🧬 Mike Stadnisky - Thielsen Capital - Part 1 | Familial Exposure to Business & Science at a Young Age | The Importance of “Care Before You Share” | Actively Managing Your Time | A PhD is a 10,000 Hour Degree

The Biotech Startups Podcast

Part 1 of 3.
My guest for this week’s episode is Mike Stadnisky, Managing Director of Thielsen Capital. Thielsen Capital is a seed-stage financing syndicate network bringing together life science investors, operators, and innovators to drive exceptional outcomes for founding teams, investors, and science. Before Thielsen, Mike was the CEO of Phitonex, which Thermo Fisher acquired. He was also VP & GM of Informatics at BD Life Sciences and was the CEO of FlowJo before its acquisition by BD. He has also taught at MIT Sloan, authored 10 patents, and won the 2019 International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry Innovation Award.

Join us as we sit down with Mike Stadnisky as he discusses his early exposure to leadership in business and the obsession that drew him to science. How he acquired critical and transformative skills as a student brand manager at Red Bull, his experience in Michael Brown’s lab at UVA, and his thoughts on the importance of lab culture and team dynamics in research environments. Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Stadnisky.
Find Our Guest, Mike Stadnisky, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikestadnisky/

https://www.thielsencapital.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

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

https://www.excedr.com

Timestamps:

00:28 Intro

02:03 Episode starts, Mike’s upbringing and early exposure to private enterprises and leadership skills

07:46 How Mike’s early exposure to science sparked his obsession with it over business

10:10 Mike attending Clemson for Biochem and his lab experience as an undergraduate

15:14 Mike’s transformative experience working with Red Bull, learning the ability to interact with passionate people

25:28 Mike’s realization that his time at Red Bull was ending and how he knew it was time to go back to the lab to finish his PhD

31:07 Grad school at UVA and experiences in Michael Brown’s lab

39:09 Mike’s decision to not go down the academic path

42:28 Mike's advice on how to be successful in graduate school

49:52 Outro

Social & Website

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

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

What Type of Equipment Is Used in Chemistry Research? https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-type-of-equipment-is-used-in-chemistry-research

Lab Equipment https://www.excedr.com/category/lab-equipment?662a3058_page=2

What Is Molecular Biology? https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-molecular-biology

Lab Equipment List for Synthetic Biology Research https://www.excedr.com/blog/lab-equipment-list-for-synthetic-biology-research

Biology Lab Equipment List To Open Your New Lab in 2024 https://www.excedr.com/blog/biology-lab-equipment-list

Science https://www.excedr.com/category/science

What Is Flow Cytometry & How Do Flow Cytometers Work? https://www.excedr.com/blog/what-is-flow-cytometry-how-do-flow-cytometers-work

How Flow Cytometers Work & How We Save You Time & Money https://www.excedr.com/biotech-life-sciences/flow-cytometer

17 Incubators for US-Based Biotech Startups in 2024 https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-incubators

Biotech Startup Support https://www.excedr.com/resources-category/biotech-startup-support

A Guide to Grant Funding for Biotech Startups https://www.excedr.com/resources/grants-public-funding-biotech-startups

People Mentioned:

Michael Brown https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-brown-68843a10/

The Biotech Startups Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so