Building Community in the Longevity Biotech Space (Nathan Cheng)

On today’s episode of Translating Aging, Chris welcomes Nathan Cheng, the program director at On Deck Longevity Biotech (ODLB), to discuss how ODLB is cultivating new founders and connecting people in the longevity biotech space. Nathan writes about the longevity biotech industry in his Longevity Marketcap Newsletter, is the founder of Longevity List which aims to connect job seekers, companies and investors in the longevity industry, and is on a self-professed mission to end biological aging, Today, he tells us about the purpose of ODLB, its achievements thus far, and the bridge it hopes to build in the longevity biotech industry.

Nathan begins the conversation by discussing what On Deck is and why the company was formed. He briefly narrates his journey in tech, what increased his interest in the longevity space, and the mission of the ODLB, as well as how the fellowship works towards creating founders. He goes on to discuss the obstacles many face when they get accepted in the fellowship and how ODLB works to reduce those obstacles by promoting face-to-face interactions. Also contained in this episode are brief interviews with ODLB fellows Brian Hodge and Gabe Warshauer-Baker.

Episode Highlights:

What is On Deck? Nathan’s journey in the longevity space On Deck Longevity Biotech’s (ODLB) mission The importance of connecting those in the longevity biotech space How mentors contribute in ODLB Does the startup culture reward extroverts over introverts? Getting into the ODLB fellowship Interviews with ODLB fellows Feats the ODLB has achieved The future of the longevity biotech space

Quotes:

“At a high level, On Deck is where people come to start and accelerate their companies. It's also a place where people start and accelerate their careers in the startup economy.”

“What makes On Deck unique is that it's a huge network of interconnected program communities. So we have communities centered around specific career goals.”

“ODLB’s mission is to increase the number of people working to build longevity biotech startups.”

“For some people coming from the scientific domain, this whole idea of networking is foreign to them or nebulous.”

“We're gonna generate new founders, but among the people who decide for whatever reason not to become founders, we also want them to be encouraged and empowered to be involved in longevity biotech in some other capacity.”

“Putting ourselves on the map for people who are interested in building longevity biotech, I think that is our greatest achievement so far. ”

“So I think just more efforts in popularizing this geroscience paradigm, you know, actually targeting aging, I think there's a lot to be done there as well.”

Links:

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Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast

BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com

BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs

BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn

On Deck Longevity Biotech Website

Nathan Cheng Twitter