Robert Nagle, Mathematician and Angel - Is Biotech Investing Risky?

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Listener Robert Nagle is a mathy software guy and an angel investor. We had a great chat which included his perceptions of the risks in biotech investing and also discussed some of the companies in his portfolio. This is an instructive conversation with a thoughtful angel investor.

Sponsored by:

• Purdue University entrepreneurship
• Peter Fasse, patent attorney at Fish & Richardson

Highlights:

• Sal Daher Introduces Listener Robert Nagle, Mathy Software Guy and Angel Investor
• Robert Nagle Was Born in Ireland & Came to the US
• Robert Nagle Knew Jon Hirschtick as a Brilliant Intern at Computervision [ Jon Hirschtick podcast: https://www.angelinvestboston.com/jon-hirschtick-innovating-in-the-cloud]
• “If you're nice to people, sometimes they remember, sometimes they don't. If you're a jerk, they always remember...”
• Robert Nagle’s First Angel Check – Startup Making Bespoke Eyeglass Frames
• Conversation About Virtual Angel Investing
• “...many fascinating opportunities that spill out of the universities...”
• “That model that serves virtually-based, tool-based, asynchronous doesn't depend on a meeting is one of the exciting innovations that I think TBD Angels has brought to fruition.”
• “I think more than one model is good for angels. The aggregate sums as you point out can be comparable.”
• Robert Nagle Belongs to Hub Angels, Sky Ventures and TBD Angels
• Two Brothers in Law: How They Help Sal’s Angel Investing
• Robert Nagel on His Portfolio Company Easyship
• Robert Nagel on His Portfolio Company NODE40 – Pickaxe & Shovels for Crypto
• Sal Daher on Portfolio Company Meenta – A COVID Rocketship
• Rockstep Solutions – ERP for Pre-Clinical Trials
• VistaPath Bio – Machine Vision Helping the Intake of Pathology Samples
• “...what holds you back from investing in life science companies?”
• Sal’s Mentor on Life Science Company Was a Life Science Skeptic Having Made His Money in the Space
• “...life science companies...are taking over the value of the portfolio. That's where all the value creation is going on.”
• Said of SQZ: “...I'm putting my money on the fact that they have a technology that helps other people produce their therapies faster, more efficiently.”
• Said of Savran Technologies: “A few million dollars is enough to develop two use cases in a company like that.”
• The Subset of Biotech Companies that Interests Sal Daher, CFA
• How Sal Daher, CFA Made a Good Chunk of His Net Worth on a Scary Asset
• “At one point I had my kid's tuition money in Nigerian promissory notes. You'll probably say, "Majnun," that’s Arabic for crazy.”
• “That taught me a lesson that a particular area, a particular asset that people don't like at all, they turn their noses at it. There, I will find opportunity.”
• Why Life Science Companies Are Paradoxically Accessible to Intelligent Lay People
• “I don't think the challenge is people being unable to see the opportunity. I think the problem is...on the risk side.”
• The Weird & Wonderful Story of Bacteria That Glow in the Dark
• Robert Nagle on Marc Andreessen’s Thesis about Founder-Led Companies
• “I'm always gratified when I talk to a listener. I have yet to be disappointed, and I'm also surprised at the number of people come up to me and say, "I started my startup because of listening to your podcast."”

Topics: angel investing strategies, biotech