Marwa Louati - Following the Data to Innovation

Founder's Voyage · Jul 11, 2024

Transcript

SPEAKER_00

00:00:00

I know it's hard to change your field, your path, or your previous dreams. It's scary, but please be sure that embracing change is not only perfectly fine, but also a source of personal growth. Your journey is dynamic, and it's okay to have multiple passions, switch field, and pursue new dreams. As you evolve over the years, your experience makes you more mature and well -rounded. it. So fiercely explore new paths, because when you love what you do, and follow your passions, your potential of achieved greatness becomes limitless.

SPEAKER_01

00:00:54

Our featured speaker today has a PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry and has brought her expertise in genetics, immunology, biochemistry, protein, I'm going to say that wrong. Proteomic. Thank you. And imaging to contribute to many research projects throughout the world. She also recently co -founded a company called MO2 focused on investment management in Tunisia

SPEAKER_01

00:01:26

and Africa. Marwa, it's a great pleasure to have you as our featured guest today. Thank you so much for being willing to share your journey with us.

SPEAKER_00

00:01:35

Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. So

SPEAKER_01

00:01:39

I was wondering if you could kick us off just talking about how you discovered kind of your love for science and biology and biochemistry in particular, like how early did that start for you?

SPEAKER_00

00:01:54

Okay, so as a young child, I faced a challenging experience when my mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was only seven years old. And tragically, she passed away when I was 13. This experience left a profound impact on me and sparked a deep desire to make a difference in the field of healthcare. So I was determined to contribute to the fight against diseases, which initially led me to aspire to be a medical doctor. My journey towards a career in medicine took a significant turn as I learned that researchers played a crucial role in drug discovery and making groundbreaking contribution to medical science. So I guess from a young age, I started to be so passionate about science. I remember actually in high school, whenever our teacher brings a science exam, for me it was so exciting. It's like getting a Christmas gift or something. So I was very, very passionate about science from a young age. Then I decided to pursue a PhD in molecular biology and immunology. I was driven by the hope of finding solutions to combat illnesses and prevent other families from enduring the same pain that mine did. So during the final year of my PhD, I met a founder of a startup. I was doing a part of my PhD at Cambridge University, UK, and I've met a founder of an IT startup and he proposed that I start working with them and introducing life science to the startup. And I liked the idea. I've never like thought about entrepreneurship at that point. I only thought about like doing research, finish my PhD, do a postdoc and than work as a researcher in a big pharma company. But I did like, I embarked on the pivotal experience by joining this startup. This experience exposed me to the entrepreneurial world and allowed me to translate my scientific knowledge into tangible projects and AI -based platforms for drug repurposing and discovery,

SPEAKER_00

00:04:21

witnessing the real world impact I could create in such a short time was immensely gratifying. It marked the beginning of shift toward entrepreneurship for me. My passion for entrepreneurship grew even stronger during the MIT boot camp. This program completely changed my life. It gave me the knowledge and more importantly, the confidence to start my own venture and pursue new, much bigger dreams.

SPEAKER_03

00:04:52

Thank you so much for sharing that. I think it's very interesting, the of, at least for me, the world of engineering and the world of entrepreneurship have some lessons that are very similar, like work hard, focus on things that are innovative and interesting, but also things that are quite different in that in entrepreneurship, you try and think about things in a way that allows you to rapidly prototype and test and develop and pivot and change things quite a lot. In engineering, you have sort of more of a, I want to have a very, very deep understanding before I start to take too many steps forward. Do you find there's similar things in regards to the difference between the scientific world and the entrepreneurship world?

SPEAKER_00

00:05:38

Actually, in the scientific world, it takes a long, long, long, long to make an impact or to come up with something, you know, even if you create, if you find like a molecule that can be effective for like a certain disease or something, it takes at least 10 years to put it on the market or to, to actually make an impact with it at least. But, uh, with the entrepreneurial world and with the AI now and being able to use like, um, scientific like peer reviews that are there for like years and valorize that data into something that you can make an impact with right now. So that's actually what I liked because for me as a researcher, we do a lot of research and we never like in the universities, they only like talk to you about research and publishing articles. So our, uh, let's say biggest dream is to publish in like a good journal and that's it. Like once you publish, okay, I achieved that next. I'm going to do something like another research or go to another research lab to do something new.

