In 2008, during the financial crisis, many biotech companies were going out of business, which made it a challenging time to raise money.

Successful biotech funds often incubate ideas internally before spinning them out as independent companies, which has proven effective in the industry.

There is a growing interest from early-stage technology investors in funding biotech companies, with many successfully raising significant seed funding.

When we went public in 2021, we decided to save our funds instead of spending them immediately, anticipating tougher days ahead in the biotech landscape.

Our first fund was successful, with significant investments in companies like Skype and Instagram, which validated our approach and strategy in venture capital.

At 31, I was called in as the CEO of Halo, despite knowing very little about biotech, and we had only three months of cash on hand with no VC dollars invested.

The last few years have been sobering for the biotech industry, highlighting the need to adapt quickly to survive amidst fierce competition for attention from investors, partners, and talent.

During the disillusionment phase, we struggled to attract investment due to recent failures of other hardware companies, which made investors hesitant.

I pitched 75 investors for funding, but we faced rejection after rejection, which made me cynical about fundraising, especially during a time when no one was investing in consumer-driven businesses.