According to a BCG report, only 19% of VCs have some kind of scientific or technological competence. And that creates a translation problem between deep tech founders and investors. 

To close that gap, Arkady Kulik and his cofounder, Tamaz Khunjua, built RPV, a venture fund that brings scientific expertise to the market and helps scientists become strong entrepreneurs.

On this episode of The Boost VC Podcast, Arkady joins us to explain how the RPV team’s extensive background in science and entrepreneurship serves deep tech startups.

Arkady describes how starting a venture fund differs from founding other companies and shares his excitement around ‘being at the edge of science’ as a frontier tech VC.

Listen in for Arkady’s unique take on what it means to be useful to others and learn how RPV is working to make talented scientists billionaires!

Topics Covered

The idea behind RPV

• Help scientists become strong entrepreneurs
• ‘Commercialization of science’

How Arkady got into venture capital

• Moved to US to be part of scientific exploration of humanity
• Lack of funding in prototyping stage of deep tech startups

Arkady’s biggest accomplishment before age 20

• Launched first company at 18 without external investment
• Scaled to annual revenue of $5M in third year

How starting a venture fund differs from starting other companies

• More competitive, thousands of similar funds raising money
• Harer to differentiate and properly tell story of niche

What part of being a VC Arkady enjoys the most

• Being at edge of science and meeting interesting people
• Finding processes that make things work

The secret skills Arkady is most proud of

• Developed extreme level of discipline
• Extremely organized in managing time and data

How Arkady thinks about being useful to others

• Provide with relevant information or connections
• Put smile on someone’s face, make life better

The most valuable thing RPV provides for deep tech startups

• External proof point for science and technology
• Entrepreneurial experience and change management

Arkady’s ‘deathbed test’ to measure success

• Nothing ‘could have but didn’t achieve’
• Self-actualization (happy, complex person)

Connect with Arkady Kulik

RPV https://rpv.global/

RPV on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/rpvglobal/

Arkady on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/arkady-kulik/

Arkady on X https://twitter.com/arkadykulik 

Resources

Starburst Aerospace https://starburst.aero/

Cantos VC https://cantos.vc/

Countdown https://countdown.capital/

Fifty Years https://fiftyyears.com/

Productivity Planner https://www.intelligentchange.com/products/productivity-planner

Terraforming Mars https://www.fryxgames.se/games/terraforming-mars/

Breakfast with Pops: A Venture Capital Handbook by Adam Draper and William H. Draper III https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Pops-Venture-Capital-Handbook/dp/B0C1JHXTQF

Connect with Boost VC

Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/

Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/

Boost VC on X https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Boost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/

If a VC is excited about a deep tech company upfront, what can we do to temper our enthusiasm and make a rational decision on whether to invest?

Maryanna Saenko is Cofounder and Partner at Future Ventures, an early-stage VC firm that focuses on mission-driven companies at the cutting edge of disruptive technology.

Future Ventures looks to back visionaries who push the boundaries of possibility. Some of their recent investments include Beeflow, Deep Genomics and Earthshot Labs.

On this episode of Boost VC, Maryanna joins us to share her definition of deep tech, describing how Future Ventures looks for opportunities ‘unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.’

Maryanna offers her take on why the two-person structure of a venture firm is ideal and discusses some of the deep tech deals she wishes she’d been closer to.

Listen in for Maryanna’s insight on building organizations around big shifts in science or technology and learn her process for dialing down the excitement after a pitch to decide whether her YES will hold.

Topics Covered

Maryanna’s biggest accomplishments before age 20

• Recognized she wouldn’t survive public high school
• Got into Hopkins prep school on scholarship

How Maryanna got into venture capital

• Worked for early-stage company out of college
• Job offer from Daimler to figure out driverless cars
• Introduced to head of innovation lab at Airbus

The most important lessons Maryanna has learned as a VC

• Trust your intuition
• Don’t waste time justifying a startup’s relevance

How Maryanna defines deep tech

• ‘Unlike anything we’ve ever seen before’
• Index on novelty at Future Ventures

What Maryanna does when she’s all-in on a company right away

• Asks what she must believe about reality for YES to hold
• Discussion with partner to temper her excitement

Why Maryanna prefers the two-person structure in venture

• Ideal for its efficiency and intellectual honesty
• Never puts someone in tie-breaker position

Maryanna’s superpowers as a venture investor

• Confident in ability to assess tech on first principles
• Know how to build orgs around shifts in science or tech 

