🧬 Oguzhan Atay - Part 2 | From Immigrant to Biotech Innovator | Battling Deportation with Nobel Laureate Support | Building a $140M Prenatal Testing Empire

The Biotech Startups Podcast

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🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast, brought to you by Excedr—empowering life science startups with founder-friendly equipment leasing to fast-track R&D and drive commercialization success.

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Part 2 of 2: Our guest today is Oguzhan Atay, Co-founder & CEO of BillionToOne. BillionToOne is a precision diagnostics company that quantifies biology to create powerful molecular diagnostics. They work to improve disease detection by counting molecules with their proprietary molecular counting platform. They place patients at the forefront of everything they do and are currently applying their proprietary technology to non-invasive prenatal screening and liquid biopsy.

Oguzhan holds a Ph.D. from Stanford in Systems Biology, where he implemented machine learning algorithms and mathematical models to solve specific problems in cellular biology and developed a data-driven mathematical framework to simplify the analysis of complex biological networks. He also has a degree in Molecular Biology from Princeton, as well as minors in Computer Science, Physics, and Applied Mathematics.

Oguzhan not only combines deep technical expertise with visionary leadership, but he also has an incredibly inspirational immigrant journey, which makes this series a must-listen for first-time founders, scientists, and industry leaders alike.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

Oguzhan's journey from Turkey to Stanford
BillionToOne's origin, including Y Combinator's role and initial funding challenges
The company's innovative prenatal testing approach
Expansion into oncology with blood tests for therapy selection and monitoring
Oguzhan's personal struggles with immigration issues while starting the company and the support of his mentors

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

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

Find Our Guest, Oguzhan Atay, at these links:

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

https://billiontoone.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

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

https://www.excedr.com

Excedr Socials & Website

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr

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

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

BillionToOne https://billiontoone.com/

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

Common Mistakes Biotechs Make & How to Avoid Them https://www.excedr.com/blog/common-business-mistakes

How to Fund an R&D Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/rd-startup-funding-first-steps

Guide to the Venture Capitalist Decision https://www.excedr.com/resources/guide-to-the-venture-capitalist-decision-making-process

People Mentioned:

David Tsao https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidtsao/

Jim Collins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Collins

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

02:28 - The origin of BillionToOne and early challenges

06:48 - Y Combinator's role and initial funding struggles

12:24 - Meeting co-founders and pivoting based on market needs

17:17 - Realizing the importance of the problem in the United States

24:11 - Building physical infrastructure and scaling operations

32:04 - Company culture, hiring philosophy, and growth strategy

38:55 - Expanding into oncology and future product lines

46:40 - Plans for going public and becoming a generational company

53:42 - Shoutouts to supporters and overcoming immigration challenges

59:34 - Advice to his 21-year-old self: keeping an open mind

01:02:51 - 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.

167 episodes

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