SPEAKER_00

00:06:54

So we don't know how actually to use what we found because for us, it's like, um, very complex. But if you actually mix that with the entrepreneurship, you can come up with something impactful and big and it can be made quickly. So when I was a scientist, I've never thought about like, OK, this research that I'm doing now, it's going to be it's going to make a great impact in the future because it was in the very far future. And and never thought about that. So I only thought about, okay, this research is going to be published in a good journal. And that was like the biggest dream.

SPEAKER_00

00:07:37

But now you can actually use that research and many other researches, because there are like great research that have been done that you can find in peer reviewed articles that is not authorized at all, and it's a waste. So there should be like a bridge between both. And I believe like this way, researchers can make a bigger impact if they actually valorize their data or their research.

SPEAKER_01

00:08:10

I really like how you explained the connection as you see it in your mind, too, about how how the entrepreneurial mindset, if you will, sort of like helped you think about research and having so much experience, you know, from the look of it in different research projects at universities throughout the world. I was honestly just curious if there was like, you know, a favorite memory of a project or study that stood out for you. Is there a particular area, and also if you want to tell me, as a layperson, what proteomics is, I'd be grateful for that too.

SPEAKER_00

00:08:56

Okay, so for me, the best project that I've worked on are the projects related to my field like genetics, because we're working on two different startups right now that are related it to genetics. And it's just like so fulfilling for me to be able to contribute with my knowledge and my expertise in this particular startup, especially we have like one startup that's working on precision medicine, which is like, I believe it's very, very important to do that, especially in Africa and Tunisia, because according to many scientific articles, the African genome is 80 % more diverse than any other genome makeup. And to have medications that are more suitable

SPEAKER_00

00:10:04

for this genome makeup is very important as now we are like using, because in the whole research there is only 3%, 0, 3 or 3, I'm not sure. I need to go back to that. But like very small percentage of the African genome in the research. So actually the medications and treatments that we are using right now are not very suitable for our genome makeup. So, I believe it's very important to work on that in Tunisia. So, we have a startup working on that and I'm very passionate about it and I'm really happy to be part of it. And we have another startup also working about like the valorization of our country in Tunisia, which is a very important case for me because when you say argan tree in general, I don't know if you know that tree argan, you extract argan oil from argan oil. So when you say argan oil worldwide, side, everyone thinks directly of Morocco, of course, because argan oil, argan trees are in Morocco and everyone imports argan oil from Morocco. But the argan tree is also endemic to Tunisia, but it's not valorized at all. No one is using it. No one is extracting extracting oil from it. We're actually importing argan oil from Morocco every single day. Even so, if we valorize this, we can have a huge impact socially, economically, and ecologically. So there is a startup working on this right now, and I'm very passionate about this too. Concerning proteomic, it's the study of proteins. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

00:12:06

The study of proteins. Now, could I Can

SPEAKER_03

00:12:08

ask, you've recently co -founded M02, and from what I hear, you're hitting the ground running, already collaborating with several startups and a number of significant projects. Can you talk about how the vision that inspired the company and how you decide to focus on investment management in Tunisia and Africa?

SPEAKER_00

00:12:32

So,

SPEAKER_00

00:12:33

when I started my first company, BioInnovate, I realized that investment and fundraising is a very complicated and important part in Tunisia, and a lot of startups are struggling with that because they work with a few programs that can help them fundraise or help them develop their project, but then they get like a small amount and they don't know what to do with it, or they don't know how to fundraise after that. And a lot of startups just fails after like a small period from starting in Tunisia. So it's very important to know how to manage how to like use the investment and how to find investors. That's why I started this company because actually I learned something very important from the MIT boot camp that you should see problems as business opportunities all the time. And I saw this problem as a business opportunity. I see a lot of companies doing this in Tunisia. So I decided to start, especially that I have a lot of startups and a lot of people with amazing projects in need of this particular solution. And I've made good connections with a lot of investors worldwide. So I thought that I had everything I needed to start something that can help startups and project owners manage that, find and manage the investment.

