9 lessons i learned starting science exchange
Post on 17-Oct-2014
254 views
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
FROM ACADEMIC TO ENTREPRENEUR:9 LESSONS I LEARNED STARTING SCIENCE EXCHANGE
ELIZABETH IORNS?
SCIENCE EXCHANGE?
A marketplace for scientific collaboration, where researchers can order experiments from
the world's best labs
SCIENCE EXCHANGE NETWORK
SCIENCE EXCHANGE NETWORK
Labs from 400+ research institutions:
75 of top 100 U.S. research universities
SCIENCE EXCHANGE NETWORK
Example: Illumina HiSeq X Ten
Jan 15th: “Illumina’s HiSeq X Ten Sequencing System will prove affordable for only a few. The system...costs a whopping $10 million.”
Feb 8th: HiSeq X Ten at Garvan Institute (Sydney, Australia) listed on Science Exchange and available to any researcher in the world
GOLDEN AGE
AWS and cloud services fundamentally changed the economics of tech startups in the mid 2000s
Incubators and science-as-a-service platforms are having the same impact on the economics of biotech startups
3 years agoMulti-year leases
Equipment purchases
Large teams
++
“Fat Biotech”=
Now
+
“Lean Biotech”=
9 THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1. SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEM
2. SOLVE A REAL PROBLEM
3. BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM
4. FOCUS ON COMPANY CULTURE
5. GET STUFF DONE!
6. USE YOUR TIME WISELY
7. GET THE RIGHT ADVISORS / INVESTORS
8. DON’T GIVE UP!
9. SCIENTISTS MAKE GREAT ENTREPRENEURS
9 THINGS I’VE LEARNED
The best problems to solve are the ones that affect you personally.
1. SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEM
1. SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEM
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• Frustrated with an inability to find and incentivize technical experts
• Thought there should be a way for researchers to order experiments from the world’s best labs
• Learned about online marketplaces… and wanted one to exist for scientific experiments
Work on something you’re passionate about … and that you understand!🔑
What set us apart from 95 percent of
other startups is that we served a real need.
2. SOLVE A REAL PROBLEM
2. SOLVE A REAL PROBLEM
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• Increasing need for collaborative research driven by access to technical expertise…
• Era of team science
• Exponential growth in number of multi-author, multi-institutional publications
Source: http://ar.thomsonreuters.com/story3.html
2. SOLVE A REAL PROBLEM
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• Traditional way of forming collaborations is inefficient, unscalable and has poor incentives…
• 52.3% think collaborations are one-sided
• 47.2% haven’t started a project because couldn’t find collaborator
Do your market research. Look at trends, size of market, existing solutions🔑
3. BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM
3. BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• Science Exchange was founded by a diverse team… a scientist, an MBA and a programmer
• Complementary set of skills help solve the wide variety of problems faced when starting a company
Mix with people outside your field (How? Check out meetup.com)🔑
4. FOCUS ON COMPANY CULTURE
4. FOCUS ON COMPANY CULTURE
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• Building a world-class team and work environment is our #1 priority
• My co-founder spends ~50% of his time on recruiting, retention and culture
Decide what you want your company culture to be… and only work with people who ‘fit’🔑
5. GET STUFF DONE
5. GET STUFF DONE
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• We went from idea to launch in 5 months
• We speak to users everyday and deploy new features constantly (based on their feedback)
• Our dev and business teams work in 2-week ‘sprints’… providing sense of urgency and momentum
Record what you really need to achieve each 1-2 weeks… revisit after 6 months🔑
6. USE YOUR TIME WISELY
6. USE YOUR TIME WISELY
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• The whole point of Science Exchange is to help scientists use their time more wisely
• In startups, like in science, people who succeed make the best use of their time
Focus on your core… make use of experts for everything else🔑
Investors are employees you can never fire. We made
sure to pick investors that thought like us.
7. GET THE RIGHT ADVISORS
7. GET THE RIGHT ADVISORS
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• Science startups ≠ Biotech startups
• Lessons we needed more likely to come from online marketplaces than biotechs
• Carefully selected for investors / advisors with relevant expertise
Build an advisor / investor network (e.g. through accelerator or E-club)🔑
8. DON’T GIVE UP
8. DON’T GIVE UP
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
• Press coverage proclaimed Science Exchange as the ‘eBay for Science’
• Negative reaction from some labs. Had to work hard to convince them to join the network
• Didn’t give up… now 800+ labs list their services
Remember that founding a startup is hard... persistence is everything!🔑
!Startups are like
science, where you need to follow the
trail wherever it leads.
9. SCIENTISTS MAKE GREAT ENTREPRENEURS
9 THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1. SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEM
2. SOLVE A REAL PROBLEM
3. BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM
4. FOCUS ON COMPANY CULTURE
5. GET STUFF DONE!
6. USE YOUR TIME WISELY
7. GET THE RIGHT ADVISORS / INVESTORS
8. DON’T GIVE UP!
9. SCIENTISTS MAKE GREAT ENTREPRENEURS
HOW CAN WE HELP?
• Advice
Happy to speak to existing and aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those with an academic background… email me at [email protected]
• Grants
Our grant program helps early-stage biotech startups get key experiments conducted via Science Exchange… Learn more by emailing [email protected]
HOW CAN WE HELP?
HAPPY HOUR…
February 19th 4.30pm-7.00pm
Fibrogen Building
THANKS!