7. 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
8. 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 ago
Now
Multi-year leases
+
Equipment purchases
+
+
Large teams
=
“Fat Biotech”
=
“Lean Biotech”
9. 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
11. 1. SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEM
The best problems
to solve are the
ones that affect
you personally.
12. 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!
13. 2. SOLVE A REAL PROBLEM
What set us apart
from 95 percent of
other startups is that
we served a real need.
14. 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, multiinstitutional publications
Source: http://ar.thomsonreuters.com/story3.html
15. 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
17. 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)
19. 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’
21. 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
23. 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
24. 7. GET THE RIGHT ADVISORS
Investors are
employees you can
never fire. We made
sure to pick investors
that thought like us.
25. 7. GET THE RIGHT ADVISORS
SCIENCE EXCHANGE EXAMPLE:
•
•
Science startups ≠ Biotech startups
•
Carefully selected for investors / advisors with
relevant expertise
Lessons we needed more likely to come from
online marketplaces than biotechs
🔑
Build an advisor / investor network (e.g.
through accelerator or E-club)
27. 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!
28. 9. SCIENTISTS MAKE GREAT ENTREPRENEURS
!
Startups are like
science, where you
need to follow the
trail wherever it leads.
29. 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
30. HOW CAN WE HELP?
•
Advice
Happy to speak to existing and aspiring entrepreneurs,
particularly those with an academic background…
email me at elizabeth@scienceexchange.com
•
Grants
Our grant program helps early-stage biotech startups get
key experiments conducted via Science Exchange…
Learn more by emailing grants@scienceexchange.com
31. HOW CAN WE HELP?
HAPPY HOUR…
February 19th
4.30pm-7.00pm
Fibrogen Building
