Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry Eli Casdin – Casdin Capital (Manager Meetings, EP.02)
Jul 15, 2021
Eli Casdin, Founder and CIO of Casdin Capital, and Joel Wittenberg, former CIO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, dive into the world of life sciences investments. They discuss the transformative power of biotech and the strategic relationship between diagnostics and therapeutics. Eli shares insights on evaluating company management and private market strategies, while also exploring the game-changing role of AI in drug development. Their conversation highlights the promising growth in this sector and the evolving dynamics of the investment landscape.
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COVID-19 vs. SARS: A Biotech Timeline
- It took seven months to read the SARS genome in 2003, but only two days for the COVID genome in 2020.
- Moderna created a vaccine prototype in two days and scaled it to medicinal grade in 45 days, highlighting biotech's progress.
Evaluating Management Teams
- Evaluate management teams by understanding their expertise, experience, and decision-making process.
- Look for teams with diverse skill sets, not just brilliant scientists, to execute a successful business strategy.
Missing Investments
- Accept that you will miss some good investments when evaluating people.
- Prioritize avoiding bad management teams over potentially missing out on some good ones.