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I built my own cell culture facility in order to complete the early-stage R&D necessary to start a biotech company. Here are the questions that land my inbox most weeks ⤵
Wait, you built your own lab? That’s crazy! How did you do that? ➡️ I previously built a lab while working at another early-stage startup. My husband had just finished building our house, so we figured a laboratory couldn’t be too much more challenging. ___ How much did it cost? ➡️ We spent ~14k USD (20k AUD) to establish the laboratory. It required some investment, but it was much less expensive than most people expect! Factors that helped us do a lot with a limited budget: 💵Performing some of the building work ourselves (e.g. dry wall) 💵Purchasing second-hand lab equipment 💵Claiming 43.5% of R&D spending back from the Australian government (very helpful!) ___ Why didn’t you just rent lab space? ➡ I live ~2 hours from Sydney. Because this is regional Australia, there are no rental lab facilities nearby. I wanted the lab nearby so R&D could happen seven days a week. ____ Weren’t regulations a pain? ➡ Regulations were less complicated than I expected, largely because I'm not working with genetically modified organisms or anything similar. I am sure these vary between countries. ____ What are you doing in your lab? ➡ I’m developing a chemically defined, animal-component free substitute for fetal bovine serum. I’ve achieved some exciting results with a variety of nutritionally demanding primary cell types and will be sharing more soon 🎉 ____ That’s so cool that you built a lab! ➡ Thanks! I'm super excited about it! ____ Happy to answer any other questions - or give advice if you're thinking about doing this too! ____ 👋 I’m building a biotech company and sharing some of the behind-the-scenes online, in the hopes of lowering the barriers to entry for other scientists interested in commercialization.
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I’ve spent over 15 years working in mammalian cell culture labs, so a few years ago, I was happy to transition away from the bench to a more management-oriented role. Being a people manager is a huge responsibility; you inevitably have a massive impact on the lives and careers of your direct reports - for good or for bad. I also gained a lot of satisfaction from assembling the ideal team; one whose individuals’ strengths and weaknesses complimented each other, so they could achieve goals at maximum efficiency. And so, I wondered whether “returning to the bench” as I start my own company might feel monotonous compared to the new challenges around team management I had been enjoying. I shouldn’t have worried. Today, I get a bit of a thrill whenever I enter my lab; I built this lab and I own the IP I’m generating here! It still feels like this crazy dream I’m living and as a result, something as simple as passaging cells feels really cool. __________ Outside of the lab, here’s what I’m learning from building: 1️⃣ Get your webpage up. Someone told me “Get a landing page up early, even if it’s not the most gorgeous landing page, because you’ll learn a lot based on how people interact with it.” So true - and it has been really motivating to get emails from folks from around the world, keen to eliminate their use of FBS. 2️⃣ Build relationships early. I’ve been in the early-stage startup world for a while; it’s a world where research pivots really fast. Those pivots don’t happen so quickly in academic and other industry labs, so it’s been encouraging to realise that I can and should start conversations with collaborators early. 3️⃣ Old habits die hard. Awareness of the traps you’re predisposed to fall into and a team that holds you accountable is critical. Here are some areas I improved in after holding an executive role at a startup company: ➡️ Spending money as needed to reach research goals ➡️ Owning how capable I am ➡️ Saying no Here are the traps I’m continually reminding myself to avoid now that I’m building my own company: ➡️ Being too frugal ➡️ Hesitating to vocalize big goals to others because I feel insecure ➡️ Spreading myself too thin An embarrassing amount of overlap 🙃 Thankfully, being aware of the traps I’m predisposed to fall into means my community knows what to hold me accountable on. With their help, it won’t be those traps that get me!  |
What's been happening?Sharing the Media City journey has been important to us because we want to encourage the next generation of scientists to establish companies that will advance scientific research. Check back regularly for the "building in public" updates on what it looks like to establish a scientific company. Archives
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