What deals Maryanna wishes she had been closer to

• Structure of open AI
• Deep seabed mining, recycling battery technology

Maryanna’s definition of success

• Feel landscape of possibility was totally exhausted
• ‘Everything I could give to this, I did’

Connect with Maryanna Saenko

Future Ventures https://future.ventures/ 

Future on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FutureVenturesVC

Future on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/future.ventures/

Future on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/futureventures/

Maryanna on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryannasaenko/

Maryanna on Twitter https://twitter.com/FutureSaenko

Resources

Lux Research https://www.luxresearchinc.com/

DARPA Grand Challenge https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/timeline/-grand-challenge-for-autonomous-vehicles

Airbus BizLab https://www.airbus.com/en/innovation/innovation-ecosystem/airbus-bizlab

Beeflow  https://www.beeflow.com/

Decoding the World by Po Bronson and Arvind Gupta https://www.amazon.com/Decoding-World-Questioner-Po-Bronson/dp/1538734311

Redwood Materials https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin https://www.amazon.com/American-Prometheus-audiobook/dp/B000OZ0J0W/

Connect with Boost VC

Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/

Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/

Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Boost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/

Deep tech founders are either technically gifted or great at building a business. But it's seldom both, at least in the beginning.

So, what should venture investors pay attention to when we’re choosing founders in these disruptive technologies?

Greg Castle is Founder and Managing Director at Anorak Ventures, a firm that invests in early-stage deep tech startups.

An entrepreneur and corporate marketer turned VC, Greg has invested in 120 companies, including Oculus, Flexport and Mux.

On this episode of Boost VC, Greg joins us to explore how his view of venture investing has changed since he wrote his first check, explaining what he looks for in a founder and how he evaluates deep tech startups differently.

Greg shares his mixed feelings about the VR market right now and how he benefits from having a partner to engage in conviction-based decision-making.

Listen in for Greg’s advice on where to deploy capital in deep tech and learn how Anorak chooses founders who apply disruptive technologies to business problems in any industry.

Topics Covered

How Greg got into venture capital

• Curious person who advocates for people he believes in
• Got lucky in first few personal investments, e.g.: Oculus

The most important lessons Greg has learned as a VC

• What high-functioning teams and companies look like
• Not to take it personally when things don’t go as planned

What Greg pays attention to when he’s choosing founders

• How they interact with cofounders, react to feedback
• Punctuality at meetings, preparedness and responsiveness

The questions Greg asks himself before he invests in a startup

• Do I believe in the founder?
• Do I believe in the market?

How Greg evaluates deep tech companies differently

• Move forward with presumption that anything’s possible
• Consider if technically gifted person can build business

Greg’s mixed feelings about the VR market right now

• Viable platform where developers make real money
• Frustrated by lack of competition, Meta fumbling the ball

Greg’s thoughts on Apple entering the VR/AR market

• ‘Nobody can make a product cool like Apple can’
• Not well-positioned in immersive gaming (primary use case)

The Anorak investment thesis

• Handful of technologies will have outsized impact on future
• Find teams leveraging those technologies, industry agnostic

Greg’s advice on where to deploy capital in deep tech

• Always comes down to people
• Build out ecosystem of investors, founders

How Greg thinks about scale in venture investing

• Find great people in areas that are not your strengths
• Scale of funds = $15M to $25M per partner

How Greg benefits from taking on a partner

• Need to explain yourself to thought partner
• Can still move quickly when he needs to

Greg’s biggest accomplishments before age 20

• Building group of friends in college
• Still works with many of them

Greg’s definition of success

• Confident and comfortable in your own skin
• Content with what you have

Connect with Greg Castle

Anorak Ventures https://www.anorak.vc/

Anorak on Medium https://anorakvc.medium.com/

Anorak on Twitter https://twitter.com/AnorakVentures

Anorak on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/anorak-ventures/

Greg on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorycastle/

Greg on Twitter https://twitter.com/gpcastle12

Resources

Greg Castle on Boost VC EP001 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PyO3LpZD9Q

Greg Castle on Boost VC EP089 https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qYRcDMoemjrMHDxKONu4A

Oculus https://www.meta.com/quest/

GOLF+ https://www.golfplusvr.com/

FitXR https://fitxr.com/

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman https://www.amazon.com/Neverwhere-Novel-Neil-Gaiman-ebook/dp/B000FC130E

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Novel-Neal-Stephenson-ebook/dp/B000FBJCJE/

Hyperion by Dan Simmons https://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Cantos-Book-1-ebook/dp/B004G60EHS/

Neuromancer by William Gibson https://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-Sprawl-Trilogy-William-Gibson-ebook/dp/B000O76ON6/ 

Breakfast with Pops: A Venture Capital Handbook by Adam Draper & William Henry Draper, III https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Pops-Venture-Capital-Handbook/dp/B0C1JHXTQF

‘Perception Is Reality’ Presentation https://www.anorak.vc/post/perception-is-reality-8-startup-marketing-principles

Connect with Boost VC

Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/

Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/

Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Boost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/

How does a venture firm approach investments in deep technology?