SPEAKER_01

00:14:17

The totally makes sense to me now. Yeah, that's, I mean, it's a common problem that we see all over the world. But I mean, congrats to you for, you know, wanting to actually tackle

SPEAKER_01

00:14:30

it, even though it's not like your first love, maybe, you know, like, it's a connected piece to it. So that's really amazing that you're, um, so in addition to co -founding MO2, I know you're also a founding member of, is it R2I?

SPEAKER_00

00:14:49

Yeah. Association? Okay. It actually empowers a researcher to industrialize their work and innovate effectively. So, R is for research, I for industrialization, and the other I is for innovation.

SPEAKER_01

00:15:13

Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_00

00:15:15

Like, as I said earlier, like researchers do their research, like they have a very important and valuable amount of data, but they, their only like objective is to just like make an article out of it. And we're trying to help them through this association to see that they can do much more with that.

SPEAKER_01

00:15:37

I thought that was incredible to, you know, to read, like, the mission, helping researchers kind of industrialize their research and drive innovation and try to facilitate discussions with ambassadors and successful business leaders. I was wondering, like, how does that work out in reality? How would you say?

SPEAKER_00

00:16:02

That's actually the CEO club. It's another association. Oh, okay. Okay, all right, my confusion. That's fine. Okay. Yeah, I'm a member

SPEAKER_01

00:16:13

of a - Well, maybe, yeah, maybe you can tell us what the difference is then. And I do apologize for that and, you know, the value you see in spending time in both. But I was honestly going to ask you, like, how does that work in reality? I can't imagine it's easy to get all of these, you know, busy scientists together and actually do this.

SPEAKER_00

00:16:42

Yeah, for the site, for the RNI, we always like organize events in universities, like private or public, with researchers, and we encourage them to do a presentation about like the work that they are doing. And then we come up like with ideas how to help them industrialize and use their data in something much bigger than just like an article. For the CEO club, it's actually an exclusive network of CEOs in Tunisia. It has like all the CEOs of like startups and companies in Tunisia, almost all. And we organize events, collaborate with ambassadors, and learn from successful business leaders. And we help them make a bigger network and collaborate with each other. So that's actually the CEO Club.

SPEAKER_03

00:17:47

Wow. I mean, it sounds like you have your fingers in so many different interesting projects and associations and different ideas. That does beg the question though, how do you go about like work -life balance, getting your own time when you need it? What's your sort of strategy in regards to that?

SPEAKER_00

00:18:07

So to be honest, I'm a workaholic. I prioritize work a lot, but since I love what I do, I'm passionate about what I'm doing, so I don't consider it as work. I enjoy what I'm doing so much, and sometimes I lose track of time when I'm working. But I try to maintain a healthy work -life balance, but also living alone gives me the the flexibility to structure my time in a way that aligns with my goals and interests. So, I try to dedicate a focused blocks for work, allowing me to be productive and accomplish tasks efficiently. But outside of work, I try to allocate time for reading and pursuing hobbies, like piano lessons, dance lessons, swimming, scuba diving, and yeah.

SPEAKER_01

00:19:11

I'm so glad to hear that you make time for balance because, I mean, recharging your batteries is an essential part of, you know, being at peak performance, too. And it's clear that you're giving so much of yourself to so many different things. But I also, as we were kind of talking about at the beginning, saying, was curious what drew you to boot camp? It seems to me like you have all these different experiences. So was it that there was something you were trying to gain from it? Were you just hoping to meet some interesting people? And then also, have you found any

SPEAKER_01

00:19:51

of the tools from the disciplined entrepreneurship framework particularly useful to you since?

