LtM ep5 - Seth Bannon, Founding Partner at Fifty Years on How Science Startups Build the Future

Seth Bannon is the Founding Partner of Fifty Years, a $50m early stage deep tech fund.

Seth is a long-time advocate and campaigner, who turned to technology and investment to solve the world’s biggest problems around sustainability, food, and the digital divide.
A graduate of Y Combinator, Seth was named twice to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Social Entrepreneurship.
Seth believes business will be about more than just profit (more here), and Fifty Years has supported a range of startups shaping the world for the better — from microbe engineering for sustainable chemistry, to small satellites for low-cost global internet coverage, to clean meat.

This podcast is hosted by Benjamin Joffe, Partner at SOSV, a global early stage fund focused on deep tech. SOSV runs multiple accelerator programs including HAX (intelligent hardware) and IndieBio (life sciences). SOSV and Fifty Years have co-invested in several companies mentioned in this podcast such as Memphis Meats (clean meat pioneer, raised $181m), Geltor (synthetic human collagen) and Catalog DNA.

Episode Overview

In this episode, Seth talks about:

What prompted him to create a fund focused on the world’s biggest problems, and how its name relates to Winston Churchill’s prophetic 1931 essay titled Fifty Years Hence.
How Silicon Valley needs to go back to its roots: focusing on technology to lift all sectors — including food, industry and healthcare — to the digital age.
Why biology is having its ‘Internet time’.
The challenges PhDs face when they become founders to translate their research.
How magnetic, resourceful, resilient doers are founders with high potential.
His approach to opportunistic investments in deep tech.
Using publication research for initial technical due diligence in new domains.
The benefits of portfolio network effects.
Finally, we discuss the affects of the Covid-19 pandemic on venture, and the silver lining of how such an intense global events might give rise to major scientific advances in a compressed timeframe.

References Mentioned

Fifty Years Hence, a 1931 essay by Winston Churchill
The Fifty Years portfolio companies tackling Covid-19
Memphis Meats: clean meat pioneer, raised $181m.
Geltor: synthetic human collagen.
Catalog DNA: DNA-based data storage.
Astranis: smaller & low-cost satellites for global internet coverage.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (7 Seasons on Netflix)
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter

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