Seth Winterroth is Partner at Eclipse Ventures, a VC firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build companies that redefine physical industries.

Seth has nine years of experience in venture capital, serving as Associate at GE Ventures before he joined the team at Eclipse. 

On this episode of Boost VC, Seth joins us to explore how Eclipse thinks about investing in emerging technologies, explaining how the team engages with customers and leverages internal expertise to identify high-magnitude market opportunities. 

Seth shares his interest in robotics, discussing why the acquisition of Kiva Systems sparked his interest in this particular deep tech field and how he identified the opportunity to invest in 6 River Systems—the first deal he led at Eclipse. 

Listen in for Seth’s advice to young VCs on cultivating patience and responding to chaos with calm, engaging with founders in a way that’s rational and devoid of fear.

Topics Covered

The thesis at Eclipse Ventures

• Small teams of engineers solving hard development problems
• Industries that operate in physical world (80% of global GDP)

How Seth thinks about investing in emerging technology

• Start with markets, customer pain points
• Find specialist to develop n-of-1 solution
• Add traditional engineers with experience scaling technology

What gets Seth excited about robotics

• Kiva Systems acquisition by Amazon sparked interest
• Saw market trends driving adoption of autonomous systems

The success of Seth’s first investment at Eclipse, 6 River Systems

• Robotics company in supply chain logistics
• Acquired for $500M by Shopify in 2019

How Seth identified the opportunity to invest in 6 River Systems

• Ideal team profile and product differentiation
• Gap in market to replace Kiva Systems

Eclipse’s institutional process of thesis development

• Engage with customers, purchasing decision-makers
• Internal engineering expertise to identify gaps

Eclipse’s internal venture equity program

• Cases where did research but didn’t find right opportunity 
• Engineer storm vs. wait for lightning to strike

What Eclipse does to win deals

• Build relationships with founders
• Provide evidence of value-added capital

The part of a deal Seth is most excited about

• Find high-magnitude market opportunity to match worldview
• Go to partners with conviction and say THIS ONE

What Seth would tell his 25-year-old self

• Be patient, don’t rush to have track record in venture
• Respond to chaos with calm, be rational and devoid of fear

What differentiates Eclipse from other venture firms

• Tackle category of economy traditional VCs shy away from
• Deep involvement with companies to improve odds

Seth’s biggest accomplishments before age 20

• Live on own and travel world
• Spend meaningful time with and learn from grandfather

Connect with Seth Winterroth

Eclipse Ventures https://eclipse.vc/

Eclipse on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/eclipse-vc/

Eclipse on Twitter https://twitter.com/eclipseventures 

Seth on Twitter https://twitter.com/Sethwinterroth

Seth on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterroth/

Resources

Kiva Systems Acquisition https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/19/amazon-acquires-online-fulfillment-company-kiva-systems-for-775-million-in-cash/

Willow Garage https://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-back-at-willow-garage-2016-2

DARPA Grand Challenge https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/timeline/-grand-challenge-for-autonomous-vehicles

6 River Systems https://6river.com/

Bright Machines https://www.brightmachines.com/

BrightInsight https://brightinsight.com/

Foxglove Studio https://foxglove.dev/

Kevin Kelly’s Blog ‘You Are Not Late’ https://medium.com/message/you-are-not-late-b3d76f963142

Richard Hamming’s Talk ‘You and Your Research’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zDuOPkMSw

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754

Lincoln https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/

Connect with Boost VC

Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/

Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/

Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Boost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/

What inspires a venture firm to focus on deep tech?

Ian Rountree is Founder and General Partner at Cantos, a venture fund that invests in potentially world-changing deep tech startups. 

Cantos focuses on hardware and bio investing at the intersection of climate and industrials, life sciences and AI, aerospace and defense, and next-generation computing.

On this episode of Boost VC, Ian joins us to share his definition of deep tech and explain why he underwrites technical risk rather than market risk.

Ian discusses the value of founder empathy, challenging VCs to see the entrepreneur as their customer and LPs as shareholders in the portfolio.

