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How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#31

Post by JabavuAdams »

dnautics wrote: post #15
JabavuAdams wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, hopefully you networked with your profs and their contacts during that time? They can probably help...

Not all professors are good at that, or even practicioners. Ironically if you get away with doing good science as a grad student there may even be an inverse correlation. Less time networking = more time at the bench. While I appreciate that self-promotion is a valuable skill, I believed (possibly flawed) understanding? narrative? that part of the reason why YC / tech incubation / tech can be effective is that it pro…

There's something to what you've written, but I wonder whether it's too black/white. Even successful paper submission involves some level of strategizing / networking, sadly. So if you're published at all, you probably have some networking skills. It doesn't mean that one has to take time away from the other.

I have not yet worked in a lab setting or where my PI is strict about hours, but from my software background a lot of "butt in seat" time is not really productive. My instinct would be to automate as much as possible and spend less time at the bench. But again, this is theoretical at this point.

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#32

Post by koeng »

daemonk wrote: post #30
koeng wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm starting what could be thought of as a DNA cloning company. So sort of automation service, but for one specific application. > Are you doing some kind of mineral oil top layer to prevent evaporation The opposite: the process is pretty much based off of dessication (plus a little bit of tube opening by the bots for important chemicals). For thermocycling stuff, I'm planning on just using Opentrons module with the…

Desiccation is an interesting approach. I don't see it as being used for every step of a reaction though? It would take too long to wait for desiccation between every step? And depending on the buffers you are using, you might be increasing the salt concentrations after you re-constitute? I guess you can take that into account when you add the reconstitution buffer. Are you open to discussing some kind of consulting…

> It would take too long to wait for desiccation between every step?

Desiccation is just for the storage steps. Otherwise I just plan on passing liquids around, compensating for any evaporation.

> Are you open to discussing some kind of consulting arrangement between you and my company?

Sure! Contact me at koeng101 [@] gmail.com and we can talk

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#33

Post by daemonk »

throwaw4ybio wrote: post #27
koeng wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy a ton of very expensive biotech equipment off of ebay for very little, which is what a lot of bootstrapped biotech companies do (plus gov-deals and other pharma auction sites)

Exactly this! (+1 to govdeals too, when the auction is in geographic range) While we've gotten nibbles from accelerators, up to the interview stage, they want to see an MVP before funding us. This is, of course, kind of a non-starter when you don't have 200k lying around for a minimal denovo lab, and there's not much in the way of rental lab space where we are. Thankfully, after four years of grinding on this as our…

I want to point out that it really depends a lot on what kind of lab it is. I think for R&D, buying cheap stuff off of ebay or labx is great.

But if your goal is to eventually scale up and build a production lab, you will need to switch your mindset when you get some funding and buy some decent equipment. It can make a big difference from my experience. My company started out at a sub-par lab space with second hand equipment. When we moved to a very well equipped lab, we found ourselves exponentially more productive. Mainly because we no longer have to constantly second-guessing our results due to sub-optimal equipment/reagents. Re-running experiments because of potential equipment failure adds up in terms of resources and psychological stress.

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#34

Post by dnautics »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #31
dnautics wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all professors are good at that, or even practicioners. Ironically if you get away with doing good science as a grad student there may even be an inverse correlation. Less time networking = more time at the bench. While I appreciate that self-promotion is a valuable skill, I believed (possibly flawed) understanding? narrative? that part of the reason why YC / tech incubation / tech can be effective is that it pro…

There's something to what you've written, but I wonder whether it's too black/white. Even successful paper submission involves some level of strategizing / networking, sadly. So if you're published at all, you probably have some networking skills. It doesn't mean that one has to take time away from the other. I have not yet worked in a lab setting or where my PI is strict about hours, but from my software background…

Well usually your PI will do the initial stages of networking or carry enough weight that you don't have to do much networking on behalf of your publications. That is a separate question from if your PI will do networking FOR you. Some will, some won't, either by malice, by ignorance, or by temperament. I worked for a nobel laureate (who discovered restriction enzymes). Publication was not a problem. He was lovely and fun to work for, but in the end I had to leave academia because he couldn't be bothered to network for me (he was more interested in playing penny slots at the casino).

If you're in grad school, my strongest recommendation is to optimize first for a PI that will network for you. That is generally the most valuable form of networking, because 3rd party validation generally carries a strong amount of weight by human nature. Plus it potentially takes minimal effort on your part.

