🧬 Cycles, Conviction & Royalty Capital in Biotech Investing | Stephanie Sirota Rerelease (2/3)
July 13, 2026
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, host Jon Chee continues his conversation with Stephanie Sirota, Partner and Head of Strategic Partnerships at RTW Investments, as she reflects on her path from Lehman Brothers investment banking to macro hedge funds and ultimately biotech-focused investing and firm building. Steph shares how journalism training shaped her strategic thinking, what she learned from navigating multiple market crises, and how those lessons inform RTW’s approach to cycles, institutional architecture, and innovative funding models like royalty vehicles in today’s prolonged biotech bear market.
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"When you're at the top of your game, you have to change your game."
"When you're at the top of your game, you have to change your game."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, host Jon Chee continues his conversation with Stephanie Sirota, Partner and Head of Strategic Partnerships at RTW Investments, as she reflects on her path from Lehman Brothers investment banking to macro hedge funds and ultimately biotech-focused investing and firm building. Steph shares how journalism training shaped her strategic thinking, what she learned from navigating multiple market crises, and how those lessons inform RTW’s approach to cycles, institutional architecture, and innovative funding models like royalty vehicles in today’s prolonged biotech bear market.
Key Topics Covered:
- Sell Side vs. Buy Side: A clear breakdown of advisory banking, hedge funds, and fiduciary capital.
- Mentorship & Inflection Points: How candid feedback at Lehman unlocked Steph’s strategic strengths.
- Pivoting to the Buy Side: Institutionalizing a macro hedge fund and building firm architecture.
- Entering Biotech: Meeting Rod Wong, learning science in a slower era, and falling in love with the sector.
- Navigating Market Cycles: Dot-com, 2008, and today’s biotech bear market through a “steady hand” lens.
- Innovating Capital Structures: RTW’s royalty fund & non-dilutive financing for emerging biotech companies.
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Find our guest, Stephanie Sirota at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephsirota/
Website: https://www.rtwfunds.com/
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:
Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-kerr/legacy/9781472103536/
RTW Investments Royalty & Credit Strategy Overview: https://www.rtwfunds.com/royalty-and-credit
RNA Interference: Gene Silencing by Double-Stranded RNA: https://www.nature.com/articles/35079145
Global Financial Crisis Overview: https://www.imf.org/external/pubind/glofincrisis/
Dot-Com Bubble Background: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dotcom-bubble.asp
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:
Lehman Brothers: https://www.lehman.com
Columbia University: https://www.columbia.edu
Nestlé: https://www.nestle.com
PepsiCo: https://www.pepsico.com
L'Oréal: https://www.loreal.com
RTW Investments: https://www.rtwfunds.com
Valhalla Capital Management: https://www.valhallacapital.com
Goldman Sachs: https://www.goldmansachs.com
Davidson Kempner Capital Management: https://www.davidsonkempner.com
All Blacks (New Zealand Rugby): https://www.allblacks.com
FTC (Federal Trade Commission): https://www.ftc.gov
FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration): https://www.fda.gov
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:33 Journalism training, Lehman London & consumer M&A
03:30 What investment banking is vs. the buy side
05:57 Working with sell-side & prime brokers as a hedge fund
06:56 Feedback on being a “lousy” junior banker & discovering strategic strengths
09:55 Leaving Lehman, layoffs & pivoting to the buy side
12:09 Institutionalizing a macro hedge fund & firm operations
14:42 Joining RTW as the fourth team member & designing firm architecture
19:42 Meeting Rod Wong & entering biotech without a science background
23:18 Learning core modalities like RNA interference in a slower biotech era
26:34 Biotech bear markets, conviction & sector-specialist funds
29:16 Innovating RTW’s model with royalty funding in a down market
31:41 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.