Listen in to understand what drives Ian to make a global-scale impact, backing founders who tackle climate change, disease, armed conflict, poverty and existential risk.

Topics Covered

Ian’s biggest accomplishment before age 20

• Getting Vanderbilt to accept him off waitlist 
• Refused to take NO as answer

Ian’s take on who is the customer in venture capital

• Founder = customer
• LP = shareholder

What inspired Ian to focus on deep tech

• Tackle big problems, e.g.: climate change, poverty
• Deep tech startups outperformed rest of portfolio

How losing his father early informs Ian’s work

• Feels hard deadline to career and life
• Wants to play small role in changing world

The criteria Ian uses to decide if a startup is ‘important’

• Nonzero chance of global-scale impact
• Tackles climate, disease, armed conflict or poverty

How Ian defines deep tech

• Taking technical risk rather than market risk
• Cantos specializes in hardware and bio investing

How Ian thinks about growing the Cantos organization

• From solo GP to 4 equal partners
• ‘Fire’ himself by age 55

What’s behind Benchmark’s equal partnership structure

• Set up for generational turnover from jump
• May also be consequence of early success

Why a deep tech VC doesn’t need to be technical

• Ask expert if violation of physics involved
• Startups that change world challenge status quo

What differentiates software investing from deep tech

• Software involves market risk, easy to pivot
• Deep tech involves technical risk, hard to pivot

Ian’s diligence criteria

• Size of market, potential margins at scale
• Founder who understands their WHY

Connect with Ian Rountree

Cantos https://cantos.vc/

Cantos on Twitter https://twitter.com/cantos

Ian on Twitter https://twitter.com/ianrountree

Ian on LinkedIn    https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianrountree/

Near Frontier Podcast https://nearfrontier.castos.com/

Resources

Fred Wilson’s Blog ‘The VC’s Customer’ https://avc.com/2005/11/the_vcs_custome/

Fred Wilson’s Blog ‘The VC’s Customer (Continued)’ https://avc.com/2009/07/the-vcs-customer-continued/

Radiant https://www.radiantnuclear.com/

Tim Urban’s TED Talk on Procrastination https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator/c

Benchmark https://www.benchmark.com/

eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work by Randall E. Stross https://www.amazon.com/eBoys-Inside-Account-Venture-Capitalists/dp/0812930959

Benchmark Part I on the Acquired Podcast https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/benchmark-capital

Benchmark Part II on the Acquired Podcast https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/benchmark-part-ii-the-dinner

Union Square Ventures https://www.usv.com/

Cerebras https://www.cerebras.net/

Eric Vishria on Twitter https://twitter.com/ericvishria

Connect with Boost VC

Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/

Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/

Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Boost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/

Many independently minded, young scientists are too ambitious for academia… But the startup world isn’t quite right for them either.

How might decentralized science provide a space for these innovators to do their work?

Niklas Rindtorff is the classical scientist behind LabDAO, an online home for inventors that builds open tools for scientific research. Niklas coauthored his first paper before the age of 20, and he has expertise in CRISPR and cancer research.

On this episode of Boost VC, Niklas joins us to explain how classical science emerged after World War II and explore the problems with the NIH grant funding process.

Niklas shares his open-access approach to consuming scientific media and describes how DeSci is experimenting with different ways to measures the importance of new science.

Listen in to understand how decentralized science can serve as the bridge between research organizations and science startups, building an ecosystem for inventors who don’t fit into the nonprofit or for-profit world.

Topics Covered

How Niklas defines science

• Formal knowledge generation process
• Fishing at edge of what is known

How World War II changed the way we do science

• Conflict won because of US sophisticated tech
• NIH funding created class of full-time scientists
• System doesn’t always maximize progress

How the importance of new science is determined

• Measured by citations vs. markets
• DeSci experiments with different accounting

How Niklas consumes scientific media

• Used to use few free, open-access journals
• Now leverage Twitter bookmarks, preprints

What LabDAO does for scientists

• Provide tools to work wherever they are
• Current focus on computational biology

What inspired Niklas to build LabDAO

• Experience with inventions stuck in bureaucracy
• Measure number of patients treated vs. citations

The age distribution of NIH grant recipients

• Ages with scientists who were first
• No market discipline, don’t answer to public

How we might equalize the demographic of NIH winners

• Create more NIHs
• Private funding agency with philanthropic match

How we might invest in a portfolio of science

• Charge higher fee to run research-oriented fund
• Online collectives do research sponsorships

