🧬Alfredo Andere - LatchBio: College Friends, Biotech Beginnings & Thoughtful Persistence (Part 2/4)

The Biotech Startups Podcast

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"You will be surprised what you can achieve with thoughtful persistence."

In part two of our conversation with Alfredo Andere, co-founder of LatchBio, we dive into his transformative journey at UC Berkeley, where he developed a passion for machine learning and neuroscience. Alfredo shares how his persistence and curiosity helped him join the highly competitive Machine Learning at Berkeley club, which became a pivotal moment in shaping his entrepreneurial mindset. He reflects on the lessons learned from internships at Facebook, UCSF, and Google Brain, and how these experiences clarified his desire to pursue startup life over a traditional tech career.

Alfredo also recounts the early days of working with his co-founders on ambitious projects, including their first failed startup attempt, and how those challenges led them to explore opportunities in biotech. This episode offers valuable insights into navigating uncertainty, embracing trial and error, and building meaningful collaborations.

Key topics covered:

The power of thoughtful persistence: How Alfredo's determination led to joining a top-tier student organization at UC Berkeley.
Lessons from internships: Insights gained from working at Facebook, UCSF, and Google Brain—and why he ultimately chose startups.
The importance of community: How Machine Learning at Berkeley shaped Alfredo's leadership skills and introduced him to like-minded peers.
Early startup lessons: The challenges of building a product without understanding the market and the value of user research.
Transitioning to biotech: How Alfredo’s passion for neuroscience evolved into tackling critical problems in life sciences with his co-founders.

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.

Subscribe to the podcast:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr

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

Find our guest, Alfredo Andere, at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfredoandere/

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/latchbio/

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

Resources and articles:

Machine Learning at Berkeley (ML@B): https://ml.berkeley.edu/

Viktor Frankl's "Man’s Search for Meaning": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning

Neuralink Research Paper: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6914248/

Berkeley NeuroDust Project: https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2016/11/neural-dust/

TensorFlow by Google Brain: https://www.tensorflow.org/

Bulk RNA-seq: https://www.scdiscoveries.com/support/what-is-bulk-rna-sequencing/

AlphaFold 2: https://alphafold.ebi.ac.uk/

Companies, universities, & people mentioned:

Dyno Therapeutics: https://www.dynotx.com/

LatchBio: https://latch.bio/

Facebook (Meta): https://www.facebook.com

Google Brain (now part of Google DeepMind): https://research.google/brain

Neuralink: https://neuralink.com

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF): https://www.ucsf.edu

Kenny Workman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennyworkman

Kyle Giffin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylegiffin

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:28 College Friendships and Early Seeds of LatchBio

03:46 Joining Machine Learning at Berkeley: Challenges and Growth

07:01 Transformational Impact of Student Organizations

12:08 Running the Machine Learning Club at Berkeley: Leadership Lessons

18:14 Introduction to Neuroscience and Life Sciences

21:38 Internships at Facebook, UCSF, and Google Brain

26:36 Lessons from Early Startup Attempts

29:12 Dropping Out of Berkeley to Pursue Entrepreneurship Full-Time

32:05 Balancing Academic and Entrepreneurial Pursuits

33:11 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.

150 episodes

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