SPEAKER_00

00:19:57

So, attending the MIT Bootcamp was a pivotal choice, aligning with my quest for knowledge and my passion for entrepreneurship. The disciplined entrepreneurship framework not only provided me with valuable tools, but also instilled a mindset that has significantly influenced my approach to building and scaling my company. I always say that the Bootcamp actually changed my life. I mean, before attending the bootcamp, I just wanted to enhance my skills to be able to be a better in the startups I was working with. But after the bootcamp, it completely changed my vision. And I was mentally and professionally, let's say, ready to start my own thing. So directly after the bootcamp, I started my own company. I mean, too bad for the startup I was working with, but that's a good thing for me. And the bootcamp contributed in that.

SPEAKER_03

00:21:04

That's excellent to hear. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

00:21:07

I find as you, like the entrepreneurial journey, you go from sort of a view where you're very excited about it and you're very interested in it, but maybe you don't have the skills that you need and maybe don't know the people that sort of have the skills that you need. How do you go about finding sort of people, when you're talking to people who maybe have an interesting offer or interesting proposal with you, how do you tell if this is a group or a team that you want to work with versus when you find that you have to say no for other reasons?

SPEAKER_00

00:21:44

You mean like the people I work with like as my team or the people I collaborate with like startups?

SPEAKER_03

00:21:52

In both scenarios. So like when you're collaborating with someone, there are certain skills that maybe you'd be looking for or traits or anything that you've seen and found that these are really good aspects of people that you really want to work with versus scenarios where you're like, maybe we aren't super compatible. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00

00:22:11

Um, yeah, so, uh, actually, um, when I work with people or when I, um, like choose the startups that I'm going to work with, I try to be, um, 80 % rational, 20 % emotional, uh, about my choices. So, um, I always like, uh, ask very specific questions to the people I try to work with and try to know as much as I can about them.

SPEAKER_00

00:22:41

Because for me, like collaborating with someone or having like a team members in the company is like marriage. It's like very, very important. And you need to make the right decision to work with certain people. And actually this was the most pivotal lesson I learned in the Paramount is the Paramount importance of selecting the right team. Actually, this decision is not just fundamental, it's absolutely critical, as it can profoundly influence the future of your business. So what I believe is that you can possess

SPEAKER_00

00:23:23

the most brilliant concept or idea, but without a dedicated, capable and cohesive team and the right people to work on it, It's like having a ship without a crew to sail it. So on the other hand, even if you have a very average idea, it can turn into something extraordinary when you have a supportive, passionate and deeply evolved team by your side. These individuals actually can breathe life into the concept, adapt and iterate and work tirelessly to transform an ordinary idea into an incredible successful reality. So I believe that it's very, very, very important to select the people you're working with. And this is like from my own experience, you can fail if you don't take this, like if you take this lightly, because choosing the team might be the most important thing in the thing in starting a business.

SPEAKER_01

00:24:34

Very well articulated. And I appreciate the analogies too. I mean, that sort of how we came up with Founders Voyage, you know, that because you're right, the team that you're driving the boat with is very important. The crew, I should say, I was a little bit laughing to myself when you said you try to be 80 % rational and 20 % emotional. When you have that mastered how you do that, can you let me know? Because I'm working on that. Trying to separate those two things can be really tricky when you're working on something that you're passionate about.

SPEAKER_00

00:25:16

Yeah. I mean, especially when choosing team members, a lot of like my colleagues, they tell me that I'm too rational sometimes because, uh, they always like, I see like a lot of people, I don't know if it's the same abroad, but here in Tunisia, a lot of people want to work with family. And I don't think that's a good idea. I, uh, time, like one time we were working on a project related to aquaculture and my brother actually has a master in aquaculture and they were like, why don't you include your brother in this? And I'm like, I don't think he's a good candidate for this. They were like, he's your brother. So he's my brother, but I don't think he's a good candidate for this. So I kept looking and I found that perfect person for that project. And he was not my brother and they found that very, very weird, but I

SPEAKER_00

00:26:06

tried to be rational because choosing the right team is very, very important. And making a startup successful is not only for me, for, for the people who's going to work on it. So it's not only depending on me or my happiness or my impact, it also depends on theirs. So I try to be rational about that, about my choices.