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#35

Post by JabavuAdams »

daemonk wrote: post #25
koeng wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. Right now, Opentrons rules with their open source robots, so liquid handling robots are pretty well handled. Xarm makes good arms for interfacing with Opentrons, so then it comes to everything else necessary to get to full automation. 1. Automated plate hotels I need plate hotels to storage samples that interfaces with my robot arm and robot systems. This I'm basically using Theo Sanderson's designs for this ht…

I completely agree with your point about being good at software/hardware/biology is the key to running a successful production biotech lab because you can try to supplement various weak points with the other domains. I've been 3d-printing devices that helps with DNA extraction in my lab. I am interested in automating the lab I am running now. We have an opentrons that we bought couple years ago that I never got aroun…

Could you elaborate on what you mean re: convincing regulatory bodies? I'm not used to working in a highly-regulated environment. Why are they involved? For certification of the lab?

EDIT> I mean involved w.r.t plate sealers/unsealers, not more generally.

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#36

Post by throwaw4ybio »

daemonk wrote: post #33
throwaw4ybio wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this! (+1 to govdeals too, when the auction is in geographic range) While we've gotten nibbles from accelerators, up to the interview stage, they want to see an MVP before funding us. This is, of course, kind of a non-starter when you don't have 200k lying around for a minimal denovo lab, and there's not much in the way of rental lab space where we are. Thankfully, after four years of grinding on this as our…

I want to point out that it really depends a lot on what kind of lab it is. I think for R&D, buying cheap stuff off of ebay or labx is great. But if your goal is to eventually scale up and build a production lab, you will need to switch your mindset when you get some funding and buy some decent equipment. It can make a big difference from my experience. My company started out at a sub-par lab space with second hand e…

Oh absolutely agree. The amount of time we spend washing dishes is absurd. We yearn for the end of the bootstrap phase.

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#37

Post by throwaw4ybio »

koeng wrote: post #28
throwaw4ybio wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this! (+1 to govdeals too, when the auction is in geographic range) While we've gotten nibbles from accelerators, up to the interview stage, they want to see an MVP before funding us. This is, of course, kind of a non-starter when you don't have 200k lying around for a minimal denovo lab, and there's not much in the way of rental lab space where we are. Thankfully, after four years of grinding on this as our…

I'd like that! If you want to get some readers for it, check out the DIYbio forums on google groups. They aren't as active as they were years ago, but there are still a bunch of knowledge people there.

Thanks for the tip!

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#38

Post by 1996 »

throwaw4ybio wrote: post #27
koeng wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy a ton of very expensive biotech equipment off of ebay for very little, which is what a lot of bootstrapped biotech companies do (plus gov-deals and other pharma auction sites)

Exactly this! (+1 to govdeals too, when the auction is in geographic range) While we've gotten nibbles from accelerators, up to the interview stage, they want to see an MVP before funding us. This is, of course, kind of a non-starter when you don't have 200k lying around for a minimal denovo lab, and there's not much in the way of rental lab space where we are. Thankfully, after four years of grinding on this as our…

> Most of our lab gear is 80s and 90s-vintage gear we've fixed up. You'd be amazed what a little analogue electronics knowledge can do here; people will throw out a device rather than replace the belts or motor brushes. We'll get used and broken gear at a fraction of of the cost of new and certified refurb machinery.

(...)

> BTW, readers, do you think that there is an audience for a blog that talks about the details of rebuilding old equipment like this? I'm not big on video, so it would mostly be long form writing with lots of images

I see a business spin: sell shovels for the upcoming biotech boom. Get equipment on the cheap, fix it, reseller it with a warranty.

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#39

Post by daemonk »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #35
daemonk wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with your point about being good at software/hardware/biology is the key to running a successful production biotech lab because you can try to supplement various weak points with the other domains. I've been 3d-printing devices that helps with DNA extraction in my lab. I am interested in automating the lab I am running now. We have an opentrons that we bought couple years ago that I never got aroun…

Could you elaborate on what you mean re: convincing regulatory bodies? I'm not used to working in a highly-regulated environment. Why are they involved? For certification of the lab? EDIT> I mean involved w.r.t plate sealers/unsealers, not more generally.

If you want CLIA lab certification, there are a number of rules surrounding cross contamination, which not sealing a plate of samples properly might be a red flag.

Re: How to Start a Biotech Company on a Budget

#40

Post by hsuduebc2 »

throwaw4ybio wrote: post #27
koeng wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy a ton of very expensive biotech equipment off of ebay for very little, which is what a lot of bootstrapped biotech companies do (plus gov-deals and other pharma auction sites)

Exactly this! (+1 to govdeals too, when the auction is in geographic range) While we've gotten nibbles from accelerators, up to the interview stage, they want to see an MVP before funding us. This is, of course, kind of a non-starter when you don't have 200k lying around for a minimal denovo lab, and there's not much in the way of rental lab space where we are. Thankfully, after four years of grinding on this as our…

Absolutely! Blog about this is a wonderful idea. Sounds really interesting. Can I subscribe now?
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