How LabDAO itself is funded

• Nonprofit governed by token
• Private investors buy token for stake on projects

The relationship between academia and DeSci

• Connective tissue among existing organizations
• Inventors who don’t fit in academia or startups

Niklas’ definition of success

• Strive toward personal values
• Invent cool stuff

Connect with Niklas RIndtorff

LabDAO https://www.labdao.xyz/

LabDAO on Discord https://discord.com/invite/labdao

LabDAO on GitHub https://github.com/labdao

LabDAO on Snapshot https://snapshot.org/#/labdao.eth

LabDAO on Medium https://medium.com/@labdao

LabDAO on Twitter https://twitter.com/lab_dao

Niklas on Twitter https://twitter.com/niklas_tr  

Resources

Broad Institute https://www.broadinstitute.org/

‘Science the Endless Frontier’ 1945 Report to Congress https://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945.htm

National Institutes of Health https://www.nih.gov/

Public Library of Science https://plos.org/

bioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/

New Science https://newscience.org/

VitaDAO https://www.vitadao.com/

Connect with Boost VC

Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/

Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/

Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Boost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/

In academia, most scientists publish their ideas and stop there. But if we want our breakthroughs to benefit society, we have to take it a step further. 

So, what does it look like to commercialize scientific research? What mindset do academics need to work at the intersection of science and industry?

Ben Lamm has a career of building successful deep tech businesses, and George Church has a career of commercializing academic science. 

Together, they are the cofounders of Colossal, a breakthrough bioscience and genetic engineering company that is pioneering animal de-extinction technology to restore lost ecosystems for a healthier planet. 

On this episode of Boost VC, Ben and George join us to explain how bringing back the woolly mammoth addresses climate change and explore their approach to the ethical concerns around de-extinction.

They discuss the benefits of Colossal technology beyond Arctic rewilding, describing how their work helps endangered animals and promotes conservation.

Listen in for Ben and George’s insight on commercializing science and learn how to get comfortable enough with risk to turn academic ideas into industry.

Topics Covered

How George defines science

• Predict and create new options for humanity
• Goal to build better world

Why Ben & George are bringing back the woolly mammoth

• Restore previous ratio of grass to trees
• Sequester carbon at rate only possible in Arctic

How Ben & George approach the ethical concerns re: de-extinction

• Believe in radical transparency
• Learn from negative feedback, people who question

Why George works at the intersection of academia and industry

• Likes to work with curious young people
• Exposure to diversity of ideas

Why Colossal needs government collaboration and support

• Several governments, Indigenous groups in Arctic
• Climate change, biodiversity and species preservation

How woolly mammoths promote carbon removal

• Knock down trees so more grass can grow
• Cold, Arctic grasslands sequester carbon particularly well

The benefits of Colossal technology beyond Arctic rewilding

• Eradicate EHV virus in elephants
• Promote species conservation

How Ben & George think about commercializing science

• Go beyond publication to help society
• Feedback from investors and academia

What makes Ben & George’s partnership work

• George’s lab provides idea from academic study
• Ben figures out product-market fit and funding

George’s advice to academics on commercializing products

• Can’t be afraid of failure
• Can come back from bankruptcy

How Ben & George think about taking big risks

• Ben believed grandmother saying he could do anything
• Academic failures taught George he would survive

The impact Ben & George hope to make with Colossal

• Ex utero development, species preservation
• Thousands of Arctic elephants to sequester carbon
• Advancements in reading and writing of genomes

How Ben & George define success

• Benefit society, facilitate survival of species
• Create things that are additive

Connect with George Church & Ben Lamm

Colossal https://colossal.com

Colossal on Twitter https://twitter.com/ItIsColossal

Colossal on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itiscolossal/

Colossal on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/itiscolossal/

George on Twitter https://twitter.com/geochurch

Ben on Twitter https://twitter.com/federallamm

Resources

Citizen Science https://www.citizenscience.gov/#

Personal Genome Project https://www.personalgenomes.org/

How to Grow (Almost) Anything https://www.media.mit.edu/courses/htgaa/

DIYbio https://diybio.org/

Church Lab https://arep.med.harvard.edu/

Hypergiant https://www.hypergiant.com/

Pleistocene Park https://pleistocenepark.ru/

Chris Mason Author Talk https://mitpress.mit.edu/blog/author-talk-the-next-500-years-by-christopher-e-mason/

Prehistoric Planet https://tv.apple.com/us/show/prehistoric-planet/umc.cmc.4lh4bmztauvkooqz400akxav

Connect with Boost VC

Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/

Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/

Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Boost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/

Why invest in decentralized science?

