🧬 Steve Visco - PolyPlus - Part 1 | Benefits of Strong Writing Skills for Entrepreneurs | Tech Transfer Process & Its Origins | Leveraging Your Expert Status in Negotiations to Gain Investment | Evaluating Personal Needs Alongside Professional Opportuniti

Part 1 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Steve Visco. Steve is the Co-founder, CTO, and CEO of PolyPlus. Before PolyPlus, Steve worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as a Principal Investigator, running several programs in the field of solid state ionics, developing an extensive patent portfolio, much of which has been licensed to industry.

Join us as we sit down with Steve to discuss why being a skillful writer is important for scientific entrepreneurs.

Steve also covers how he balanced his family’s needs with professional endeavors, the origins of the tech transfer process, and what tech transfer meant for researchers in government and academic labs.

Learn more about his thoughts on leveraging expertise in negotiations with companies in industry and the potential pitfalls of conflict of interest.

Please enjoy my conversation with Steve Visco.

Find Our Guest, Steve Visco, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-j-visco-2910b57/
https://polyplus.com/

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

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:16 Episode start
04:01 The cross-section of literature and science, excellent writing as a lifelong benefit
06:25 Modern push for specialization, growing up with the renaissance approach to learning
08:30 What spurred the pursuit of chemistry, 70s-80s grad school differences
11:29 Researching at Brown University, moving to UC Santa Barbara
15:13 Large grants and the benefits they bring, working with industry pioneers
18:35 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the shift toward commercialization
21:22 Origins of the tech transfer process boom, research and its benefits to the economy
23:35 Industry money and how it differs from grant funding, leveraging expertise in negotiations
26:38 Licensing patents out to companies vs. spinning out companies
29:18 Spinning out PolyPlus from LBNL and the pitfalls of conflict of interest
32:29 Going through the early-days tech transfer process, inventor’s percentage for licensing technologies
34:15 Outro

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
Louis Pasteur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur
The Scientific Method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory https://www.lbl.gov/
PolyPlus https://polyplus.com/
Bell Labs https://www.bell-labs.com/
Manhattan Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project
Tech Transfer Process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_transfer
DOE National Labs https://www.energy.gov/national-laboratories
Cooperative Research and Development Agreements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_research_and_development_agreement

People Mentioned:
John Kennedy https://www.chem.ucsb.edu/people/john-h-kennedy
Newt Gingridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich

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.