Tim Spong, Founder - VistaPath Bio

Sponsored by Peter Fasse of Fish & Richardson: https://www.fr.com/team/j-peter-fasse/

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A terrible error in a lab led Tim Spong to start a company to improve the reliability and efficiency of pathology labs; big industry players are noticing. This interview was part of my due diligence on Tim’s startup, VistaPath Bio. Subsequently, I invested in the company.

Highlights include:

• Sal Daher Introduces Tim Spong, Co-Founder of VistaPath Bio
• “Fast forward a hundred years, even if you walked into some of the best labs in the country, it's still a room full of people cutting tissue and staining tissue and sitting over jars.”
• “…VistaPath is really aiming to do is build the next generation pathology lab using automation, AI, advanced imaging practices, and then put that into every lab in the world…”
• “The rest of the time and a lot of the costs is spent in these labs, in histology labs, making the slides so that a pathologist can render a diagnosis.”
• The Horror Story that Motivates Tim Spong to Improve the Lab Sample Workflow
• How Tim Spong Connected with His Co-founder Ben Burley
• “When I decided to actually quit my job and do it, it was really with him. We made that leap together. Like I said, he is amazing. I couldn't imagine getting this far without him.”
• VistaPath Has Had to Overcome Investors’ Lack of Interest in Pathology
• VistaPath Has a Smart Benchtop for Grossing of Samples that Is Equipped with Cameras to Reduce Error and Automate the Process
• VistaPath Business Model
• “What we wanted to do with our business model is make our product something that anybody could have, any lab could afford…”
• “…our initial evaluations, we're already seeing that we're more accurate than humans, much faster than humans.”
• “We really strove and worked a long time to make our products something that someone can take out of a box, plug into a lab, it's an easy-to-use interface, and they can use it as part of their workflow immediately.”
• Sal Daher Is Considering Making an Investment in VistaPath Bio
• Sal Daher Invites Accredited Investors to Join His Syndicate List
• Tim’s Entrepreneurial Journey
• Tim Spong Met His Wife at a Pathology Lab
• Tim Spong Credits Advisors for Helping Him Decide to Become a Founder
• “Some people have led us to some of our best advisors and investors were investors that actually turned us down.”
• Tim Spong Encourages Industry Experts to Start Companies to Solve the Problems they See First-Hand