🧬 Issue #16: Hat Trick Founder Turned GP
Shahram Seyedin-Noor, Pomona's 3x founder, biotech expert, and now GP
💬 Welcome to issue #16 of Between the Lines
Two incredible star-studded Pomona founders, more exciting job opportunities for those a part of the Great Resignation, and some tips for how to align your passion and career! Grab your coffee, dig into another issue of BTL, and get out there and enjoy this beautiful, October Thursday ☕ 🍂
~ Miles & Josh
👤 Community Spotlight: Shahram Seyedin-Noor
Shahram Seyedin-Noor is a Pomona College alumnus, along with his twin brother. After graduating from Pomona, he spent over half a decade in investment banking and VC law before making the transition to the startup world. He was a founding executive at NextBio and then co-founded another company, GraphDive, which was eventually acquired by Sociable Labs. Shahram completed his hat trick and went on to found a biotech company called Inspirna (originally Rgenix), where he stayed for seven years as CEO and later Executive Chairman - the company has now raised $100M. After his successful serial founder experience, Shahram took his industry expertise and founded his own micro venture capital firm in 2017 - Civilization Ventures. They are currently a three-person team with 47 portfolio companies (47...and a Pomona alumnus...coincidence?) and currently have over $50M under management. He’s an expert in synthetic biology, biotechnology, and digital health, and he was kind enough to share some of his experiences and wisdom with Between the Lines!
You had a unique legal and financial background before jumping headfirst into the start-up world as a founding CFO. You aren’t alone though amongst the ranks of Claremont alumni with these types of backgrounds who are start-up-curious but may not know how/when to make the leap. How would you counsel someone with your background today, who is interested in a pivot to the start-up world, but doesn’t know where to start?
Hone your craft to obtain differentiated expertise. Honing your craft takes time. I started with an econ degree from Pomona and then a law degree from Harvard. After I graduated from Harvard, I knew I wanted to really master my craft of business - from operations, to negotiations, finance, legal, etc. - everything short of working in the lab - so that when and if I started a company down the road, I could add value from day one. I didn’t want to just join a startup as a general business guy; I wanted to be able to have a real impact and provide value if I was going to enter the startup scene. So, I spent three years in investment banking, primarily at Goldman Sachs, and four years as a startup/ VC lawyer (not in that order). After those seven years, I was confident I had the hard skills to make myself valuable to any enterprise, even a super early stage one. Skills like financial modeling and analysis, marketing research and competitive analysis, and financing and M&A deal structuring. Gaining these hard skills gave me the confidence and value-add I needed to make the jump to the startup world. If you want to join a startup, make sure you have a valuable skill set to add to the team.
The Claremont Colleges are deeply investing in STEM resources for current students through the Keck Sciences Center and other initiatives. It seems like there are so many innovations in the industry that it’s tough to know where to start! If you were a student or a recent graduate today, what are the most exciting ‘waves’ in the biotechnology industry to consider surfing at the beginning of their career and why? And what is a space or sector that you believe to be a ‘red herring?’
Right now, there is an exciting revolution happening with AI and how it’s been able to accelerate the analysis of life science data, including radiology scans, cancer detection, and many others. Next-generation DNA sequencing and synthetic biology are experiencing accelerated advancements that are going to change humanity. We are in the middle of this fundamental shift that will be at least as important as what happened with software and the internet and mobile - but it's happening in biology, healthcare, agriculture, etc. This shift is being accelerated by next-gen sequencing, genetic engineering, AI, and CRISPR all converging together.
My other advice to any recent grad that thinks they might want to be a player or founder in the life sciences….keep learning! It is a really intriguing, but also difficult industry to get into that requires in-depth domain knowledge to be in.
When you hear Claremont - what comes to mind. Can you share some of your favorite memories and what you loved about being a Claremont alumnus?
Too many memories to count! I loved living in Pomona’s Oldenborg international dorm and heading over to the dining halls to the conversation tables to practice Spanish, German, and Persian. I also have so many fond memories of my experience at the CMC debate union and attending the Athenaeum dinner talks. I still remember going to Harvey Mudd’s campus at midnight, before Pomona had their own 24-hour computer labs, and using my high school friend’s password to crash into their computer rooms and use their amazing Macs (all named after Star Trek characters) in order to finish my assignments. This was back in ‘92 and I didn’t have my own personal computer. But I did have my floppy discs. Those were the days!
Read the full article down below to hear more about how Shahram got his start in the startup and VC world 👇
🚨Claremonster Call-Out: Jemel Derbali
Jemel Derbali didn’t mess around after he graduated from Pomona with a Political Science and Government degree. Immediately after graduation, Jemel went to Harvard to get his J.D. and then jumped headfirst into the startup scene. In 2014, he helped co-found Wise Systems, one of the many impressive Claremont startups out in Massachusetts. Wise Systems is an Autonomous Dispatching and Routing solution that empowers operations teams and drivers to improve fleet efficiency and customer service, seamlessly adapting to the everyday challenges they encounter. Cloud-based with machine learning, Wise Systems is an all-in-one platform. And, they recently just raised an exciting $50M Series C to accelerate global adoption of autonomous last-mile delivery solutions. Cheers to Jemel and the Wise Systems teams 🥂
💼 Who’s Hiring?:
The housing market continues to be as hot as ever as new members continue to flood into the market. Houzz is capitalizing and in a perfect spot at a perfect time! Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve or design their homes from start to finish. If you are interested in joining Vedant Jaitha (CMC) and the Houzz team, check out these open roles:
A high-profile Claremont alumnus is joining Rethink and wanted to make sure to share an exciting opportunity with the Claremont community! They are hiring for a new Analyst for the Rethink Education Fund. Email us here if you are interested in hearing more.
Interested in web3 development? Want to join a team of successful founders? Michael Houck is a friend of Claremont and the Co-Founder of LaunchHouse, a community built to connect and support the world’s most ambitious entrepreneurs and creators. They are hiring for the following roles:
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🗣️ Conversations on the interwebz:
This week’s top read 🔥
Curious about how to align your purpose and career? Dig into this advice by social impact expert and founder of MAG Impact Collective, Zach Weismann (CMC)
Everything else you need to know….📖
Make sure to read this article on entrepreneur and bitcoin pioneer, Josh Jones (HMC)! 🤔 Thanks for sharing, HMC!
Congrats to Sam Corcos (CMC) and Levels for all the incredible work they have done in one year since their Seed round with a16z!
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🤤 BTL Snacks:
🎉 Truly the end of a 45-year era….. After an incredible career, Henry Kravis and George Roberts step down as CEOs from KKR
💸 Still have some stimmy money you’re looking to invest?….. Hear why Matterport, founded by Michael Beebe (HMC), might be the most exciting technology stock today
🏥 NOCD is helping people reclaim their lives with clinically proven OCD treatments….. Find out more about Stephen Smith’s (PO) company and their $33M Series B
🦑 Newsletters today are incomplete without mentioning Squid Game….. Hear what Professor Albert Park (CMC) has to say about the show (and the candy) in an interview with NY Times
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