great one that shows how hard, yet how fascinating, drug discovery is: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/06/08/lessons_for_a_new_medicinal_chemist http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/06/08/les...
kolinko 9y ago
As a software engineer who decided to learn about biotech with absolutely no background, here is how I started: - Organic Chemistry course on itunes U (don't remember which one, just first 4-5 lessons) - Introduction to Genetics: A Molecular Approach by Terry Brown - Virology course on iTunes U, by Vincent Racaniello - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/w3310-virology-videocast/id412485941?mt=2 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/w3310-virology-videocast... - Molecular biology of the cell book ( https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/dp/0815344325/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1517638139&sr=8-11&keywords=cell https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/... ) After going through that (took ~3 months full time), I went for a month to the Bay Area, went to Biocurious hackerspace, to get some practical experience, and within a month I did stuff like ordering custom dna online, and putting it into bacteria :) All the above was sufficient to understand basics of whatever I'm reading now about biotech, and gain extra knowledge when necessary. Some notes: - Virology may seem a weird addition, but the course by Racaniello is super-fun, and if you understand how viruses work, you will understand how everything else works - If, like me, you were afraid of Chemistry and Biology in high school, don't worry. Organic Chemistry deals just with just four basic elements, and Molecular Biology is really not much different from mechanics - not that much to remember, and a lot to understand. - Even if you complete just 3-4 first chapters of all the above, you will get nice foundations for understanding biotech. - There are bio hackerspaces in major cities in US (not so much in EU - regulations)

aaavl2821 9y ago

I have worked in biotech / biopharma for the last eight years as a founder / venture investor / operator coming from a non biology / chem background. It is an amazing space that needs more smart people from other domains Most engineers / tech VCs have been making initial forays into this world through bio-IT / software driven drug dev. This is potentially a really promising space, but I'd suggest starting with biopharma bc 1) it has been generating some of the best returns in venture the last few years and 2) being good at bio-IT requires a good understanding of biopharma and drug dev Biopharma / therapeutics has generated some of the best returns in venture the last few years but is still mostly dominated by specialist VCs and has almost no seed ecosystem (most startups that end up getting venture funding are seeded within the top funds), so there is huge opportunity for seed investors to find the good opportunities outside of the top 5-10 life sci funds. The number of funded biotech startups and seed investors has not increased in a decade despite a doubling in venture funding and the best m&a / IPO environment ever. It is possible for companies to go from seed to IPO in under five years and $5-10B+ m&a in ~5-7 year timeframes (some good timely examples here: https://lifescivc.com/2018/01/two-carts-two-charts-dissecting-returns-t-cell-therapy-ma/ https://lifescivc.com/2018/01/two-carts-two-charts-dissectin...) Finding the best opportunities in biopharma requires identifying the best science. This requires investors to be at least conversational in biology, chemistry and drug development and to utilize advisors / consultants / PhDs to dive deep into specific tech To orient yourself to the world of biopharma investing, id start by reading more of Bruce booths blogs (he is the author of the post I linked above). He is one of the few life sci VCs who blogs and is also a pioneer in seed-series A biotech investing Also I'd recommend following biopharma news and funding / m&a activity. If you see any investors / people you recognize in press releases call them up. If you see a deal that interests you, take a look at the scientific publications from the company and reach out to the authors and other scientists in the space to hear their thoughts

lpolovets 9y ago
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I really appreciate it! I subscribed to the blog you linked to and had already started reaching out to some of the investors I know that have worked with bio startups. To address the grandparent comment, a lot of them are like me though: people who are interested in the space and making early investments, but not really knowledgeable yet. As a programmer, one of the things I got really excited about a few years ago was the idea of building a programming language for biology (which would leverage discoveries like CRISPR), but from what I can tell that is still very, very far away (if it's even possible).

danieltillett 9y ago

Leo I am not sure how much help I can be as the difficult thing about biotech is the huge background knowledge required to understand the science. This is not a small undertaking even if it is very interesting. One resource I really do recommend is Derek Lowe’s blog In The Pipeline [0]. I have spent hundreds of hours reading through all his posts (he is amazingly prolific) and the very informed (if cynical) comments. It really helped me understand the problems that come up translating a new scientific discovery into a licensed pharmaceutical. Even if you don’t learn anything you will be entertained by his series on "things I won’t work with” [1]. 0. http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/ http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/ 1. http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/things-i-wont-work-with http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thing...

aaavl2821 9y ago
Would second Derek Lowe. For newcomers to the space I'd also suggest: -the "six rules of reproducibility" -- with software, in general if someone writes code that works on their system you can use that code and get the same result on your system. This is far from the case in biopharma, especially w academic findings. Failing to understand the dangers of the "reproducibility crisis" is a common pitfall for non scientists: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/10/01/six_rule_of_reproducibility http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/10/01/six... -"software eats the world, but biology eats the pipeline" is a professional drug hunters take on the a16z bio thesis. This post references once by Bruce booth. Bruce booth is far from a Luddite and has invested in several computationally driven drug companies (nimbus being one example) but he suggests that there is a ton of potential, but you need to know the dangers before diving in: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2017/04/28/software-eats-the-world-but-biology-eats-it http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2017/04/28/sof... -the "lessons for a new medicinal chemist" post is also a great one that shows how hard, yet how fascinating, drug discovery is: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/06/08/lessons_for_a_new_medicinal_chemist http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/06/08/les...

kolinko 9y ago

As a software engineer who decided to learn about biotech with absolutely no background, here is how I started: - Organic Chemistry course on itunes U (don't remember which one, just first 4-5 lessons) - Introduction to Genetics: A Molecular Approach by Terry Brown - Virology course on iTunes U, by Vincent Racaniello - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/w3310-virology-videocast/id412485941?mt=2 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/w3310-virology-videocast... - Molecular biology of the cell book ( https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/dp/0815344325/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1517638139&sr=8-11&keywords=cell https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/... ) After going through that (took ~3 months full time), I went for a month to the Bay Area, went to Biocurious hackerspace, to get some practical experience, and within a month I did stuff like ordering custom dna online, and putting it into bacteria :) All the above was sufficient to understand basics of whatever I'm reading now about biotech, and gain extra knowledge when necessary. Some notes: - Virology may seem a weird addition, but the course by Racaniello is super-fun, and if you understand how viruses work, you will understand how everything else works - If, like me, you were afraid of Chemistry and Biology in high school, don't worry. Organic Chemistry deals just with just four basic elements, and Molecular Biology is really not much different from mechanics - not that much to remember, and a lot to understand. - Even if you complete just 3-4 first chapters of all the above, you will get nice foundations for understanding biotech. - There are bio hackerspaces in major cities in US (not so much in EU - regulations)