SPEAKER_01

00:26:26

Hello all, I hope you're enjoying this episode. I want to ask you, our listeners, if you could give us a review in your podcasting platform of choice. We don't have sponsors and we don't run ads, but we are looking to grow. So if you feel we bring value to your listening experience, please drop us a review when you get a chance. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_01

00:26:50

And I do find it really, I appreciate you sharing that. I do find it really interesting that it's, you have other people encouraging you to include your family. I do think that that is definitely a culture difference. While there are definitely family companies here, I think in the U .S. we see that as like an older way of thinking because it's very common for, you know, families to kind of go in different directions. And I think it's thought of as charming when it's a small business, but maybe dysfunctional if it's like a large corporation where a family is still sitting at the top, and it's not run by a diverse board of directors.

SPEAKER_01

00:27:44

But if anyone else wants to share in the questions and discussion chat, I wanted to go back to some of your other projects and experiences because you have so many. When I initially reached out to you, I saw that you had recently joined BioInnovate, spelled with an A, which I think is cute. And was wondering, you know, what led you to be interested in like a company builder organization? Because when I read what they actually did, I was thinking it was going to be like a biotech company. but can you sort of take us through how you decided you wanted to be part of that organization? Also, how did they decide which companies they want to build?

SPEAKER_00

00:28:38

So for BioInnovate, I actually, I was like co -founder, but also head of the department. So it's actually, it's like there is a bio group in Tunisia and it's a market leader and they work on a lot of health care projects. So owner or the founder of the bio group actually asked me to start this company together, which will be like a company among the bio company, bio companies, bio group. So, and I just like,

SPEAKER_00

00:29:16

I finished my bootcamp at that time and I was eager to start something new. And wanted, like, what I loved during the bootcamp is that they see all problems as business opportunities. And actually, that was what inspired me to help, like, new companies start their projects or people with, like, certain ideas to start like a new project from scratch. So, in BioInnovate, I was deeply involved in fostering startups by providing comprehensive support from developing their business model, conducting market research and assembling compatible teams to creating the startup itself. But what sets us apart from other companies like incubators or accelerators is that we dive into the technical aspects as well. So we had like a whole IT team, and we can even make the platform, work on the algorithms and everything.

SPEAKER_00

00:30:30

So we actually create the company with you, for you. And I found that very inspiring. And I wanted to start it and I thought I can do it well.

SPEAKER_03

00:30:44

Wow, that's awesome. That's really, really And I like that you take that deep dive into the technical side of the company or the problem that you're trying to solve. I think that brings a lot of authority to the company builder. One thing I did want to dig into, and this is something we like to dig into with a number of entrepreneurs during these Saturday sessions, is if there were any times that you had to make a major pivot or deviation from your plan, how you went about that decision and if you do anything different now.

SPEAKER_00

00:31:21

Actually, as I said earlier, I pivoted a lot from my original plan. So my academic journey culminating in a PhD in molecular biology, I had actually two masters also, one in genetics and one in environmental engineering. It has been, this has been instrumental in shaping my foundation of knowledge and analytical skills. However, it was when I fell in love with entrepreneurship that I truly found my calling. So while immersed in the world of scientific research, I discovered my passion for entrepreneurship and it completely changed my trajectory of my career. This realization was a profound moment by the way from what I initially envisaged for myself. So I decided to pursue this newfound passion wholeheartedly. So this transition has been a journey of personal and professional growth, and it has affirmed my belief that one's true fulfillment lies in following their passion. So actually, I want to say to whoever can benefit from this, that I know it's hard to change your field, your path or your previous dreams. It's scary. But please be sure that embracing change is not only perfectly fine, but also a source of personal growth. Your journey is dynamic and it's okay to have multiple passions, switch field and pursue new dreams. As you evolve over the years, your experience make you more mature and well -rounded. So fiercely explore new paths, because when you love what you do and follow your passions, your potential of achieved greatness becomes limitless.

