Episode 142

🧬 Purpose-Driven Innovation: Building Teams to Solve Biotech Problems | Bogdan Knezevic (Part 3/4)

"Until you experience a thing, you don’t know a thing. That’s something that bothers me a lot with the investor world-unless you’ve done it, you don’t really know what the grind feels like." In this episode, Bogdan Knezevic, co-founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope, unpacks how hands-on experience-from the grind at Frequency Therapeutics to launching the Rhodes Incubator-shaped his passion for biotech startups and team building. He shares the pivotal role of serendipity and authentic networking at Creative Destruction Lab and Entrepreneur First, which ultimately set the stage for founding Kaleidoscope. Bogdan dives into the challenges of innovating biotech R&D infrastructure, the importance of collaboration, and why tackling meaningful problems drives his mission in a rapidly evolving industry.

The Biotech Startups Podcast · Excedr

May 5, 202535m 50s

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Show Notes

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.

As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners.

"Until you experience a thing, you don’t know a thing. That’s something that bothers me a lot with the investor world-unless you’ve done it, you don’t really know what the grind feels like."

In this episode, Bogdan Knezevic, co-founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope, unpacks how hands-on experience-from the grind at Frequency Therapeutics to launching the Rhodes Incubator-shaped his passion for biotech startups and team building.

He shares the pivotal role of serendipity and authentic networking at Creative Destruction Lab and Entrepreneur First, which ultimately set the stage for founding Kaleidoscope. Bogdan dives into the challenges of innovating biotech R&D infrastructure, the importance of collaboration, and why tackling meaningful problems drives his mission in a rapidly evolving industry.

Key topics covered:

Experiential Learning: Nothing beats firsthand experience in understanding biotech’s real challenges.
Building Teams: Founding the Rhodes Incubator showed what truly makes teams thrive.
Serendipity and Networking: Authentic outreach and chance meetings unlock major opportunities.
From Academia to Entrepreneurship: The leap means tackling real-world problems that matter.
Innovating Biotech Infrastructure: Kaleidoscope is digitizing R&D to speed up breakthroughs.

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.

Subscribe to the Podcast:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast

Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Find our guest, Bogdan Knezevic, at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bogdanknezevic/
Website: https://www.kaleidoscope.bio/

Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

Learn more about Excedr:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

Website: https://www.excedr.com

Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:

Website: https://flow.page/kyojin

Resources & Articles:

Biotech Fundraising Milestones Resource: https://blog.kaleidoscope.bio/biotech-milestones-for-effective-fundraising/

Exhalation: Stories: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41160292-exhalation

Stories of Your Life and Other: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223380.Stories_of_Your_Life_and_Others

Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:

Kaleidoscope Bio: https://www.kaleidoscope.bio/

Creative Destruction Lab: https://creativedestructionlab.com/

Entrepreneur First: https://www.joinef.com/

Ahmed Elnaiem: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aelnaiem/

David Yen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-y-e-n/

Matt Clifford: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcliffordef/?originalSubdomain=uk

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:00 Discovering a love for startups at Frequency Therapeutics

06:13 Launching the Rhodes Incubator and learning what makes teams work

08:01 Gaining startup know-how through student-run organizations

10:51 Building strong co-founder bonds and the value of team chemistry

13:38 Leading the AI stream at Creative Destruction Lab

17:31 Embracing serendipity and authentic networking

20:00 Helping launch Entrepreneur First’s Toronto program

22:35 Committing to start Kaleidoscope with longtime friends

25:41 Defining Kaleidoscope’s purpose and picking meaningful problems

29:34 Tackling biotech’s digital transformation and leaving paper behind

31:13 Shaping the future of biotech with next-gen product vision

34:55 Outro

The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

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