The Boost VC Podcast

Ep.94: Funding Biotech with Conscious Capitalism (to Save the World)—with Arvind Gupta

Episode Summary

The old way of doing capitalism is about making money in the short term, and that way of thinking has caused a lot of destruction. But some venture funds are taking a new approach and deploying capital in a way that is net beneficial for society in the long term. So, how do we leverage this new kind of conscious capitalism to support the biotech companies that are making the world a better, more sustainable place?

Episode Notes

The old way of doing capitalism is about making money in the short term, and that way of thinking has caused a lot of destruction. But some venture funds are taking a new approach and deploying capital in a way that is net beneficial for society in the long term. So, how do we leverage this new kind of conscious capitalism to support the biotech companies that are making the world a better, more sustainable place?

Arvind Gupta is a Partner and at Mayfield Fund, a venture capital firm that operates under a framework of conscious capitalism. Arvind is also the Founder and Venture Advisor at IndieBio, the world’s largest biotech accelerator, where he invested in 136 companies in five years and grew a portfolio worth $3.2B. Arvind has been a guest lecturer at UCSF, MIT and Harvard, and he is the coauthor of the forthcoming book, Decoding the World: A Roadmap for the Questioner.

Today, Arvind joins us to share his mission to help scientists create companies, explaining why access to equity is more important than capital and what we can do to address the trending economic inequality. He discusses the connection between social revolution and new technologies, introducing us to the idea of conscious capitalism as a way to make an impact AND create better returns. Listen in for insight around the challenges of scaling a bio-related startup and learn how Arvind is working to deploy the capital necessary to build the technology that will save the world.

 

Arvind’s work as the founder of IndieBio

The connection between revolutions and new technology

Arvind’s philosophy on the way we view animals

The benefits of replacing meat with lab-grown food

Why Arvind sees COVID as the Great Accelerator

What we can do to correct neo-feudalism

How Arvind is engaging in conscious capitalism

 

Arvind’s insight on the idea of designed humans

 

What’s different about funding a bio-related startup

 

What inspired Arvind’s transition to Mayfield

 

Connect with Arvind

IndieBio  https://indiebio.co/

Mayfield Fund https://www.mayfield.com/

Arvind on Twitter https://twitter.com/arvndgpta

 

Resources

Arvind on Boost VC Podcast EP034 https://theboostvcpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/f2db5d9c-d3c4f571

Decoding the World: A Roadmap for the Questioner by Po Bronson and Arvind Gupta https://www.amazon.com/Decoding-World-Questioner-Po-Bronson/dp/1538734311

IDEO https://www.ideo.com/

Memphis Meats https://www.memphismeats.com/

Finless Foods https://finlessfoods.com/

New Age Meats https://www.newagemeats.com/

George Church’s Woolly Mammoth Revival https://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/

Khan Lab School https://www.khanlabschool.org/

Navin Chaddha’s Post on Conscious Capitalism https://www.mayfield.com/conscious-capital/

‘China’s CRISPR Babies’ in the MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/12/03/131752/chinas-crispr-babies-read-exclusive-excerpts-he-jiankui-paper/

The Martian by Andy Weir https://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/0553418025

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History https://www.dancarlin.com/

Yik Yak https://www.linkedin.com/company/yik-yak-inc-

Tim Chang at Mayfield https://www.mayfield.com/team-member/tim-chang/

Ursheet Parikh at Mayfield https://www.mayfield.com/team-member/ursheet-parikh/

Mammoth Biosciences https://mammoth.bio/

 

Connect with Boost VC

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