James Sinka is a classically trained chemist and materials engineer and DeSci investor at Orange DAO, a fund for crypto projects supported by an alliance of Y Combinator alumni.

On this episode of Boost VC, James joins us to discuss where he sees opportunities in DeSci, describing the benefit of publishing null results and how open science helps us get to the truth more quickly.

James explains how the Orange Fund and Orange DAO work together to finance crypto projects and shares his advice to scientist-founders on generating your own luck through action.

Listen in for James’ insight on the first use cases for decentralized science and learn how investing in DeSci can democratize access to research and help rebel scientist-entrepreneurs ship products in the real world!

Topics Covered

How James defines science

• Process to uncover truths about world
• Not an institution of truth

What attracted James to DeSci

• Benefits of publishing null results
• Less wasted science effort and money

How James got into crypto

• Exposed to Bitcoin in college
• Offers financial freedom to bet on self

How Orange DAO works

• $50M fund for crypto projects
• Y Combinator alum support efforts

James’ advice for founders

• Bias toward action
• Be willing to be wrong

Where James sees opportunity in DeSci

• Free flowing access to information
• Get to truth more quickly

What’s wrong with academic science now

• Research for prestige, not passion
• Value determined by citation numbers

How the Alzheimer’s fraud happened

• Conflict of interest at NIH
• No reverse accountability system

What inspires James to invest in DeSci

• Push boundaries of scientific research
• Help scientists build real products

James’ take on the first use case for DeSci

• Data warehousing (null results)
• New forms of publication open to all

James’ definition of success

• Time, space and resources
• Ability to do what you love

Connect with James Sinka

Orange DAO https://www.orangedao.xyz/

Orange DAO on Discord https://discord.com/invite/DVncb7UxGB

Orange DAO on Snapshot https://snapshot.org/#/orangedaoxyz.eth

Orange DAO on Etherscan https://etherscan.io/token/0x1bBD79f1Ecb3f2cCC586A5E3A26eE1d1D2E1991f

Orange DAO on OpenSea https://opensea.io/collection/alumni-gems

Orange DAO on Twitter https://twitter.com/OrangeDAOxyz

James on Twitter https://twitter.com/jamessinka  

Resources

Through the Wormhole https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1513168/

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

NEAR Protocol https://near.org/

Algorand https://www.algorand.com/

Blockchain Capital https://blockchain.capital/

The Memo by Howard Marks https://link.chtbl.com/thememobyhowardmarks

Multicoin Capital https://multicoin.capital/

Solana https://solana.com/

Exploring Decentralized Science with Balaji Srinivasan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrcRI_hYDtQ

Naval https://nav.al/

Brian Armstrong https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong

Epsilon3 https://www.epsilon3.io/

Benchling https://www.benchling.com/

Amplitude https://amplitude.com/

Sci-Hub https://sci-hub.se/

Patrick Joyce on the Boost VC Podcast https://www.boost.vc/bvc/2022/08/04/desci-ep-2-addressing-the-misalignment-of-incentives-in-science   

DeSci Labs https://desci.com/

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Under the current centralized system, drug development happens in silos. 

Pharmaceutical companies don’t share information. Scientists run the same failed experiments over and over again. And the process of bringing a drug to market typically takes ten-plus years. 

But Paul Kohlhaas and Tyler Golato are building a new way to do drug development. A system that allows for collaboration and dramatically increases the speed of breakthroughs in healthcare. 

CEO Paul and CSO Tyler are the Cofounders of Molecule, a decentralized biotech protocol that establishes a Web3 marketplace for research-related intellectual property. 

On this episode of Boost VC, Paul and Tyler join us to explain how their personal experiences with the failures of healthcare inspired their interest in changing the system. 

They discuss Molecule's end-to-end ecosystem for bringing drugs to market, describing how their IP-NFT both protects innovation and makes it more open, sharable and collaborative. 

Listen in for insight on Eroom's Law and learn how open science leads to enormous efficiency gains in the drug development process.

