From Start-Up to Grown-Up

#52, Joe Landolina, Co-Founder and CEO of Cresilon— Starting a company in his dorm room, finding the right investors; and the importance of transparent communication

Oct 10, 2023

Joe Landolina, co-founder and CEO of Cresilon, shares his journey of starting a company in his dorm room, finding the right investors through a viral video. He discusses the challenges of the biotech industry, the importance of supportive investors, and building a harmonious team based on soft skills. He also highlights the significance of safeguarding mental health as a founder and provides valuable advice on the path to leadership.

01:13:16

Episode guests

Joe Landolina

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Cresilon started as a dorm-room project and evolved into a successful medical device company.

Joe Landolina attracted investors by posting a viral video showcasing the effectiveness of their product.

Building a strong team with aligned values and prioritizing open communication are crucial for success and overcoming challenges.

Deep dives

Founding insight and product development

Joe Landelina, co-founder and CEO of Cressilent, shares the founding insight of his company, which started when he was 17 years old. He discovered a blend of two polymers that could stop bleeding instantly. Over the next 13 years, Cressilent developed a product that can stop any bleed quickly and effectively. The early stages of the company involved working out of a dorm room and utilizing his grandfather's lab. They eventually built their own manufacturing space, which was a significant challenge but allowed them to have full control over their production.

Introduction

2min

The Founding Insight of Cresilon and Joe's Unorthodox Childhood

3min

Exploring Curiosity with Grandparents

4min

Starting a Biotech Company from a Dorm Room

16min

Building the Ideal Cresilon Employee

27min

Safeguarding Mental Health as a Founder

18min

Advice for Founders Journeying to Become Leaders

3min

At 17 years old, inventor and entrepreneur Joe Landolina invented a medical breakthrough that is transforming at-home and in-patient wound care. Landolina conceived an adhesive hemostatic gel composed of plant-based polymers that could adhere to a wound site and simultaneously support the natural clotting process.

To refine and manufacture the gel technology he invented, Landolina with his partner Isaac Miller founded Cresilon (formerly Suneris), which has since grown into a medical device company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. As Chief Executive Officer, Landolina is now gearing up to take the company's proprietary product VETIGEL to the veterinary market-offering a faster, more reliable solution in hemostasis for veterinarians performing both routine treatments and complex operations in clinics every day. As the face of Cresilon, Landolina meets with investors, clinicians, and industry key opinion leaders, alike, to keep a pulse on the market, meanwhile leading all strategic initiatives internally.

Landolina's research background is in biocompatible polymers; in 2013, he was selected as a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar in recognition of his outstanding potential in scientific research. In 2014, Landolina was named a TED Global Fellow and has since traveled around the world representing Cresilon. Landolina is also a former Innovation Consultant at his alma mater, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and on the board of eLab NYC, which supports the development of NYC as the new world leader in life sciences entrepreneurship.

Joe Landolina is a force of nature! He was doing chemistry experiments as a teenager, and ended up starting his company, Cresilon, at 17-years old.

We talked about his back story and how he learned management and leadership skills, as well as plenty of ups and downs along the way. We also talk about where he got his first clean room (hint: you can buy one too) and what happened when he tried an experiment on his cousin.

Learn more about Cresilon | Website

https://www.cresilon.com/

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