The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 How Biotech Companies Get Debt Funding (Without Revenue) | Parag Shah Re-Release (1/2)
Nov 24, 2025
47:11
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"I was fortunate that my parents pretty much allowed for a more experimental, open approach to education being important, but do what you want to do, right? Try different things, take healthy risks."
We’re revisiting some of our previous episodes over the holidays this year. Our first rerelease is part 1 of this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast with Parag Shah, where we explore his remarkable journey from molecular biologist to CEO and Founding Managing Director of K2 Health Ventures. Parag shares how his upbringing in New York City with immigrant parents who encouraged experimentation shaped his entrepreneurial mindset, and describes the pivotal moment when he realized bench science wasn't his calling while researching at MIT's Whitehead Institute.​​
The conversation reveals how Parag boldly proposed building Imperial Bank's life sciences lending practice from scratch, despite being young and relatively inexperienced. He discusses lessons learned from MIT about persistence through failure, translating traditional credit frameworks to venture-backed biotech companies, and the complementary role of debt capital alongside equity financing in life sciences.
Key topics covered:
- From Science to Finance: Transitioning from MIT molecular biology research to credit investing and discovering alternative career paths for scientists​
- The Power of Risk-Taking: How liberal parenting, MIT's challenging environment, and willingness to fail fast shaped an entrepreneurial mindset​
- Building Credit Frameworks: Adapting traditional lending principles to venture-backed life sciences companies and understanding value inflection points beyond revenue​
- International Experience: Learning credit fundamentals at Bank Boston in Buenos Aires and navigating cultural differences while building professional expertise​
- Entrepreneurial Banking: Creating Imperial Bank's life sciences practice from scratch and the art of asking for resources when entering the unknown
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Find Our Guest, Parag Shah, at these links:
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
Biotech Startup Fundraising: https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
Venture Debt Financing https://www.excedr.com/blog/venture-debt-for-biotech-startups-overview
Venture Capital and Venture Debt Relationship: https://dealroom.net/faq/venture-debt-financing
The Human Genome Project https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): https://www.mit.edu​
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: https://wi.mit.edu​
Comerica Bank: https://www.comerica.com ​
Hercules Capital: https://www.htgc.com
Larry Suskind: https://dusp.mit.edu/people/lawrence-susskind
John Ehrenfeld: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnehrenfeld/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:44 Upbringing in New York City and Parents' Influence
05:19 Early Science Teachers and Inspiration
09:31 Choosing MIT and Meeting His Wife
10:54 MIT's Rigor and Learning to Persist
13:09 Fraternity Experience and Building Diverse Connections
14:34 Undergraduate Research at the Whitehead Institute
17:46 Pursuing Environmental Policy and Graduate School
21:34 From Environmental Policy to Banking in Argentina
25:45 Bank Boston's Credit Training Program
32:39 Embracing Uncertainty and Being Willing to Fail
37:51 Building Imperial Bank's Life Sciences Credit Framework
41:32 The Role of Debt vs. Equity in Biotech Financing
45:44 Outro
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.