🧬 Why Most Biotech Startups Fail (And How to Survive Market Crashes) | Aaron Edwards (Part 2/4)

The Biotech Startups Podcast

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"You might not have developed it. You might not know where that is. But you're finding what that North Star is."

In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Aaron Edwards shares how a bold cold email launched him from Kentucky to a cutting-edge mRNA vaccine lab in Boston, setting the stage for a dynamic biotech career.

He explores the culture shock of city life, how curiosity fueled his leadership, and the key lessons learned navigating academia, big pharma, and nimble startups—ultimately revealing how market cycles, organizational models, and operational discipline drive innovation and resilience in biotech.

Key topics covered:

• The Power of Curiosity: Asking bold questions and staying curious drives growth and leadership.
• Academia vs. Industry: Adapting to the culture shock and pace of labs, pharma, and startups.
• Organizational Models: Big company structure vs. startup agility—what works, what doesn’t.
• Market Cycles & Resilience: Surviving booms and busts by staying lean and creative.
• Finding Your North Star: Embracing uncertainty to carve your own path in biotech.

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Subscribe to the Podcast:

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Find our guest, Aaron Edwards, at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aedwards02/

Website: https://www.kiragenbio.com/

Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

Learn more about Excedr:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

Website: https://www.excedr.com

Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:

Website: https://flow.page/kyojin

Resources & Articles:

DARPA and mRNA Vaccine Research: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4495566

HBS Case Studies: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/cases/

Novartis Vaccines and GSK Acquisition: https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-completes-major-three-part-transaction-with-novartis/

Moderna and mRNA Platform Companies: https://www.modernatx.com/power-of-mrna/modernas-mrna-platform

Eli Lilly’s Subsidiary Model: https://www.lilly.com/subsidiaries

Beyond the Square Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qUtBY69I5JkcePLLE7ZhS?si=763530aa44b74be2&nd=1&dlsi=8f4794eea21940a9

Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:

Bluebird Bio https://www.bluebirdbio.com/

Beam Therapeutics https://beamtx.com/

Verve Therapeutics: https://www.vervetx.com/

Novartis: https://www.novartis.com

GSK: https://www.gsk.com

Moderna: https://www.modernatx.com

Eli Lilly: https://www.lilly.com

Galit Alter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galit-alter-398184252/

Todd Suscovich: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-suscovich-65ba213/

Neela Patel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neela-patel-84b144/

Jacob Glanville: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobglanville/

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:36 Culture Shock: Moving from Kentucky to Boston

05:40 Landing in an mRNA Vaccine Lab via Cold Email

07:36 The Power of Passion and Finding Your “North Star”

10:57 Lessons from Academia: Knowing What Doesn’t Fit

14:44 Curiosity and the Disconnect Between Science and Business

19:30 First Industry Role at Novartis Vaccines

23:52 Big Pharma vs. Startups: Pros, Cons, and Organizational Models

24:33 Subsidiaries, Integration, and the Eli Lilly Example

27:43 Bluebird Bio and Beam Therapeutics: Platform vs. Focus

29:32 Surviving Market Cycles and Building Resilience

The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.