Topics Covered

How Paul & Tyler define science

• Empirical discovery of knowledge
• Progressive search for truth

What inspired Paul & Tyler’s interest in science

• Personal experience with failures of healthcare
• Potential for DeSci to foster new behaviors

Paul & Tyler’s failed experiment with crowdfunding

• Tried to raise money for microdosing study
• Partnership with University of Toronto

How Molecule has evolved since 2019

• Ecosystem for bringing drugs to market
• IP-NFT framework for collaboration

How to make scientists more open to sharing

• Improve user experience
• Streamline funding process

The power of Molecule’s IP-NFT framework

• Intellectual property rights held on chain
• Collectively owned by patients

The value prop for open science

• Creates enormous efficiency gains
• Makes drug development much cheaper

Jack Scannel’s naming of Eroom’s Law

• Technology to discover drugs improving
• Yet drug discovery output in decline

The goals for DeSci over the next decade

• Extend quality of human health span
• Make science self-sovereign, self-aware

How Paul & Tyler define success

• Remain true to values and vision for life
• Net positive impact on every person

Connect with Paul Kohlhaas & Tyler Golato

Molecule https://www.molecule.to/

Molecule on GitHub https://github.com/moleculeprotocol

Molecule on Discord https://discord.com/invite/uAGW7K4hQU

Molecule on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWYW5ho3L_d0EO_a619E7RQ

Molecule on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/molecule-protocol  

Molecule on Twitter https://twitter.com/molecule_dao

Paul on Twitter https://twitter.com/paulkhls

Tyler on Twitter https://twitter.com/GolatoTyler

Resources

Linum Labs https://www.linumlabs.com/

Molecule’s Crowdfunding Experiment with the University of Toronto https://www.molecule.to/blog/psychedelics-on-the-blockchain

NIH Grants and Funding https://www.nih.gov/grants-funding

Simon de la Rouviere on Bonding Curves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k4M6QAW2pM

Jack Scannell on Eroom’s Law https://refoundable.com/research/life-after-erooms-law-interview-with-jack-scannell.html

Meme Lordz https://memelordz.io/

North American Association of Technology Transfer http://aim.autm.net/

Ray Kurzweil https://www.kurzweilai.net/

Peter Diamandis https://www.diamandis.com/

Abundance 360 https://www.abundance360.com/summit

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The internet has given content creators of all kinds a way to monetize their talents. Writers have Medium. Teachers and vloggers have YouTube. 

But scientists don’t have a platform to earn money for their research. 

That’s why Dr. Jocelynn Pearl calls scientists the ‘unappreciated creator class.’ And that’s why she’s working to further the DeSci movement, leveraging Web3 technology to enable breakthrough research through better incentives.

A molecular and cellular biologist by training, Jocelynn serves as cofounder of LabDAO, a design marketplace for life science research, and host of The UltraRare Podcast, a show about the builders behind the decentralized science movement.

On this episode of Boost VC, Jocelynn joins us to explain how DeSci solves for speed of translation and communicates science better than existing systems, exploring how the movement might specifically facilitate breakthroughs around rare disease.

Jocelynn discusses how academia owns the best scientific minds without rewarding them appropriately and describes how DAOs offer alternatives to classic academic publishing and drug development.

Listen in as Jocelynn makes the case that scientists are the unappreciated creator class and learn how access to the right advisors and capital can accelerate the decentralized science movement.

Topics Covered

How Jocelynn defines science

• Process of exploring unanswered questions
• Conversation among people trained to be critical

How Jocelynn defines decentralized science

• Way of democratizing resources
• Communicate science better than existing systems

What inspired Jocelynn’s interest in DeSci

• Centralization of research inhibits progress
• Solve for speed of translation, cost reduction

How DeSci might facilitate breakthroughs in rare disease

• Explore drug development through DAOs
• Communication of collective knowledge

Leveraging DeSci to incentivize scientific research

• Change academic publishing through tokenization
• Allow patient group to co-own drug development

Why Jocelynn sees scientists as the unappreciated creator class

• Writers have Medium, vloggers have YouTube
• No platform for scientists to monetize content

What needs to change for scientists to be appreciated creators

• Activists like Seemay Chou who encourage sharing
• Alternative model to academic publishing

How academia owns the best minds (without rewarding them)

• Earn $30K/year working full-time in PhD program
• Does form you as scientist and provides network

How CROs address the lab space shortage

• Stands for contract research organization
• Farm out research can’t perform in-house

The challenges of establishing decentralized science

• Traditional academia and publishing will fight back
• Much work required to override existing system

What's stopping the DeSci space from accelerating faster

• Struggles to bring in advising and capital
• Working on projects outside day jobs