SPEAKER_01

00:33:22

Do you have something, you know, like kind of a guiding vision or a philosophy, kind of like what you just shared, that you go back to that helps you decide, you know, which big life choices to make in personal life or in professional life or in both?

SPEAKER_00

00:33:41

Yeah, so my guiding vision and philosophy revolves around embracing the hunch concept, a term beautifully elaborated by Luis Perez Breva in his book on innovation.

SPEAKER_00

00:33:52

So it signifies that intuition and instincts, often referred to as a hunch, can be a powerful compass in decision -making process. Personally, I found that trusting my instincts coupled with my deep passion for entrepreneurship and science has led me to the most fulfilling life choices, both professionally and personally. So this philosophy encourages me to follow my intuition, take calculated risks, and pursue opportunities aligned with my vision and values. So I encourage everyone to read that book, by the way, because he talks a lot about the hunch and how he takes, like, how it helps, like, take important decisions in your life and you should trust it when you're, like, trying to make a decision about, like, big changes or big decisions to

SPEAKER_03

00:34:54

make. That's awesome. Thank you. I'll definitely look that up. Can you give us an example of when you sort of applied this philosophy and how you sort of, how you knew to trust the feeling and then applied it?

SPEAKER_00

00:35:08

So actually, after finishing my PhD, I got the opportunity, I also did, I actually did an interview with Edinburgh University for a postdoc. So it was between, uh, like coming back to Tunisia, starting, uh, something from scratch or continuing my path and my dreams that I, uh, like, um, I drew for myself from a long time ago from when, when I was in high school, I guess.

SPEAKER_00

00:35:38

So it's either between going to Edinburgh university and do the postdoc or shift or pivot completely to entrepreneurship. And that's when I applied this. So I trusted my hunch and now here I am doing what I'm doing and I don't regret it at all actually. So I'm very, very happy that I trusted my hunch in choosing this path.

SPEAKER_01

00:36:04

That's such an encouraging story too, especially going back to what you're saying about, you know, balancing the rational and emotional sides of you. I'm a little bit selfishly curious about that for you, too. Have there been some times, I feel like the emotional side of me gets in the way sometimes? Do you, you said, you know, that some people you've worked with have told you that, you know, they've said you're a little too rational. Have there been any decisions where you look back and you're like, you know, I feel like I've learned since then to balance this better?

SPEAKER_00

00:36:45

I mean, when I talk rational, it's like, because I saw a lot of people in different companies in Tunisia, where, for example, they work with families and friends. And if that family member or friend, they are not like they don't have any added value and they are not working at all in the company, then it's okay because they're a family member or friends. For me, I won't tolerate that. That's why I work actually with friends right now, but I know they're added value and I know that they can add something to the company and they can contribute. But I don't work with other friends that I love them so much as friends, but I don't want them to be in the company because I know that they won't have added value, same as family. So when I say rational, I mean that I think of the company and the people working in the company before thinking about me and what I think of that person.

SPEAKER_03

00:37:47

Absolutely, that makes a lot of sense. I think there can definitely be people in your life that you love dearly and who bring a lot of value to you as a person, but maybe aren't appropriate for

SPEAKER_03

00:37:57

business you're trying to build or would have different visions to what you're looking for. So I totally understand that point. Now, I think we've talked a lot about your past and what you've done to lead up to where you are now. And we've talked a bit about where you are at the moment. I'd like to hear a little bit more about the future for you. What do you see, say, say, five or 10, whatever time period you prefer, years from now being what you want to be doing and what problems you want to be solving.

SPEAKER_00

00:38:33

So I envision scaling my current company to a higher level, expanding its reach and impact across Tunisia and Africa. I aim to further develop our investment management services, nurturing startups and impactful projects. Additionally, I plan to deepen my involvement in supporting researchers through the R2I Association, fostering innovation and industrialization of their research. Also engaging with the CEO club will continue to be a priority, aiming to organize impactful events and initiatives that bring together business leaders for collective growth and development.

