🧬Alfredo Andere - LatchBio: College Friends, Biotech Beginnings & Thoughtful Persistence (Part 2/4)
April 3, 2025
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"You will be surprised what you can achieve with thoughtful persistence."
In part two of our conversation with Alfredo Andere, co-founder of LatchBio, we dive into his transformative journey at UC Berkeley, where he developed a passion for machine learning and neuroscience. Alfredo shares how his persistence and curiosity helped him join the highly competitive Machine Learning at Berkeley club, which became a pivotal moment in shaping his entrepreneurial mindset. He reflects on the lessons learned from internships at Facebook, UCSF, and Google Brain, and how these experiences clarified his desire to pursue startup life over a traditional tech career.
Alfredo also recounts the early days of working with his co-founders on ambitious projects, including their first failed startup attempt, and how those challenges led them to explore opportunities in biotech. This episode offers valuable insights into navigating uncertainty, embracing trial and error, and building meaningful collaborations.
Key topics covered:
- The power of thoughtful persistence: How Alfredo's determination led to joining a top-tier student organization at UC Berkeley.
- Lessons from internships: Insights gained from working at Facebook, UCSF, and Google Brain—and why he ultimately chose startups.
- The importance of community: How Machine Learning at Berkeley shaped Alfredo's leadership skills and introduced him to like-minded peers.
- Early startup lessons: The challenges of building a product without understanding the market and the value of user research.
- Transitioning to biotech: How Alfredo’s passion for neuroscience evolved into tackling critical problems in life sciences with his co-founders.
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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Find our guest, Alfredo Andere, at these links:
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
Resources and articles:
Machine Learning at Berkeley (ML@B): https://ml.berkeley.edu/
Viktor Frankl's "Man’s Search for Meaning": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning
Neuralink Research Paper: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6914248/
Berkeley NeuroDust Project: https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2016/11/neural-dust/
TensorFlow by Google Brain: https://www.tensorflow.org/
AlphaFold 2: https://alphafold.ebi.ac.uk/
Companies, universities, & people mentioned:
Dyno Therapeutics: https://www.dynotx.com/
LatchBio: https://latch.bio/
Facebook (Meta): https://www.facebook.com
Google Brain (now part of Google DeepMind): https://research.google/brain
Neuralink: https://neuralink.com
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF): https://www.ucsf.edu
Kenny Workman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennyworkman
Kyle Giffin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylegiffin
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:28 College Friendships and Early Seeds of LatchBio
03:46 Joining Machine Learning at Berkeley: Challenges and Growth
07:01 Transformational Impact of Student Organizations
12:08 Running the Machine Learning Club at Berkeley: Leadership Lessons
18:14 Introduction to Neuroscience and Life Sciences
21:38 Internships at Facebook, UCSF, and Google Brain
26:36 Lessons from Early Startup Attempts
29:12 Dropping Out of Berkeley to Pursue Entrepreneurship Full-Time
32:05 Balancing Academic and Entrepreneurial Pursuits
33:11 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.