Hey {{first_name|default:there}}, it’s Vadim 👋
This week on the Bio Founder GPS podcast, I got to sit down with Elena Itskovich, PhD, Founding General Partner of Nest Catalyst.
For anyone that hasn’t checked it out yet, Nest Catalyst is an entrepreneurship program built specifically for scientist-founders making the leap from the lab into company creation.
Across several cohorts, Elena has worked with early-career scientists as they begin navigating all the pieces that rarely get taught in grad school or a postdoc: selecting a market, shaping a company story, finding mentors, thinking through IP, understanding fundraising, and building the confidence to build and lead.
What I appreciated about Elena’s perspective is that she sees founders at a very formative stage.
The company may exist, but the story is still taking shape. The science may be strong, but the first market or indication may still be uncertain. The founder may already be doing the work, but may not fully feel like “the CEO” yet.
That stage is messy, but it’s also where a lot of the important decisions happen.
What problem are you really solving? Where should the company start? How much of the academic path should carry forward, and what needs to change? When should you start talking to investors? And how do you know when you’re actually ready to raise?
This is exactly what we dug into, and I so appreciated Elena’s unique insights on what founders can do to move their sciences, and their companies, forward.
🧭 HERE’S WHAT WE COVERED:
Why scientist-founders may be more prepared for company-building than they realize
The shift from academic validation to founder ownership
How to think about opportunity selection, investor conversations, and fundraising readiness
What Elena is seeing in the current market around platforms, AI-bio, grants, and JPM
Why community matters so much in the early scientist-to-founder transition
And much more!
You can watch the full interview, or listen via your podcast platform of choice below.
Listen + subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / YouTube
And while you cue those up, here are a few ideas from the conversation that stuck with me 👇
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