60. Diagnostic Entrepreneurship w/ Stan Lapidus - Serial Entrepreneur / Former Founder & CEO @ Exact Sciences

Jun 26, 2023

Stan Lapidus, a serial entrepreneur and former CEO of Exact Sciences, discusses his journey from engineer to life science expert. He emphasizes the importance of huge markets, clear value propositions, and strong intellectual property in entrepreneurial ventures. The podcast also covers the transformation of the Pap smear test through the development of the ThinPrep, the significance of storytelling in entrepreneurship, and the exploration of biology's connection to medicine. Lapidus questions conventional wisdom and discusses the future of biotech, while sharing early inspiration and aversion to biology.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

The Importance of Huge Markets, Clear Value Propositions, and Strong IP in Entrepreneurial Ventures

02:11 • 8min

Transforming the Pap Smear Test: From Manual Examination to Automation

10:08 • 16min

The Importance of Storytelling in Entrepreneurship

25:39 • 19min

Exploring the Depths of Biology and its Connection to Medicine

44:35 • 2min

Questioning Conventional Wisdom and the Future of Biotech

46:14 • 6min

Exploring Early Inspiration and Aversion to Biology

51:53 • 2min

Stan Lapidus is an inventor and entrepreneur who currently serves on a number of healthcare and medical technology boards.

He’s been founding CEO of three medical diagnostics companies. Two of them have been among the most successful diagnostics startups of all time: Cytyc Corp., which he founded in 1987 and which revolutionized early detection of cervical cancer through its development of the modern Pap test—the ThinPrep. The two ThinPrep prototypes are at the Smithsonian’s American Museum of National History. And, EXACT Sciences, which he founded in 1995, which pioneered non-invasive early detection of colorectal cancer through its Cologuard test. Since its introduction, Cologuard has become the fastest growing test in the history of the diagnostics industry.

Stan holds 37 patents, primarily in methods for early detection of cancer. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2014 for his work on the early detection of cancer. He also served as an instructor at MIT from 2001 to 2017.

‍Stan graduated from Cooper Union in New York City with a BS degree in electrical engineering.

Alix Ventures, by way of BIOS Community, is providing this content for general information purposes only. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement nor recommendation by Alix Ventures, BIOS Community, or its affiliates. The views & opinions expressed by guests are their own & their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them nor any entity they represent. Views & opinions expressed by Alix Ventures employees are those of the employees & do not necessarily reflect the view of Alix Ventures, BIOS Community, affiliates, nor its content sponsors.

Thank you for listening!

BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.

Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license)