🧬 Jeff Kim - Slingshot Biosciences - Part 3 | Bucking the Status Quo | Raising Capital During Peak COVID | How To Find & Retain Great Talent | Building Partnerships with Distributors

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Part 3 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Jeff Kim, co-founder and CEO of Slingshot Biosciences. Slingshot designs and manufactures synthetic cells for R&D, clinical diagnostics, and engineered cell therapies, aiming to overcome supply chain and cost barriers that restrict access to advanced diagnostics and therapeutics. Jeff is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded and run multiple successful companies, including Radiant Genomics, which was eventually acquired by Zymergen, and Pattern Ag, a company mapping soil microbes to help farmers grow their bottom line. Before Radiant, Jeff was a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and was the project lead for jet fuel development at Amyris Biotechnologies.

Join us as we sit down with Jeff as he discusses how he assembled his team at Slingshot in the early days, what it was like raising venture capital during the peak of COVID-19, and how as a team, they came up with their company culture and found their North Star. Jeff talks about his experiences working with distributors as part of their global expansion, and how the idea of picking distributors relies on forming a solid partnership. Lastly, Jeff discusses the exciting future in store for Slingshot and gives us a sneak peek into the growth of the business. Please enjoy my conversation with Jeff Kim.

Find Our Guest, Jeff Kim, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimjeff/
https://slingshotbio.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Timestamps:
00:28 Intro
01:20 How the team at Slingshot came to be, early days and the state of the market - how Slingshot bucked the status quo
06:19 Raising venture capital and fundraising during peak COVID
08:11 Slingshot’s company culture, finding/maintaining great talent
13:26 Expanding globally and this expansion coinciding with peak COVID
15:53 Picking distributors and cultivating partnerships, biggest challenges and triumphs of Slingshot
21:37 A sneak peek of the future of Slingshot
23:52 Shoutouts to supporters across his journey
27:29 Outro
Long-Form Video Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:52 How the team at Slingshot came to be, early days and the state of the market - how Slingshot bucked the status quo
06:35 Raising venture capital and fundraising during peak COVID
09:13 Slingshot’s company culture, finding/maintaining great talent
15:28 Expanding globally and this expansion coinciding with peak COVID
18:14 Picking distributors and cultivating partnerships, biggest challenges and triumphs of Slingshot
24:47 A sneak peek of the future of Slingshot
27:28 Shoutouts to supporters across his journey
31:38 Outro

Social & Website
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Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
How to Start a Lab in 2024 https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-to-start-a-lab
Biotech Startup Support https://www.excedr.com/resources-category/biotech-startup-support
Guide to Reducing Startup Costs & Expenses https://www.excedr.com/blog/startup-costs-and-expenses
What Should Investors & Founders Expect From Each Other? https://www.excedr.com/resources/investor-founder-expectations
First Steps a Founder Can Take https://www.excedr.com/resources/rd-startup-funding-first-steps
Funding https://www.excedr.com/category/funding
Series Funding Explained https://www.excedr.com/resources/series-funding-explained
How to Bootstrap Your Biotech Startup & Scale https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-bootstrap-biotech-startup
VC Firms for Biotech in 2024 https://www.excedr.com/blog/top-vc-firms-for-biotech
Need a Co-founder? https://www.excedr.com/resources/do-you-need-a-co-founder-for-your-startup
How to Spin Out of Academia & Into a Startup in 2024 https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup
Biotech Funding for Startups https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
What Is Startup Valuation & Why Is It Important? https://www.excedr.com/resources/startup-valuations
Staffing Your Startup: Hiring Slowly & Intentionally https://www.excedr.com/blog/staffing-your-startup
How VC-Backed Startups Win When They Lease https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-vc-backed-startups-win-when-they-lease
Cost of Capital: Definition, Significance, & Formula https://www.excedr.com/blog/cost-of-capital

People Mentioned:
Brian Shoichet https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-shoichet-0024061/
Andrej Sali https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrej-sali-113470273/
Tarun Kapoor https://www.rockefeller.edu/our-scientists/heads-of-laboratories/1187-tarun-kapoor/

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.