Jocelynn’s definition of success 

• Lasting change in scientific ecosystem
• Pivot how progress happens 

Connect with Jocelynn Pearl

Jocelynn’s Website https://www.jocelynnpearl.com/

LabDAO https://www.labdao.xyz/

LabDAO on Twitter https://twitter.com/lab_dao

LabDAO on GitHub https://github.com/labdao  

LabDAO on Discord https://discord.com/invite/labdao

UltraRare Podcast https://rss.com/podcasts/ultrarare/

Resources

A Guide to Decentralized Biotech https://future.com/a-guide-to-decentralized-biotech/

The DeSci Wiki https://www.jocelynnpearl.com/

Molecule Protocol https://www.molecule.to/

Ben Hills https://twitter.com/0xboodle

Vibe Bio https://www.vibebio.com/

Experiment.com https://experiment.com/

Arcadia Science https://www.arcadia.science/

Invisible College https://www.invisiblecollege.xyz/

Charles River Laboratories https://www.criver.com/

Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss on Boost VC EP102 https://podbay.fm/p/the-boost-vc-podcast/e/1606903200

Manhattan Project https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-manhattan-project

Thiel Fellowship http://www.thielfellowship.org/

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Only 1% of first year PhD students become research professors. 

This creates a hypercompetitive environment where scientists will do whatever it takes to get funding, even if that means tweaking statistical analyses to make their findings seem more significant.

But decentralized science is working to address this egregious misalignment of incentives and reward science done the right way. 

Patrick Joyce is the Cofounder and COO of ResearchHub, a Reddit-style forum that allows anyone to share, discuss and curate scientific papers—and earn ERC-20 tokens for doing so. 

On this episode of Boost VC, Patrick joins us to discuss the misalignment of incentives in science and describe the problem with using bibliometrics to determine who receives funding.

Patrick explains why decentralizing science is so important, exploring how DeSci will increase the adoption of open science practices and accelerate innovation in the space.

Listen in to understand how DeSci can pressure large academic journals to pay content creators for their work and learn how ResearchHub is leveraging Web3 to make capital available to scientists. 

Topics Covered

How Patrick defines science

• Pursuit of knowledge
• Verifiable results

What’s behind the replication crisis in science

• Hypercompetitive job market
• Quality judged by bibliometrics

Why decentralizing science is important

• Tweak analyses to maximize perceived impact
• Not honest, transparent or reproducible
• Only most cited scientists receive funding

Patrick’s take on the first breakthrough for DeSci

• Increase adoption of open science practices
• No longer career risk to share work in open

What drives Patrick’s conviction around DeSci

• Success not based on work ethic, intelligence
• Little innovation in drugs for mental health

How ResearchHub rewards quality science

• Allows anyone to share and discuss papers
• Earn ERC-20 tokens for participation

How Patrick builds trust in the scientific community

• Provide funding and publishing outlets
• Help meet goals of open science

What success looks like for decentralized science

• Paywall journals provide open access options
• Pay science content creators for work

Why the science incentive structure hasn’t changed

• Previous attempts not fundable
• Pirate organizations like Sci-Hub not legal

Patrick’s take on what makes publishers the enemy

• Responsible to own incentive to make money
• Charge scientists to publish, subscription fees

Patrick’s uniting purpose for the DeSci community

• Web3 offers ROI to invest in science
• Makes capital available to scientists

How Patrick defines success for ResearchHub

• Take power away from bibliometrics
• Create rockstar scientists who define culture 

Connect with Patrick Joyce

ResearchHub https://www.researchhub.com/  

ResearchHub on Twitter https://twitter.com/researchhub  

ResearchHub on Discord https://discord.com/invite/ZcCYgcnUp5

ResearchHub on Medium https://medium.com/researchhub

ResearchHub on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/ResearchHub/

ResearchHub on GitHub https://github.com/ResearchHub

Resources

Brian Armstrong & Patrick Joyce on The Sheekey Science Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FmhHLPrUIU

Clarivate Analytics https://clarivate.com/

OpenAlex https://openalex.org/

r/medicalstudent https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalstudent/

r/ImmunoPsychiatry https://www.reddit.com/r/ImmunoPsychiatry/

eLife https://elifesciences.org/

Open Science Framework https://www.cos.io/

Nature Neuroscience https://www.nature.com/neuro/

Chris Hill on Boost VC DeSci EP02 https://www.boost.vc/podcast

Authorea https://www.authorea.com/

F1000Research https://f1000research.com/

Sci-Hub https://sci-hub.se/

Stack Overflow https://stackoverflow.com/

Hindawi https://www.hindawi.com/

MetaMask https://metamask.io/

Fast Grants https://fastgrants.org/

Kaggle https://www.kaggle.com/

Connect with Boost VC

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