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Part 2 of 4.

My guest today is Mark Kotter, neurosurgeon, stem cell biologist, and CEO and Founder of bit.bio. Bit.bio is an award-winning human synthetic biology company providing human cells for research, drug discovery and cell therapy. 

Bit.bio applies a patented safe harbor gene-targeting approach to inducibly express transcription factor combinations that reprogram human induced pluripotent stem cells into highly defined and mature human cell types.

In addition to bit.bio, Mark is also the Co-Founder of Meatable, Scientific Founder and Chairman of rejuvenation start-up clock.bio, and Co-Founder and trustee of Myelopathy.org, the first charity dedicated to a common yet often overseen condition causing a “slow motion spinal cord injury.” 

Mark has also been a professor and researcher at Cambridge for more than 15 years. His diverse experience as an academic and serial entrepreneur offers a wealth of insights aspiring scientist-founders can draw from. 

Please enjoy my conversation with Mark Kotter.

00:28 Intro 

01:54 Mark’s spinal cord injury research in Vienna, setting up a lab, and avoiding rigid hierarchy

03:26 Working at the Max Planck Institute, getting noticed again at Cambridge 

04:34 Going from no supervisor to teaching PhD students while running a lab 

05:36 Starting a new role at Cambridge, the impact of sharing information 

08:11 Two different worlds: the research world and the clinical world 

09:57 The value of being exposed to and combining the newest tech and patient samples 

11:37 Complexity around protocols, cell programming history, and contradictory data 

14:18 The translation gap between research and the clinic 

16:34 Juggling a teaching role at Cambridge while conducting research, studying in Toronto

18:56 Shifting to the startup world from academia and clinical research 

20:23 Starting a family business, understanding financial models and cash flow 

21:58 Outro

Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine https://maxplanckneuroscience.org/institute/mpi-exp-medicine/

University of Cambridge https://www.cam.ac.uk/

Neurosurgery https://www.ohsu.edu/school-of-medicine/neurosurgery/what-neurosurgery

Cell Programing https://youtu.be/jrVQXHmxH7Y?si=csFYmCfaqkQFm95y

Differentiation Protocols https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9405110/

Direct reprogramming protocols https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8161510/

Synthetic Biology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology

Opti-ox Technology https://www.bit.bio/platform

How to Spin Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup

Roger Pedersen https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-pedersen-0b231115/ 

Harold Weintraub https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_M._Weintraub

Marius Wernig https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/marius-wernig

Thomas Südhof https://med.stanford.edu/sudhoflab/about-thomas-sudhof.html

Shinya Yamanaka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinya_Yamanaka

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.