From Lab to IPO: Dr. Stephen Squinto on Building Iconic Biotech Companies

**Jordan Fliegel** (Co-CEO of Shareholder Ventures, 5x Founder, Ex-Techstars MD) unpacks his journey from professional basketball benchwarmer to serial entrepreneur—and why he’s now helping others **buy profitable businesses** instead of starting them. **🗝️ HIGHLIGHTS YOU CAN’T MISS:** - **The $5M SBA Loan Hack:** How to acquire cash-flowing businesses with 80-90% debt (even without personal capital). - **"Pizza Dinner Growth Hacks":** How being his own first CoachUp coach + bribing coaches with pizza scaled a marketplace. - **Pro Sports → Startups:** NBA-level teamwork drills for hiring talent who outshine you. - **Why He Quit Venture Capital:** "Buying boomer-retiring businesses beats startups for 99% of entrepreneurs." - **Brutal Founder Truths:** "If you need nights/weekends totally free? **Don’t be an entrepreneur.**" **🔍 For:** First-time founders, burnt-out VCs, bankers, operators & anyone eyeing the $10T small-business transfer wave. 👉 Follow Honestquo for unscripted talks with builders.

From Barcelona to Wall Street — Dr. Josep Bassaganya-Riera’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary. A veterinarian-turned-immunologist, he went on to found multiple biotech companies, take Landos Biopharma public, and lead one of the only private biotech firms with a Phase 3 asset in IBD.In this episode, we dive deep into:How Josep transitioned from academia to biotech entrepreneurship (Landos and NImmune)Raising capital in a tough biotech marketThe art of picking the right bankers for an IPOBuilding alignment with investors & the buy sideHow AI and computational immunology are reshaping drug discoveryThe lessons he learned taking a company from paper to IPO to acquisition

Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff — the Mexican American molecular biologist whose breakthrough insulin gene cloning changed medicine forever — shares her trailblazing journey. At 78, she reflects on:🔬 Pioneering the Biotech Revolution:• The cutthroat race to clone insulin in the 1970s (and the blizzard that almost derailed it ❄️).• How her team’s work birthed Genentech & Biogen — and transformed diabetes treatment worldwide.💼 From Lab to Boardroom:• Why she left Harvard to lead a startup (and mortgaged her house to save it).• Lessons on resilience: "In business, rule #1 is: Don’t run out of money."🌍 Truths on Diversity & Aging:• Why diversity isn’t "nice to have" — it’s essential for scientific breakthroughs.• Her take on immortality: "Humans shouldn’t live forever. Children bring the new ideas."• The future of biotech: AI’s role, inflammation research, and tackling Parkinson’s.A masterclass in reinvention from a woman who refused to be boxed in — by academia, age, or expectations.#Biotech #WomenInSTEM #Insulin #Aging #DiversityInScience #StartupLife #ScienceHistory

📍 Ex-HBS professor Thales Teixeira (consulted for Netflix, Airbnb, Facebook) reveals why startups don't need revolutionary tech to dominate markets. Learn:• The "Decoupling" secret behind Uber/Airbnb's rise 🚘• How customers—NOT tech—actually disrupt industries• Why your startup should solve "ugly" problems first• MBA myths & when NOT to hire consultants• Attention-economics in the TikTok eraFrom eye-tracking at Harvard to AI startups - get frameworks that rewrite business rules.

In this episode of The Honestquo Venture Podcast, we sit down with Lacey Wismer, founder of Hunter Search Capital and one of the most experienced voices in the search fund ecosystem. She shares her journey from growing up in a small business family in Minneapolis to raising her third search fund. We dive into what makes a great searcher, red flags investors look out for, how deals fall apart, and why long-term thinking and self-awareness are essential in ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition). Lacey also shares insights on AI’s early impact in operations, underrated metrics, and lessons learned from both family office and institutional investing. If you’re even thinking about raising a search fund, this episode is essential listening.📍 Topics Covered:Lacey’s path from Stanford to launching Hunter Search CapitalWhat investors look for in a searcher (and red flags to avoid)The real reasons deals fall throughHow search has evolved beyond elite MBAsMetrics that matter (including why SAM > TAM)Advice for anyone exploring ETA

Dr. Stephen Squinto — co-founder of Alexion, early Regeneron scientist, and now biotech investor at J.P. Morgan — reflects on a 40-year journey in biotech. He shares what it was like to build Alexion from scratch, lessons from clinical failures, how to spot undervalued technologies, and what most founders get wrong.We talk about the evolution of biotech from the 1980s to the AI era, the realities of drug development, and what makes a great founding team. Honest, practical, and rare insight from someone who’s done it all — from the lab bench to global scale.

In this episode, Justin sits down with Jared Holz, Managing Director and Healthcare Equity Strategist at Mizuho, to unpack the brutal truths and bright spots in today’s biotech and healthcare markets. Jared shares candid takes on why biotech has underperformed for over a decade, the dominance of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the GLP-1 space, and what it’ll take for M&A, AI, and Alzheimer's advances to move the needle.This is a fast-paced, insight-rich conversation from one of Wall Street’s most respected healthcare strategists-essential listening for biotech operators, investors, and IR professionals.Highlights include:Why biotech indices are brokenGLP-1s: Obesity, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular upsideM&A trends: Who’s getting bought, and whyHow Big Pharma views China dealsThe reality behind AI in drug discoveryTips for biotech IR and C-suite commsWhat retail investors keep getting wrongThe looming $400B patent cliff opportunity

Big Pharma’s about to lose $200 billion in drug revenue — and the race to replace it is reshaping biotech worldwide.On this episode, Robert Darwin, Senior Partner at global law firm Sidley Austin, joins us to explore:Why pharma’s writing massive M&A checks againHow China is emerging as a leading hub for drug innovationEurope’s strengths—and where it still needs to catch upWhat’s stalled IPO markets — and what could kickstart them againWhere the new biotech funding is really coming from (it might surprise you)Plus: Robert offers his straightforward insights on FDA developments, pricing politics, and why today’s science feels straight out of “Star Trek.”If you’re in biotech, finance, or just curious about the industry’s future, this conversation is for you.🎧 Hit play now and stay ahead of the curve.

How do you build a high-value life science tools company that investors want to back—and acquirers need to buy? Dr. Mike Stadnisky, former CEO of Phitonex (acquired by Thermo Fisher) and FlowJo (acquired by BD), shares battle-tested strategies for...✅ Pitch decks that work – Why TAM/SAM/SOM slides are irrelevant (and what to replace them with)✅ Investor psychology – How to structure your cap table for alignment (and avoid dilution traps)✅ Commercialization hacks – Why "get on a plane" beats another Zoom call for critical deals✅ The Thielsen Capital filter – What makes his syndicate write checks (and what gets 600+ startups rejected)If you're raising for a tools, diagnostics, or research tech startup, this is your playbook for moving from science project to scalable business—without wasting years (or equity) on the wrong path.

We discuss her journey into Cendana, discussing fund manager due diligence, portfolio construction, LP investing strategies, and more.