SPEAKER_01

00:39:20

And is there any, you know, like passion project, like problem that you haven't had an opportunity to solve that's in your mind that you want to work on in the future? Because clearly you're a person that's really good at thinking about, you know, all sides to the equation.

SPEAKER_00

00:39:39

So actually the project that I've been thinking about, like, I want them to make an impact. and I want them to be successful are the two projects that I already talked about. One related to personalized genetics, which is still, as I say, a baby project. It's still new and we're trying to make it successful and scale it.

SPEAKER_00

00:40:00

Also the project about AlgenTree because it's very important also to me and I'm sure that it can make a great impact in Tunisia. So my focus now are on these two projects And I guess I want to solve these two problems in Tunisia and Africa.

SPEAKER_03

00:40:21

As goes through their entrepreneurial journey, one of the things that tends to change is someone's leadership style. I know you're doing a huge amount of amazing things, but you're still relatively early in your entrepreneurial journey. me. Have you noticed any changes to how you manage people and, you know, provide leadership capabilities in the projects that you're working on and the startups that you're working with?

SPEAKER_00

00:40:51

Yeah, actually, at the beginning, I started working with my team, like, they are like, so they're free to do to work whenever they want. They have like flexible hours, they they work from home or come to the office. They have like tasks to do. So I don't care if they do them like in two or three days or they do them the whole week. So they have like flexible hours, flexible time, flexible life in the company. But then I realized that this approach doesn't work with everyone. I mean, I found that a lot of people are not being serious about it. They don't complete tasks like with good quality. Sometimes they just leave everything to the last day and then they rush it and it's not like a good output that they gave.

SPEAKER_00

00:41:56

So, I changed that a little bit, but I tried to give flexibility to the profiles that this works for them. And for the new ones, they need to come every single day to the company. They have like fixed hours. And then when I get to know them better and I see if this approach will work with them, then I apply it to them. So it's not applicable to everyone now. It's different from person to another.

SPEAKER_01

00:42:26

That makes a lot of sense. And, you know, continuing kind of our discussion about people. I was wondering, you know, we've talked about, you know, having family be part of your company. And I was also remembering a couple of weeks ago we had

SPEAKER_01

00:42:42

someone talk that said, you know, definitely do not work with your friends. You know, but I also know that there are so many, you know, pieces of advice and books that talk about how you really need a culture fit beyond just the resume. So I was wondering, do you feel like there are any, like, is there a set list of characteristics that a successful founder needs to have, like as a person, you know, whether they're a solo founder or whether they're part of a team, or do you think it's more subjective? And I know we're getting philosophical here, so there's no right or wrong answer. I'm honestly just curious.

SPEAKER_00

00:43:30

SPEAKER_00

00:43:31

guess for me, like being a founder, you need to be rational. You need to think about the company more than thinking about yourself and your emotion. You need to think about the impact that you are going to have on the people working in the company and on the field that you are working on more than thinking about the impact on you and the money that you're going to get from the company. So I guess you need to be rational and you need to be not selfish, I guess.

SPEAKER_00

00:44:13

Those are the most important characteristics, I would say.

SPEAKER_03

00:44:17

Absolutely. Thank you very much. I really appreciate that we've sort of been able to dig deep into a lot of these sorts of topics around your perspectives on team members, on an entrepreneur, on yourself and your vision and things like that. Excuse me. We tend to talk about, or because it's such a massive event, we have in the past talked a lot about COVID and about the impact it's had on a lot of different people and their entrepreneurial journey. I imagine given your area of expertise, it may have had a very large factor in regards to different areas that you were looking at. Is that the case? Do you find that the biochemical biomedical field has sort of changed a lot since the COVID pandemic?

