Founders Keepers

#46 Dr Elina Berglund - Pivoting from particle physics at CERN to fertility tracking with Natural Cycles

What: Natural Cycles is the developer of the only digital method of birth control cleared by regulators both in the US and in Europe, based in Stockholm. The company's application uses its own algorithm to predict and detect women's ovulation, allowing them to prevent or plan pregnancies in a non-invasive, hormone and side-effect-free way.  Who: Elina is a particle physicist and entrepreneur who began her career at CERN before going on to build the Natural Cycles app together with her husband Raoul. We talk about: Working on the hadron collider (yes, really), making fun of business partners, and using data to drive fertility innovations. 📝 You can also now read the accompanying "podnotes" to the episode on Substack, where key insights from every conversation will be shared for those who prefer short and snappy takeaways: founderskeepers.substack.com  Find out more:  www.founders-keepers.com  Instagram: @founderskeepers.pod  Twitter: @founders.pod  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/founders-keepers-podcast  Get in touch: hi@founders-keepers.com

#45 Jason Matuszewski & Andrew VanVurst - Placentas for wound healing with BioStem Technologies

What: BioStem is a leading regenerative medicine company focused on the development, manufacture, and commercialization of placental derived biologics for advanced wound care. Their main offering is  placental-derived tissue allografts for wound healing applications, based on their proprietary Local Microenvironment Activation® platform and BioRetain processing method.  Who: Jason is an engineer and mathematician by background who serves as BioStem’s CEO, with former US Marine, aviation engineer and BioStem co-founder Andrew as COO. We cover: The motorcycle-racing background that brought them together, the family history that influenced their mission-driven approach, and a true love of engineering. 📝 You can also now read the accompanying "podnotes" to the episode on Substack, where key insights from every conversation will be shared for those who prefer short and snappy takeaways: founderskeepers.substack.com  Find out more:  www.founders-keepers.com  Instagram: @founderskeepers.pod  Twitter: @founders.pod  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/founders-keepers-podcast  Get in touch: hi@founders-keepers.com

#44 Dr Jack Hoppin and Dr John Babich - Precision-based cancer targeting with Ratio Therapeutics

What: Ratio is an early clinical-phase pharmaceutical company whose mission is to accelerate the development of best-in-class radiopharmaceuticals for cancer patients. The company has raised over USD $40 million to date in funding and developed two novel proprietary platforms: Trillium™ and Macropa™.  Who: Jack is CEO of Ratio and a mathematician by training, with John as CSO and a former professor of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences at Cornell University. They began working together in 2018 and the company is named after the mathematical approach to radiopharmaceuticals development.  We talk about: Evolving and scaling what was a small-stage pharma company to a multi-million dollar player, and the pros and cons of co-founding a business with your friends. 📝 You can also now read the accompanying "podnotes" to the episode on Substack, where key insights from every conversation will be shared for those who prefer short and snappy takeaways: founderskeepers.substack.com  Find out more:  www.founders-keepers.com  Instagram: @founderskeepers.pod  Twitter: @founders.pod  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/founders-keepers-podcast  Get in touch: hi@founders-keepers.com

#43 Scott Montgomery - Your handheld biometric smartphone scanner via Advanced Health Intelligence

What: This episode is a a follow-on conversation from the Founders Keepers episode with Vlado Bosanac of Advanced Human Imaging, which has since undergone a merger with Wellteq and appointed new Director and CEO, Scott Montgomery. The company has rebranded as ⁠Advanced Health Intelligence⁠ (AHI); a B2B digital health company that offers biometric-enabled and data-driven health solutions – all from a smart phone. The mobile phone-based tech claims to monitor vital signs, calculate body density and identify chronic diseases.  Who: Scott is an established health industry leader with nearly two decades of experience spanning across APAC, Europe and the US, and has co-built two enterprise health companies to trade sale. He has addressed industry-leading topics to audiences at the United Nations on the value of interoperability in healthcare, the role of technology in closing health literacy knowledge gaps, and the potential of biometric triage measurement using smartphones.  We talk about: Healthy scepticism in business, going deep on-device body dimensioning and health analysis, and not giving advice until you’ve been asked for it at least three times.  📝 You can also now read the accompanying "podnotes" to the episode on Substack, where key insights from every conversation will be shared for those who prefer short and snappy takeaways: founderskeepers.substack.com  Find out more:  www.founders-keepers.com  Instagram: @founderskeepers.pod  Twitter: @founders.pod  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/founders-keepers-podcast  Get in touch: hi@founders-keepers.com

#42 Dr Rob Coleman - Competing against Pfizer in the covid-19 vaccine race with Codagenix

What: Codagenix is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that has raised over $25 million USD in funding to develop vaccine products against influenza, the respiratory syncytial virus, dengue virus and many others. Codagenix uses a computer-based algorithm called SAVE (Synthetic Attenuated Virus Engineering) that designs viral genomes identical to wild type strains at the amino acid level, but which make less protein in human cells. These highly attenuated viruses are then used to develop vaccines for human use. Who: Rob is a trained virologist and entrepreneur, whose pivotal advances in synthetic biology have been noted in peer reviewed journals such as Science, Nature Biotechnology, and PNAS.  We talk about: Competing in the covid-19 vaccine race with Pfizer, diversifying in business, and metaphorically building the plane while you’re flying.  📝 You can also now read the accompanying "podnotes" to the episode on Substack, where key insights from every conversation will be shared for those who prefer short and snappy takeaways: founderskeepers.substack.com  Find out more:  www.founders-keepers.com  Instagram: @founderskeepers.pod  Twitter: @founders.pod  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/founders-keepers-podcast  Get in touch: hi@founders-keepers.com