🧬 Purpose-Driven Innovation: Building Teams to Solve Biotech Problems | Bogdan Knezevic (Part 3/4)
"Until you experience a thing, you don’t know a thing. That’s something that bothers me a lot with the investor world-unless you’ve done it, you don’t really know what the grind feels like."
In this episode, Bogdan Knezevic, co-founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope, unpacks how hands-on experience-from the grind at Frequency Therapeutics to launching the Rhodes Incubator-shaped his passion for biotech startups and team building.
He shares the pivotal role of serendipity and authentic networking at Creative Destruction Lab and Entrepreneur First, which ultimately set the stage for founding Kaleidoscope. Bogdan dives into the challenges of innovating biotech R&D infrastructure, the importance of collaboration, and why tackling meaningful problems drives his mission in a rapidly evolving industry.
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"Until you experience a thing, you don’t know a thing. That’s something that bothers me a lot with the investor world-unless you’ve done it, you don’t really know what the grind feels like."
In this episode, Bogdan Knezevic, co-founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope, unpacks how hands-on experience-from the grind at Frequency Therapeutics to launching the Rhodes Incubator-shaped his passion for biotech startups and team building.
He shares the pivotal role of serendipity and authentic networking at Creative Destruction Lab and Entrepreneur First, which ultimately set the stage for founding Kaleidoscope. Bogdan dives into the challenges of innovating biotech R&D infrastructure, the importance of collaboration, and why tackling meaningful problems drives his mission in a rapidly evolving industry.
Key topics covered:
- Experiential Learning: Nothing beats firsthand experience in understanding biotech’s real challenges.
- Building Teams: Founding the Rhodes Incubator showed what truly makes teams thrive.
- Serendipity and Networking: Authentic outreach and chance meetings unlock major opportunities.
- From Academia to Entrepreneurship: The leap means tackling real-world problems that matter.
- Innovating Biotech Infrastructure: Kaleidoscope is digitizing R&D to speed up breakthroughs.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:00 Discovering a love for startups at Frequency Therapeutics
06:13 Launching the Rhodes Incubator and learning what makes teams work
08:01 Gaining startup know-how through student-run organizations
10:51 Building strong co-founder bonds and the value of team chemistry
13:38 Leading the AI stream at Creative Destruction Lab
17:31 Embracing serendipity and authentic networking
20:00 Helping launch Entrepreneur First’s Toronto program
22:35 Committing to start Kaleidoscope with longtime friends
25:41 Defining Kaleidoscope’s purpose and picking meaningful problems
29:34 Tackling biotech’s digital transformation and leaving paper behind
31:13 Shaping the future of biotech with next-gen product vision
34:55 Outro