Introducing Boba & Biotech: The Only Thing We Sugarcoat is the Boba

About this episode

In the pilot episode, Armon Sharei introduces the podcast and shares insights from his journey in biotech with guest Shirley Mao.

In the pilot episode of Boba & Biotech, I try out a homemade milk tea with my long time friend and colleague, Shirley Mao. The goal of this episode is to invite listeners into my world - inside and outside of work - and to share the vision behind this brand-new podcast. It's also the fastest way to figure out if I’m boring or insufferable :) From an early interest in math and science, to Stanford, MIT, and the leap from academia into entrepreneurship, the conversation traces what it really takes to turn discovery into real-world impact. We unpack the highs and lows of founding the first company, SQZ Biotech - from early scientific validation and a pivotal Roche partnership to hard-earned leadership lessons along the way. We also chat about why biotech’s public image misses the mark, how jaded leadership can emerge, and why human clinical translation, not discovery, is the hardest and most important part of the journey. Links mentioned: #cellstories Portal Connect with Armon Connect with Shirley Credits: Hosted by Armon Sharei, PhD Research by Andressa Carroll, Portal and Shirley Mao, rvnway.com Produced by Arielle Nissenblatt of Pinwheel, Andressa Carroll of Portal Edited and…

People in this episode

Host: Armon Sharei

Guest: Shirley Mao

Topics covered

• biotech
• entrepreneurship
• science
• leadership

Keywords

• milk tea
• SQZ Biotech
• clinical translation
• Roche partnership

Mentioned in this episode

Products: homemade milk tea

More episodes of Boba & Biotech

• Learning Biotech, Surviving Near-Death, and Seeing What Others Don’t · April 23, 2026 · 1h 11m
• Inside the Biotech Incubator: What Early Companies Get Right (and Wrong) · April 9, 2026 · 44 min
• What should become a company? Lessons from an academic at the center of biotech translation · March 26, 2026 · 39 min
• From Lab to Company: Engineering the Next Generation of Biotech Founders · March 13, 2026 · 53 min
• Money Meets Molecules: What Biotech Investors Actually Care About · February 26, 2026 · 43 min
• Building and Scaling the Tools and Technologies that Underpin Lifesciences · February 13, 2026 · 41 min