Dearest Brazeryens: This issue was drafted hands-free thanks to NeuraLink.
[Welcome to Issue Number 53 of The House Brazeryen, where we break down the latest #ScientistCEO-related news for you fortnightly, in roughly 5 minutes. Brought to you by Brazen Bio, Brazen Capital and brainsurgerydropout.]
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YC W24 PREVIEW: Death of Demo Day?
Next week is that biannual (twice a year) Silicon Valley two-day ritual: Y Combinator Demo Day (W24 edition).
Despite YC having a brand new 100K square foot compound in San Franciscoâdisappointinglyâit is once again virtual-only. But never fear, YC CEO Garry Tan hinted at the last Demo Day that in-person IS coming⊠Fingers crossed for S24.
Return of the YC therapeutics startup?
In the last preview, we whined about the lack of therapeutics startups coming out of YC of late. In fact, ZERO in the last batch.
This time, however, there are SEVEN!!!
Therapeutics has never been a strength of YC primarily owing to the fact the majority of their investor network focus on tech (not BIOtech). In fact, more than one YC therapeutics startup we know could only raise low to mid six figures after Demo Day.
However, now that they have Surbhi (the first ever dedicated YC Bio Partner) and several YC startups have recently entered clinical trials this hopefully will change.
YC Does a Demo Day 180
The classic YC program model has always been to focus 100% on building and talking to customers the entire batch and to NOT talk to investors until Demo Day. This makes sense. Fundraising is all-encompassing so building and raising tend to be mutually exclusive.
But that has changed.
Word on the street: YC is now recommending startups begin fundraising BEFORE Demo Day!
On the one hand, we like this because it can relieve some pressure from founders who previously had to stake their entire startupâs future on their 1-2 minute Demo Day pitch. So heading into Demo Day strong with investor momentum seems⊠luxurious.
Even better, one of the current W24 startups weâve been talking to already closed their round last week and described it as âmassively oversubscribedâ.
Dam. đŠ«
Downsides? Perhaps YC is undermining Demo Day itself? If many of the startups go into Demo Day not needing to raise money what is the point? Sâppose it just becomes more of a graduation party/media day. Weâd definitely still go.
BRAZEN BREAKDOWN
Letâs look at a few of the 24 YC Bio startups in the W24 batch that make us go Mmm:
Attunement (Digital Therapeutics for Better Behavioral Health)âHow do you know you are getting better with therapy? This team is building the objective tool.
Granza Bio (Cancer Targeting Attack Particles)âCool platform therapeutic technology founded out of the same Oxford lab space Shawn did his postdoc.
Oma Care (Get Paid for Taking Care of your Parents)âBuilding the technical infrastructure to train and pay the 53M family caregivers in the US.
Haplotype Labs (Personalized prevention using genetic risk models)âTranslating genetic risk reports into improved healthspan for patients.
Sonia (AI mental health therapy)âGetting flashbacks of Her and we kinda like it.
RE: When VCs Get More Cancer, More Cancer Startups Get Funding
by W. Shawn Carbonell, MD, PhD â I applied to Y Combinator with my glioblastoma-focused startup OncoSynergy in 2018.
We had already raised eight figures from angels and were on the cusp of filing our IND to enroll our first clinical trial (i.e., we were waaaay more seasoned than the typical YC startup).
But my friend, Ethanâwho at that point had also already raised seven figures for his biotechâwas accepted and said it was worth it. And of course Quora joined the S14 batch even though they had just raised an $80M Series C led by Tiger Global.
The fact was although we only needed a couple million to hit our biggest milestone, we couldnât get ANY traction from biotech VCs. We were hoping the YC network and Demo Day bump would help push us across the IND finish line.
We did not get a YC interview.
âŠ
Glioblastoma is such a difficult disease that most investors and VCs canât get past the risk. The only institutional investors Iâve seen to take that risk are the ones who, unfortunately, have been touched personally by it.
This was true for Alexis Ohanian Sr. who lost his mother to glioblastoma.
This was true for Peter Thiel when the father of one of his Clarium Capital associates was diagnosed.
This was true for the VC who eventually led our Series A.
And now itâs true for Y Combinator thanks to Surbhi Sarna who put out a âRequest for Startupsâ for companies working on glioma/glioblastoma.
Obviously, itâs a horrible trend but as a soldier who has been in the trenches for over 20 years working on novel ways to battle this fucking disease it is great to see new powerful allies in the good fight.
âŠ
Pictured above are glioblastoma patients my cofounder and I connected with on social media that graced the entry way of our startup office.
Only two are still with us.
BRAZEN BREAKDOWN
If you are working on technologies that may have applications to glioblastoma please consider applying to YC! And if you do, let me know how I can help.
[This post is based on my LinkedIn Post from last week.]
đ BRAZEN SNAX
đ Huberman drops his science-based protocol for dating 6 women at once
đ„ Sean Parkerâs moving cancer immunotherapy film debuts online
đŠ Does tweeting scientific articles increase citations? Probably eventually
đ Genetically engineering the cutest primates to study an ugly disease
đŠ Fine young cannibals: Eurasian bird feeds babies to larger siblings
đ Become a Brazen Capital LP! Rich folks need only apply (by law đ)
đ°Â Our friends at Breakout Ventures roll out FIVE new venture partners
đ° Major chemistry breakthrough in the science of teenage BO
đ€ Ten big money drugs falling off the patent cliff in the US in 2024
đ March Madness for fucking geeks: Best Biotech Name Tourney
â° TikTokCrak:Â Very determined shark circling swimmer in Florida
đȘ CARVEOUT
In celebration of Redditâs ($RDDT) huge IPO, we present Alexis Ohanianâs 2013 bookââWithout Their Permissionââabout that crazy startup journey which launched from the very first Y Combinator batch (2005). Even better, Alexis has made the e-book AVAILABLE FOR FREE!
đđœ A DOSE OF GRATITUDE
We are grateful for Miss Peaches.
đ BRAZEN MEME
đ BRAZEN THOUGHTS
âGreatness is not intelligence... Greatness comes from character and character isnât formed out of smart people. Itâs formed out of people who have suffered⊠I wish upon you ample doses of pain and sufferingâŠâ
âJensen Huang, cofounder & CEO, NVIDIA
âïž FEEDBACK
>99.5% of you donât smash the like button and even fewer leave a comment! Would you consider doing something about that? And letâs continue the convo @brazencapital
Surprised to see the therapeutic startups. This is very cool, but YC should probably pull additional partners who has an appropriate background to do proper due diligence on these companies.