NFXBio: Academia or Startup? A Decision Matrix for Future Scientist-Founders
In this episode, guests Jennifer Dionne and Yaniv Erlich share their journey transitioning from academia to startups, including Yaniv's experience with MyHeritage and Eleven Therapeutics. They compare academia and startups, discuss career options post-PhD, and provide advice for PhDs considering starting a company. They also delve into translating academic experience to business, reflecting on their academic careers and realizations about entrepreneurship.
Key Points
- Entrepreneurs envision the world as it should be, harnessing their expertise in various fields to bring that vision to life for everyone's benefit.
- The journey from academia to entrepreneurship involves assessing personal goals, the readiness of one's technology, and the willingness to take on the financial and personal risks associated with starting a company.
- A strong value proposition and assembling a complementary team are crucial first steps for scientists transitioning from academic research to launching a startup.
NFX Bio is committed to backing Scientist-Founders who are inspired to change the world. But there are far fewer scientists-Founders today than there should be. Instead, scientists often follow the path that academia paves for them: from graduate school, to a PhD, to a postdoc, to another role in academia.
In this episode, NFX General Partner and Head of NFX Bio, Omri Amirav-Drory, sat down with Stanford professor and Pumpkinseed Founder Jennifer Dionne and former Columbia professor and Founder of Eleven Therapeutics Yaniv Erlich to discuss forging your own path: starting your own company.
Here’s how to think through leaving academia, how to know whether it’s time to spin out of your university, and the key takeaways from each of their scientist-turned-founder journeys.
Read the full essay here - https://www.nfx.com/post/techbio-scientists-academia-or-startup
Chapters
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Transcript
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