The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 Sales Skills & Resilience: Hidden Drivers of Biotech Success | Rabia Khan (Part 3/4)
Apr 21, 2025
37:40
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"You have to be curious. You have to enjoy the problems as opposed to view them as problems. You can view them as puzzle pieces that you get to put together, which is a lot of fun."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Rabia Khan shares the pivotal experiences that shaped her approach to biotech innovation, from her time at BenevolentAI and Sensyne Health to building and leading high-performance teams at the intersection of biology, machine learning, and clinical data. Rabia discusses the challenges of aligning scientists and engineers around a shared language, the importance of integrating platform and program development, and the cultural shifts needed to drive real innovation in drug discovery. She also reflects on the value of curiosity, risk-taking, and the lessons learned from managing major pharma partnerships and scaling teams under intense pressure.
Key topics covered:
- Bridging Biology & Machine Learning: Breaking barriers to spark drug discovery innovation.
- Platform vs. Program Development: Integrate or stagnate—unite teams to win in biotech.
- Building & Leading Teams: Scaling fast and thriving in high-stakes pharma.
- The Power of Curiosity & Risk-Taking: Question, risk, and grow—breakthroughs follow.
- Sales & Resilience in Biotech: Master selling and stay tough to succeed in science.
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Rabia Khan, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabiatkhan/
Website: https://www.serna.bio/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
ICD-10 Codes and the Classification of Disease: https://icd.who.int/browse10/2019/en
HubSpot CEO on 20VC: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/20vc-hubspot-ceo-on-where-value-accrues-in-saas-ai/id958230465?i=1000699464274
The Economist’s Approach to Business Clarity and Value Creation: https://businesslibrary.uflib.ufl.edu/economicsbooks
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
BenevolentAI: https://www.benevolent.com/
Sensyne Health: https://www.sensynehealth.com/
Serna Bio: https://www.serna.bio/
Steven Hamblin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenrhamblin/?originalSubdomain=uk
Kate Yen, Ph.D.:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-yen-448b22108/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:04 The Importance of Shared Language Across Disciplines
03:02 Platform vs. Program Development in Biotech
06:02 The Platform-Program Dichotomy and Capital Market Perspectives
07:29 Aligning Machine Learning Engineers and Biologists
09:30 Changing the Culture of Biology to Embrace Engineering Practices
11:07 The Role of Curiosity and Naivety in Innovation
12:18 Starting a Company: Risk-Taking and Support Systems
17:11 Transition from BenevolentAI to Sensyne Health
22:16 Challenges of Working with Clinical Data and ICD-10 Codes
25:17 Building and Scaling a Machine Learning Team at Sensyne Health
31:03 Leadership, Mentorship, and Hiring for Growth
33:14 The Underrated Power of Sales Skills in Biotech
36:57 Outro
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.