BioVenture VoiCes with Chris Garabedian

Having been an early investor in many recent successes such as Revolution Medicines, Peloton, and Parabilis Medicines, he describes his investment philosophy and focus on precision oncology companies. Plus, his early life, getting hands on experience in biotech at Micromet, and learning from some of the top investors and scientific advisors in the industry.

He describes his early life and education, 18 years of company building at Flagship Pioneering, founding Averin (previously called Bedford Bridge) with his brother, and investing at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

Jay Lichter describes his roots growing up in Chicago, Yale, and an early career role at DuPont Merck before getting a call from Kevin Kinsella to try the world of venture at Avalon. Since that pivotal move, he describes numerous companies he either operated or funded, leading to his work today at Avalon Bioventures.

Bruce Booth discusses his education and early career, the structure of Atlas and the types of investments it makes, investing in assets vs platforms, and more.

Still a practicing physician today, Vineeta Agarwala describes her educational background and early career, including experiences at the Broad Institute, Flatiron Health, and GV (Google Ventures). She talks about a16z's investment philosophy of "providing more than just a check," and a recent $500M fund partnered with Lilly.

Aaron Kantoff describes the road on the public markets side that eventually led him to venture, and recalls successful investments he helped lead at firms like Apple Tree Partners and Medicxi, such as Stoke Therapeutics, Akero Therapeutics, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, and RayzeBio. He discusses founding Scion with his partner, Samuel Hall, and describes raising their first fund and how the firm has a longer outlook than is traditionally thought of in venture.

Dr. Westphal describes his upbringing and early career at McKinsey and Polaris, founding or co-founding companies like Momenta, Alnylam, Sirtris, Acceleron, and VeraStem, and creating the Longwood Fund. He shares his thoughts on venture investing, the current environment in biotech, focusing on creating new medicines, and his love of the Boston ecosystem.

Tiba Aynechi describes her career path, which has been spent entirely in the Bay Area since she earned her PhD from UCSF in the early 2000's. She describes the value of BD experience she earned while working on licensing deals early in her career, her more than a decade at Novo Ventures, and what appealed to her to join Norwest. Plus, her thoughts on a board of directors' relationship with management teams.