🧬 Quin Wills - Ochre Bio - Part 4 | Quin’s Journey Through Y Combinator | The Role of Empathy in Team Dynamics | Adapting in a Shifting Biotech Industry | Ochre Bio’s Fundraising Journey & Future Plans

The Biotech Startups Podcast

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Part 4 of 4.

My guest for this week’s episode is Quin Wills, CSO and Co-Founder of Ochre Bio, a pioneering biotechnology company developing RNA therapies for chronic liver diseases. Using a combination of genomic deep phenotyping, precision RNA medicine, and testing in live human donor livers, Ochre is developing therapies for liver health challenges ranging from increasing donor liver supply to reducing cirrhosis complications.

In addition to his work at Ochre, Quin is also a highly accomplished academic with a medical degree from Witwatersrand University and doctoral degrees from Cambridge and Oxford in computational biology, mathematics, and statistical genomics.

Along with his academic accomplishments, Quin also co-founded SimuGen and has worked at the University College London, the Mayo Clinic, and Novo Nordisk before he went on to co-found Ochre Bio. Quin's diverse experiences offer a wealth of insights that everyone can draw inspiration from.

Join us this week and hear about Quin’s:

• Unique journey through Y Combinator and its impact
• Thoughts about empathy’s role in organizational and team dynamics
• Strategies for adapting as an entrepreneur in a shifting biotech landscape
• Experience expanding Ochre Bio globally and the challenges of scaling
• Fundraising journey and his unconventional tips for aspiring entrepreneurs

Please enjoy my conversation with Quin Wills.
Find Our Guest, Quin Wills, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinwills/

https://www.ochre-bio.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

https://www.excedr.com
Timestamps:

00:28 Intro

01:46 Applying to and joining Y Combinator

03:19 Building a full stack solution for Ochre Bio and generating critical data

05:04 The impact of COVID-19, expanding globally to Taiwan and the US

08:48 Day-to-day operations and scientific structure of Ochre Bio

09:42 Investing in chemistry, establishing XLAB and its role in innovation and decision-making

11:42 Balancing innovation and value-driven projects, defining metrics of success

12:38 Quin’s fundraising journey, insights, and philosophy

13:49 The importance of focus and ending unproductive projects quickly

16:11 Ochre Bio’s evolution and future plans

17:19 Quin’s shoutouts and advice to his 21-year-old self

20:03 Outro

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

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

JP Morgan https://www.jpmorgan.com/global

Y Combinator https://www.ycombinator.com/

Ochre Bio https://www.ochre-bio.com/

Covid 19 Pandemic https://www.who.int/europe/emergencies/situations/covid-19

Biotech Accelerators https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-accelerators

Full-Stack Solution in Biotech https://www.synthego.com/blog/full-stack-genome-engineering

NHS https://www.nationalhonorsociety.org/

Tissue Cell Culture https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843260/

How Much Does Lab Space Cost? https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-much-does-lab-space-cost

Seed Series https://www.excedr.com/resources/seed-round-funding-explained

Series A, B, & C https://www.excedr.com/resources/series-funding-explained

Biotech Fundraising https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options

When & How to Pivot a Biotech https://www.excedr.com/blog/when-how-to-pivot-a-biotech-startup

People Mentioned:

Jacob Glanville https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobglanville

Vinod Khosla https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinod-khosla-65387416/

The Biotech Startups Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so