Guest: Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks
Almost everyone in the second generation of biotechnology entrepreneurs, says Ginkgo Bioworks CEO Jason Kelly, works in that field because of one thing: Jurassic Park. The Michael Crichton novel-turned-Steven Spielberg movie captured both the wonder and beauty of bioengineering, and the challenges of bending DNA to your own ends. “You didn’t invent biology,” Jason says. “You need to have humility in the face of it ... because life will find a way. It will do things you don’t expect. It’s not a computer.”
In this episode, Jason and Joubin discuss the Wall Street rollercoaster, designer cells, the history of biotech, Herbert Boyer and Genentech, ChatGPT, extinct flowers, Sam Altman and YCombinator, first principles thinking, compounding risk, Patrick Collison, super-voting shares, capital intensive businesses, Pets.com, and why biology is like “freakishly powerful alien technology.”
In this episode, we cover:
Links:
#112 Former President at Tesla / CEO of DVx Ventures, Jon McNeill: First-Principles
#111 Founder and CEO Whoop, Will Ahmed: Unlocking Optimal Human Performance
#110 Former CRO / Advisor at Notion, Olivia Nottebohm: Grow Fast or Die Slow
#109 Co-founder and CEO, Databricks Ali Ghodsi: The Difference Between Truth and Data
#108 COO Zscaler, Dali Rajic: If You’re Not Always Learning, You’ll Get Wiped Out
#107 Founding CRO at Flexport, Ben Braverman: The Power of Genuine Curiosity
#106 Co-founder & CEO Sweetgreen, Jonathan Neman: The Restaurant Company of the Future
#105 AOL Founder & CEO Revolution, Steve Case: The Rise of the Rest
#104 Co-founder of Intuit, Scott Cook: The Power of Paradigms
#103 Founder & CEO Productboard, Hubert Palan w/ Ilya Fushman: Chasing Perfection
#102 CEO Qualcomm, Cristiano Amon: We’re In a Hurry to Get to the Future
#101 CEO Google Cloud, Thomas Kurian: Competitor-Aware and Customer-Obsessed
#100 Chairman of Kleiner Perkins, John Doerr: Getting Into Trouble with Disruptors
CEO Touch the Top, Erik Weihenmayer: Climbing Everest Blind
Co-founder and CEO G2, Godard Abel: Finding Opportunity in Challenging Times
Founding CRO @HubSpot / Prof @HBS / CoFounder @Stage 2 Capital Mark Roberge: The Science and Psychology of Scaling
CMO Canva, Zach Kitschke: From Employee Number 5 To $40 Billion Valuation
Founder & CEO Freshworks, Girish Mathrubootham: Success Is In the Big Things, Happiness Is In the Small Things
CMO Riot Games, Jason Bunge: Change Is Inevitable, Get Used To It
Co-Founder & CEO Charm Industrial, Peter Reinhardt: “All That Matters Is What the Customers Are Telling You”
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Reaching your Goals
Insights@work
Business Dad
The Wall Street Skinny
The Ken Coleman Show