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.
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
(0:00) Introduction to the episode, hosts and guests
(1:33) Transition from academia to startup: Jennifer Dionne and Yaniv Erlich's journey
(9:54) Yaniv's experience with MyHeritage and Eleven Therapeutics
(12:30) Comparison of academia and startups: pace, customers, and freedom
(20:17) The product of academia: students or research? The concept of academic freedom
(21:10) Advice for aspiring PhDs and postdocs considering startups
(26:42) Sponsor: NFX Podcast
(27:22) Career options post-PhD and the decision to pursue a postdoc
(32:29) Challenges and advice for PhDs considering starting a company
(40:21) Translating academic experience to business and why NFX likes scientist founders
(46:10) Reflections on academic career and realization about entrepreneurship
(47:07) Wrap up and thank you notes
