🧬 How Open-Source Programming Teaches Company Building Skills | Sujal Patel (Part 1/4)
March 2, 2026
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Sujal Patel — co-founder and CEO of Nautilus Biotechnology and former founder and CEO of Isilon Systems — takes us back to his upbringing in suburban New Jersey, where his engineer father and an older brother's love of computers set him on a path toward a life in tech. From self-teaching programming on a budget Apple II clone to building operating systems from scratch at the University of Maryland and contributing to the FreeBSD open-source project, Sujal's early career was defined by curiosity and bold moves — none bolder than demanding his boss's job just three months out of college at RealNetworks, a decision that nearly turned out very differently thanks to one unanswered phone call.
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“Get out in the world. You wanna go do something yourself. Be entrepreneurial. Go solve problems out in the world.”
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Sujal Patel — co-founder and CEO of Nautilus Biotechnology and former founder and CEO of Isilon Systems — takes us back to his upbringing in suburban New Jersey, where his engineer father and an older brother's love of computers set him on a path toward a life in tech. From self-teaching programming on a budget Apple II clone to building operating systems from scratch at the University of Maryland and contributing to the FreeBSD open-source project, Sujal's early career was defined by curiosity and bold moves — none bolder than demanding his boss's job just three months out of college at RealNetworks, a decision that nearly turned out very differently thanks to one unanswered phone call.
Key Topics Covered:
- Roots of an Entrepreneurial Mindset: How growing up as the son of Indian immigrants and the son of an engineer shaped Sujal's drive, work ethic, and ambition
- The Inflection Point: How his brother's love of computers and a budget-friendly Apple II clone sparked a lifelong passion for programming and technology
- University of Maryland: Building operating systems and compilers from scratch, contributing to the FreeBSD project, and blending computer science with early entrepreneurship coursework
- Landing at RealNetworks: How open-source connections led to his first job offer and why a vibrant Seattle beat Silicon Valley for the young graduate
- Demanding the Corner Office at 22: How Sujal asked for his boss's job three months into his career, negotiated an equity package, and managed a team of 40-year-olds fresh out of college — and how not leaving a voicemail changed the entire course of his life
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Sujal Patel at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patelsujal/
Website: https://www.nautilus.bio/
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:
How Open Source Contributions Can Launch Your Career: https://opensource.net/freebsd-steady-shifting-open-source-world/
Hypergrowth: Strategies for Scaling a Startup: https://ekoicentre.com/articles/hypergrowth-hacking-strategies-to-scale-your-startup-rapidly-2/
The Dot-Com Boom and the Rise of Streaming Media: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble
Proteomics and Single-Molecule Analysis: https://www.nature.com/subjects/proteomics
Nautilus Biotechnology Unveils Voyager Platform https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/02/24/3243473/0/en/Nautilus-Biotechnology-Unveils-Voyager-Platform-Enabling-Single-Molecule-Iterative-Mapping-at-US-HUPO-2026.html
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
RealNetworks: https://www.realnetworks.com
Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com
Isilon Systems: https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/storage/isilon.htm
Ericsson: https://www.ericsson.com
Bill Pugh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billpugh
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:15 Growing Up as the Son of Indian Immigrants in New Jersey
07:12 How a Brother's Love for Computers Sparked a Lifelong Passion
09:52 Learning to Code: Books, BASIC, and the Franklin Ace 1000
11:26 Choosing University of Maryland for Computer Science
13:54 Early College Life and the Arrival of High-Speed Internet
15:15 Building Operating Systems and Compilers from Scratch
18:05 Contributing to the FreeBSD Project
20:46 Landing the First Job: How FreeBSD Led to RealNetworks
24:10 Early Days at RealNetworks and Moving to Seattle
27:56 Demanding His Boss's Job at Age 22
32:05 Managing 40-Year-Olds Three Months Out of College
34:56 Lessons from Scaling RealNetworks from 100 to 1,000 People
37:40 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.