🧬 Quin Wills - Ochre Bio - Part 4

Quin’s Journey Through Y Combinator | The Role of Empathy in Team Dynamics | Adapting in a Shifting Biotech Industry | Ochre Bio’s Fundraising Journey & Future Plans

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Part 4 of 4.

My guest for this week’s episode is Quin Wills, CSO and Co-Founder of Ochre Bio, a pioneering biotechnology company developing RNA therapies for chronic liver diseases. Using a combination of genomic deep phenotyping, precision RNA medicine, and testing in live human donor livers, Ochre is developing therapies for liver health challenges ranging from increasing donor liver supply to reducing cirrhosis complications.

In addition to his work at Ochre, Quin is also a highly accomplished academic with a medical degree from Witwatersrand University and doctoral degrees from Cambridge and Oxford in computational biology, mathematics, and statistical genomics.

Along with his academic accomplishments, Quin also co-founded SimuGen and has worked at the University College London, the Mayo Clinic, and Novo Nordisk before he went on to co-found Ochre Bio. Quin's diverse experiences offer a wealth of insights that everyone can draw inspiration from.

Join us this week and hear about Quin’s:

Unique journey through Y Combinator and its impact
Thoughts about empathy’s role in organizational and team dynamics
Strategies for adapting as an entrepreneur in a shifting biotech landscape
Experience expanding Ochre Bio globally and the challenges of scaling
Fundraising journey and his unconventional tips for aspiring entrepreneurs

Please enjoy my conversation with Quin Wills.

Find Our Guest, Quin Wills, at these links:
www.linkedin.com/in/quinwills/
www.ochre-bio.com/


Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
www.excedr.com/

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Podcast Website: www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Topics Mentioned:
Y Combinator www.ycombinator.com/
Ochre Bio www.ochre-bio.com/
Covid 19 Pandemic www.who.int/europe/emergencies/situations/covid-19
Biotech Accelerators www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-accelerators
Full-Stack Solution in Biotech www.synthego.com/blog/full-stack-genome-engineerin…
NHS www.nationalhonorsociety.org/
Tissue Cell Culture www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843260/
How Much Does Lab Space Cost? www.excedr.com/blog/how-much-does-lab-space-cost
Seed Series www.excedr.com/resources/seed-round-funding-explai…
Series A, B, & C www.excedr.com/resources/series-funding-explained
Biotech Fundraising www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-o…
When & How to Pivot a Biotech www.excedr.com/blog/when-how-to-pivot-a-biotech-st…

People Mentioned:
Jacob Glanville www.linkedin.com/in/jacobglanville
Vinod Khosla www.linkedin.com/in/vinod-khosla-65387416/

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
01:18 Applying to and joining Y Combinator
03:33 Building a full stack solution for Ochre Bio and generating data
05:57 The impact of COVID-19, expanding globally to Taiwan and the US
10:32 Day-to-day operations and scientific structure of Ochre Bio
11:21 Investing in chemistry, establishing XLAB and its role in innovation and decision-making
14:35 Balancing innovation and value-driven projects, defining metrics of success
15:50 Quin’s fundraising journey, insights, and philosophy
17:29 The importance of focus and ending unproductive projects quickly
20:35 Ochre Bio’s evolution and future plans
22:12 Quin’s shoutouts and advice to his 21-year-old self
25:47 Outro