🧬 This Ex-Googler Replaced a Whole Drug R&D Team | Javier Tordable (4/4)
July 30, 2026
In this part of the podcast, Javier Tordable unpacks why he left Google to solo found Pauling AI and how its agentic platform automates computational chemistry—from docking to ADMET—collapsing months into days.
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"We not only run agents that do the computational chemistry for our customers, but we run agents for building our own systems."
In this part of the podcast, Javier Tordable unpacks why he left Google to solo found Pauling AI and how its agentic platform automates computational chemistry—from docking to ADMET—collapsing months into days.
Javier walks through building a company alone with AI: filing patents with LLMs, writing sales processes, and running agents to build the systems customers depend on. He and Jon dig into why human-written communication will command a premium and how biotechs use Pauling to run screens faster.
Looking ahead, Javier outlines a vision for unbiased AI that explores targets and modalities—small molecules today, peptides and antibodies tomorrow—in autonomous loops measured in days, not years.
Key Topics Covered:
- Leaving Google to Found Pauling AI
- Automating Computational Chemistry with Agents
- Solo Founding in the Age of AI
- Agents Building the Builders
- Go-to-Market Realities
- Physics-Based Multi-Modality Vision
- Economics Over Pure Science
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Find our guest, Javier Tordable at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtordable
Website: https://www.pauling.ai/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee/
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
AlphaFold 3 for drug discovery: https://alphafoldserver.com
OpenAI Agents and Agentic Workflows: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/agents
Schrödinger computational drug discovery platform: https://www.schrodinger.com/platform
Solo Founder's Journey: Building with AI: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6f-building-a-solo-startup
Economics of Pharmaceutical R&D (KFF): https://www.kff.org/rx-drugs/issue-brief/explaining-the-prescription-drug-pricing-process/
Agentic AI for Multi-Modality Drug Design (Nature): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02371-6
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:
Google: https://www.google.com
DeepMind: https://deepmind.google
OpenAI: https://openai.com
Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com
Apollo: https://www.apollo.io
Clay: https://www.clay.com
ZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.com
ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io
HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com
Wellcome Sanger Institute: https://www.sanger.ac.uk
American Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.org
Endpoints News: https://endpts.com
STAT News: https://www.statnews.com
Linus Pauling: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1954/pauling/biographical/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:00 Knowing When to Leave Google
07:26 Solo Founding Pauling AI
08:11 Early Days Doing Everything
09:24 Solo Founding in the AI Age
10:53 Building With LLMs and Agents
14:20 Voice Agents and Human Latency
17:06 Premium on Human-Crafted Work
20:24 Regulation and Human Doctors
25:13 China Economics Disrupting Innovation
29:04 Pauling Platform and Go-to-Market
36:33 AI Objectivity Versus Human Bias
38:59 Status Quo Comp Chem Workflows
43:36 Modality Optionality and GLP-1s
51:54 Shoutouts and Best Advice
55:59 Outro
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.