🧬 Steve Visco - PolyPlus - Part 3 | Government Grants | The Importance of Storytelling for STEM Startups | Venture Capital vs Non-Dilutive Funding | How To Gain Strategic Corporate Interest Domestically & Abroad

The Biotech Startups Podcast

Part 3 of 3.
My guest for this week’s episode is Steve Visco. Steve is the Co-founder, CTO, and CEO of PolyPlus. Before PolyPlus, Steve worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as a Principal Investigator, running several programs in the field of solid state ionics, developing an extensive patent portfolio, much of which has been licensed to industry.
Join us as we sit down with Steve to discuss how to stay true to your North Star when applying for and receiving government grants.
Steve also offers tips on how you should consider choosing your grants, offers guidance on writing the grants themselves, and doubles down on storytelling as core competency for STEM founders.
Learn more about his thoughts on when and why to choose VC investment over other options out there, the differences between generating corporate interest with US and international companies, and how to build an innovative team and culture that makes your job a place you want to go to every day. Please enjoy my conversation with Steve Visco.
Find Our Guest, Steve Visco, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-j-visco-2910b57/
https://polyplus.com/
Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com
Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:35 Episode start
03:18 Staying true to your North Star when utilizing government grants, dealing with auditing
05:28 Grants are inflexible, being careful when writing research plan proposals
06:26 Grant writing tips, the importance of a solid team, storytelling as a core competency
09:24 Remedying STEM programs’ lack of emphasis on writing, why communication is key
11:52 Choosing not to take venture capital, pros and cons of working with VCs, government grants for manufacturing (not just R&D)
14:39 The importance of Founders knowing their funding options, how to gain corporate interest
16:56 Government grants & the importance of your reputation, finding ways to differentiate yourself, government grants vs corporate financing
20:26 Differences between US & international corporate strategic collaborations, lack of startups abroad
22:34 Building an innovative team, employee retention, balancing the pace of hiring with the amount of onboarding required
26:44 Hiring methodologies, where to look for irreplaceable industry-specific talent, new considerations when advancing from R&D to manufacturing
31:08 Advice to younger self, choosing the uncharted path, having a job you want to go to
33:03 Shoutouts to those that have helped Steve along the way, building a good company
36:05 Outro
Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
Non-Dilutive Funding https://www.arkkapital.com/basics/non-dilutive-funding
Grant Funding https://www.excedr.com/resources/grants-public-funding-biotech-startups/
SBIR Grants https://www.excedr.com/blog/sbir-grants-guide/
ARPA-E https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPA-E
People Mentioned:
Rudy Hurwich https://hurwich.com/

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