SPEAKER_00

00:45:15

So actually, I started both of my companies after the COVID pandemic. And I was actually and involved in the first startup when the COVID pandemic started. And since it was like an IT company and then I introduced the healthcare net and we focused on the COVID at that period. So it actually was beneficial for us because we focused on COVID and we participated in a program in Japan and we were selected the top 10 out of 2 ,700 companies. And we were all the news and we got like a big prize and everything. So actually I would say the COVID was beneficial for us in that way. And it was an IT company. So we worked from home, all of us at that time. So it did not impact our work negatively. And I started my two other companies after the COVID, so it did not have any impact on us.

SPEAKER_01

00:46:24

That's kind of an amazing story in a way. And I really, you know, appreciate that you're able to keep your work going because, I mean, it's definitely crucial. I really like your mission of making sure that the African genome shows up in more studies. And this is not like something I've asked people really commonly, but like, if they're as someone that was like part of a research study for Novavax, I don't know how they find participants for studies sometimes, but if you or another team you know, is looking for participants on the African continent that might be something that some of our network is actually interested in participating in. So just throwing that out there because I definitely feel like that's really important and actually our conversation has made me think of another boot camp alumni that if you don't know her already. She does sex specific research. So I think you might find her, you know, interesting to talk to as well. But thank you for sharing so much of yourself today, like personally and professionally. I'm just kind of wrapping up our discussion. I was wondering what words of wisdom you might want to leave us with. So it doesn't have to be anything, you know, crazy. This could just be a favorite quote, advice someone else gave you, or just a lesson that you've taken away from your journey so far.

SPEAKER_00

00:48:13

Um, I guess the two most important things that I can share are the first one, don't be afraid to change, to pivot or to change your dreams or to follow a new passion. The second thing is be very, very, very careful when choosing your team members, because it can either make your business very successful or it can completely destroy it. So be very careful with who you choose. Consider it like marriage, exactly.

SPEAKER_00

00:48:52

And, uh, also, um, when starting a company, the beginning is always very, very hard, but it's exactly like, uh, I would say it's exactly like the gym. When you start the gym, it's very, the first few days are hard, but then if you keep working and keep giving it the attention it needs, then you will see like a good results at the end. So, don't give up with the first problem or failure you find, just keep working hard. Choose the right team members to encourage you to keep going and never be afraid of failure and always take risks, calculated ones.

SPEAKER_03

00:49:41

That's the rational side, the calculated risks, definitely.

SPEAKER_03

00:49:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

00:49:45

Absolutely

SPEAKER_03

00:49:45

agree with that. Thank you so much for coming on today. And thank you so much for all of your shorts and feelings that you've shared with us and taught us about today. For anyone who wants to, say, ask any questions or follow up with you on something, do you have a preferred way for people to connect with you?

SPEAKER_00

00:50:04

LinkedIn. I am always responsive on LinkedIn. Excellent.

SPEAKER_03

00:50:08

I think Nancy might have already, I could be wrong, but might've already put your LinkedIn on the questions and discussion channel, but we'll link that afterwards.

SPEAKER_03

00:50:19

We had a lot of people joining today. So obviously, thank you so much everyone who joined us for this discussion today. We really appreciate people who come in and bring their perspective and listen to the discussions. Nancy and I and the whole team behind Founders Voyage feel fortunate to be a part of this community with all of you, and for this opportunity to bring this cooperative learning experience to everyone every week. If you have any nominations or anyone you'd particularly like to hear from, feel that they would bring value and they could get value from the community, we'd

SPEAKER_03

00:50:55

love to hear them, Marwa. You know, if you have anyone else you think it would be amazing to hear from for one of these discussions, we'd love to hear and bring them on if we But aside from that, thank you once again for coming on and talking with us. And obviously to everyone, have an amazing day.

SPEAKER_00

00:51:15

Thank you so much. Have a great day. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

00:51:17

Thank you again. Thank you so much. Have a great day. Head off.

SPEAKER_02

00:51:32

You've just finished another episode of Founders Voyage, the podcast for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. The team at Founders Voyage wants to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We hope you enjoyed your time with us, and if so, please share this with someone else who might enjoy this podcast. You can also support us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and by donating to our Patreon. Outro music today is Something for Nothing by Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.