🧬 Building Berkeley's $1B Innovation Ecosystem | Darren Cooke (Part 1/4)
"If you go down a road and then you realize, Ah, shoot. This was not what I expected, or Why am I doing this? you can do something else. Right? Yeah. Don't sweat it."
In this episode, Jon Chee interviews Darren Cooke, UC Berkeley’s Interim Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer, whose journey spans engineering cochlear implants, high-stakes patent law, and leading innovation at Berkeley. Darren shares how formative moments, career pivots, and mentorship shaped his approach to entrepreneurship, offering practical wisdom and behind-the-scenes stories from working with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to building collaborative biotech communities.
His multifaceted perspective inspires listeners to embrace change, seek hands-on experiences, and build networks that drive biotech innovation.
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🧬 How to Build Your Circle When You're Starting From Zero | Sandra Shpilberg (Part 4/4)
"If the door's not open, it's not open. I should only be walking through doors that are open. Why am I going to knock on doors that are closed?"
Sandra Shpilberg, Co-founder and COO at Adnexi, revisits her founder’s journey, sharing how setbacks and her son’s curiosity during the COVID-19 pandemic led to the launch of Adnexi, a mission-driven platform for biopharma.
She reveals lessons on navigating non-competes, collaborating with market forces, and building resilient teams, while highlighting the rewards and challenges of creating a lasting family business and intentionally cultivating a supportive circle for growth.
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🧬 No VC, No Problem: Building a Profitable Exit | Sandra Shpilberg (Part 3/4)
“There is something that happens when we create expectations that are actually realistic, that we have a chance to delight ourselves. And then that creates this motivation to keep going and be like, Oh, this is working out much better than I expected.”
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Sandra Shpilberg, Co-founder and COO at Adnexi, shares her remarkable founder’s journey, launching Seeker Health from her living room, landing her first customer on LinkedIn, and scaling a mission-driven startup without outside funding—all while balancing family life and navigating the emotional challenges of entrepreneurship and acquisition offers.
Her story challenges Silicon Valley myths, showing that pragmatic optimism, real customer traction, and staying true to one’s values can drive both personal and professional success.
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🧬 The $3B Patient Recruitment Crisis: Digital Solutions | Sandra Shpilberg (Part 2/4)
“If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, what was exciting at BioMarin was that we were doing new things, innovating and creating from scratch.”
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Sandra Shpilberg, Co-founder and COO at Adnexi, shares her journey from leading commercial launches at BioMarin to discovering the pivotal market gap in digital patient recruitment while at Nora Therapeutics—a realization that sparked her leap into founding her own company.
Her story weaves together the drive for innovation, deep patient connection, and the blend of professional ambition with personal priorities that shaped each career move.
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🧬 How Trauma Informs Purpose: Building Biotech Success | Sandra Shpilberg (Part 1/4)
"I walk around the world wanting to tell everyone that healing is possible. All types of healing are possible: physical healing, mental healing, spiritual healing. Healing is possible."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, we explore the remarkable journey of Sandra Shpilberg, Co-founder and COO at Adnexi, from her early childhood in Uruguay to becoming a serial entrepreneur in biotech. Sandra shares the profound experiences that shaped her leadership philosophy, beginning with her family's Holocaust survivor background and her grandparents' courageous decision to start over in a new country with nothing but hope.
Sandra opens up about the defining moments that forged her resilience - from a traumatic accident at age four that sparked her lifelong belief in healing, to her family's immigration to Brooklyn when she was 16. She describes navigating American education without knowing English, watching her parents rebuild their careers, and her own journey from Wall Street to Wharton to discovering her true calling in biotech during a transformative internship at Genentech. The conversation reveals how these experiences instilled the entrepreneurial mindset and fearless approach to starting over that continues to drive her success.
The Biotech Startups Podcast by Excedr features weekly conversations with founders, scientists, and investors driving biotech innovation. Host Jon Chee dives into the challenges of building biotech startups, from pre-seed to IPO. New episodes every Monday and Thursday.
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