🧬 Alok Tayi - Vibe Bio - Part 1 | Combining Software & Science | The Influence of Serendipity on Trajectory | The Critical Importance of Mentors | Working to Make an Impact & Solve Problems

The Biotech Startups Podcast

Part 1 of 3.
My guest for this week’s episode is Alok Tayi, Founder of Vibe Bio, a life science company focused on funding & guiding high-potential drug programs through value inflection points. Vibe Bio’s core is a community of scientists, patients, and partners that are dedicated to helping biotechs find the promising treatments that patients deserve.
Prior to Vibe Bio, Alok started and ran several life science-focused software companies, including PreScouter, TetraScience, and the Life Sciences division at Egnyte.
Join us as we sit down with Alok to talk about how his experience at SUNY as a teenager sparked his journey into science and showed him the combination of software and science that has been a common trend throughout his career.
Alok also speaks to the importance of mentors, especially those he found at Cornell, Northwestern, Tokyo, and Harvard. Alok also covers how his time as a postgraduate working with George Whitesides changed his outlook on how to think, focusing on how to make an impact. Please enjoy my conversation with Alok Tayi.
Find Our Guest, Alok Tayi, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aloktayi/
https://www.vibebio.com
Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com
Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:45 Episode start, Alok’s early journey into science, the combination of software and science
03:41 Serendipitous timing and its influence on Alok’s trajectory, the intersection of tech and biotech, the importance of good mentors
06:33 Experience at Cornell, the growth of materials science after the dot com bubble burst, motivation to get a PhD
09:45 Choosing Northwestern for a PhD, the benefits of working in Sam Stupp’s lab
14:27 Equipment in labs not being utilized, the difficulty of keeping people in the scientific discipline
18:33 Being a JSPS Fellow at University of Tokyo, Japan’s culture of hard work and other differences
23:33 Time at Harvard, pursuing a postdoc with George Whitesides
25:55 George Whitesides’ view on how does one think, working on things that have an impact, solving problems
28:17 Outro
Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
University at Albany, SUNY https://www.suny.edu/
Materials Science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_science
General Lab Equipment https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment
Liquid Handlers https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/liquid-handler
Industrial Robots https://www.excedr.com/general-lab-equipment/industrial-robots
High Content Imaging https://www.excedr.com/blog/an-introduction-to-high-content-imaging
What Are Immunoassays https://www.excedr.com/resources/what-are-immunoassays
Cell Imaging Systems https://www.excedr.com/microscopes/cell-imaging-system
Bioanalyzers https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-does-a-bioanalyzer-work
Nanotechnology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology
Molecular Biology https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-molecular-biology
X-Ray Crystallography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography
Organic Electronics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_electronics
Northwestern University https://www.northwestern.edu/
Science Exchange https://ww2.scienceexchange.com/s/
Scientific Equipment Leasing https://www.excedr.com/leasing
Staffing Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/blog/staffing-your-startup
“Todai” University of Tokyo https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/
JSPS Fellowship https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-fellow/
Harvard University https://www.harvard.edu/
Li Ka Shing Center https://bds.berkeley.edu/lks
Quad Chart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_chart
First Principles https://fs.blog/first-principles/
People Mentioned:
Michael Carpenter https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-carpenter-a6705a142/
George Malliaras https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgemalliaras/
Sam Stupp https://stupp.northwestern.edu/cv/
George Whitesides https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-whitesides-7ba1189/
Stephen Sass https://www.mse.cornell.edu/news/memorial-stephen-l-sass
Elizabeth Iorns https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethiorns/
Fraser Stoddart https://stoddart.northwestern.edu/fraser-stoddart/
Aida Takuzo https://www.linkedin.com/in/aida-takuzo-b38672150/

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