Kitchen Biology
07/03/12 14:42 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Submitted by S. Pelech - Kinexus on Wed, 03/07/2012 - 14:42.
The NOVA short video on the extraction of DNA and spinning it on a glass rod reminds me of an encounter that I had with a venture capitalist (VC) about a decade ago. This individual initially had a bachelor's degree as a geologist and later became a leading partner in a venture capital firm that was one of the major financiers of the biotechnology industry in Canada. The main problem was that the person had not actually taken any formal training in the life sciences. To rectify this deficiency, the VC decided to take a 3 day crash course in biotechnology that was offered in Seattle. The highlight of this course that was recalled by the VC was isolating and winding DNA around a glass stirring rod. It was frightening that this individual had control of the investment of over $100 million dollars of funding into biotechnology companies for more than 10 years and served on the board of directors of several of these firms. What is even more unsettling is that after more than 20 years of dealing with VC's in Canada, it is painfully evident to me that this lack of expertise is actually quite a common occurrence within the VC community. I am not surprised that the performance of the biotech industry in Canada has been relatively poor in view of who decided which companies should be funded and who ultimately controlled these companies by pulling on their purse strings.
Link to the original blog post.
The NOVA short video on the extraction of DNA and spinning it on a glass rod reminds me of an encounter that I had with a venture capitalist (VC) about a decade ago. This individual initially had a bachelor's degree as a geologist and later became a leading partner in a venture capital firm that was one of the major financiers of the biotechnology industry in Canada. The main problem was that the person had not actually taken any formal training in the life sciences. To rectify this deficiency, the VC decided to take a 3 day crash course in biotechnology that was offered in Seattle. The highlight of this course that was recalled by the VC was isolating and winding DNA around a glass stirring rod. It was frightening that this individual had control of the investment of over $100 million dollars of funding into biotechnology companies for more than 10 years and served on the board of directors of several of these firms. What is even more unsettling is that after more than 20 years of dealing with VC's in Canada, it is painfully evident to me that this lack of expertise is actually quite a common occurrence within the VC community. I am not surprised that the performance of the biotech industry in Canada has been relatively poor in view of who decided which companies should be funded and who ultimately controlled these companies by pulling on their purse strings.
Link to the original blog post.