The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 Trust Over Control: Building Teams Like the Best Scientists | Roy Maute (Part 3/4)
Feb 23, 2026
34:48
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"If we set goals in the most aggressive realistic way that we can and everyone has visibility into our progress, it's all good—even if we fall a bit short, as long as it's for good reason."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, we dive into Roy Maute's journey from academic scientist to biotech entrepreneur, exploring the founding and acquisition of Ab Initio Biotherapeutics and his subsequent roles at Forty Seven Inc. and Gilead Sciences. Roy reflects on the lasting influence of Irv Weissman's hands-off, trust-driven lab culture at Stanford and how it shaped his philosophy on building teams.
Roy shares how he co-founded Ab Initio with colleagues from Chris Garcia's and Brian Kobilka's labs, navigating early-stage challenges like seed funding, a Pfizer collaboration, and managing a lean team of 10. He explains why the company ultimately chose acquisition over raising a major round, and how Ligand Pharmaceuticals' interest in their directed evolution technology brought that chapter to a successful close. Roy also discusses stepping into a biomarker strategy role at Forty Seven Inc., and what it was like to witness the company's $4.9 billion acquisition by Gilead — all as COVID lockdowns began.
Key Topics Covered:
- Leadership Styles: Why Irv Weissman's hands-off management shaped Roy's own vision for building teams
- Co-Founding Ab Initio: Assembling a founding team, securing seed funding, and running a scrappy 10-person lab
- Pfizer Collaboration: Balancing startup autonomy with the accountability of a big pharma partnership
- Acquisition Over Fundraising: Why selling to Ligand Pharmaceuticals was the right exit over raising more capital
- Forty Seven & Gilead: Joining a rocket ship mid-flight and learning translational science through a $4.9B acquisition
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Roy Maute at these links:
Website: https://www.pheast.com/
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:
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors https://tlcr.amegroups.org/article/view/4780/html
​Overview of PD‑1 Pathway Blockade and Biomarkers of Response https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-022-01743-4
Magrolimab in Cancer: NCI Drug Dictionary Entry https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-drug/def/magrolimab
Clinical Study of Magrolimab in Solid Tumors (example of ongoing CD47 checkpoint work)
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
Pfizer: https://www.pfizer.com
​Ligand Pharmaceuticals: https://www.ligand.com
Gilead Sciences: https://www.gilead.com
​Irving Weissman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Weissman
Kenneth Lin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kslin
​Tim Springer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-springer
​Chris Garcia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/k-christopher-garcia-964651139
​Brian Kobilka: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2012/kobilka/facts/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:19 Key Lessons from Irv Weissman's Postdoc Lab
06:58 Co-Founding Ab Initio Biotherapeutics: Technology and Early Days
14:25 Ab Initio: From Founding to Acquisition in Four and a Half Years
14:44 What Makes an Effective Big Pharma Collaboration
16:41 Setting Aggressive Goals vs. Sandbagging
17:59 Navigating the Acquisition Process: "Watch One, Do One, Teach One"
20:58 Joining Forty Seven Inc. and Leading CD47 Biomarker Strategy
25:48 Inside the $4.9B Gilead Acquisition of Forty Seven
28:02 What Big Pharma Does Well — and Where Startups Have the Edge
31:09 Startups vs. Large Organizations: Capturing the Best of Both Worlds
33:28 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.