The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 Small Community, Long Journey: The Power of Relationships in Biotech | Caitlyn Krebs (Part 3/4)
Apr 20, 2026
38:30
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"You just don't know where these people will play a role in your life, but also, you don't know who they know. Business is a small community, and the journey's long."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Caitlyn Krebs traces her path from a gut-punch company shutdown on maternity leave — which unexpectedly forged a key cofounder relationship — through the digital health boom at Rock Health, to her role as COO at Neurotrack, where an eye-tracking Alzheimer's test launched to 137 countries within days and led to selling cognitive risk scores to Japanese life insurers as the only woman in the room. She closes out her pre-Nalu journey at BlueStar Genomics, where hard lessons in capital discipline and the dangers of scope creep shaped the focused, founder-ready mindset she brings to building Nalu Bio today.
Key Topics Covered:
- Turning Adversity into Opportunity: How a shutdown on maternity leave sparked an unexpected cofounder relationship
- VC Mindset at Rock Health: What VCs really look for — team, traction, market size, and the D2C trap
- Neurotrack & Cognitive Health: Going global in days with an eye-tracking Alzheimer's test and selling risk scores to Japanese life insurers
- Cross-Cultural Enterprise Sales: Holding her ground in high-stakes negotiations in Japan as the only woman in the room
- Capital Discipline & Focus: Why staying in your lane — and resisting the urge to do it all — is a startup superpower
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Caitlyn Krebs at these links:
Website: https://www.nalubio.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:
Eye Tracking as a Tool for Alzheimer's Detection https://www.tobii.com/resource-center/learn-articles/4-methods-to-assess-alzheimers-with-eye-tracking
Is D2C in HealthTech a Viable Business Model? https://healthtechd2c.substack.com/p/is-d2c-in-healthtech-a-viable-business
HealthTech Business Models Explained: The Case for B2B2C https://htdhealth.com/insights/healthtech-business-models-explained-benefits-of-b2b2c/
A Guide to the Venture Capitalist Decision-Making Process https://www.excedr.com/resources/guide-to-the-venture-capitalist-decision-making-process
VC Funding 101 https://www.excedr.com/blog/vc-funding-101
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
Rock Health: https://rockhealth.com
Neurotrack: https://www.neurotrack.com
GRAIL: https://grail.com
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:20 Lessons from Tethys: Reimbursement Risk and Commercialization Challenges
04:29 Shutting Down on Maternity Leave and Turning a Wind‑Down into a Cofounder Relationship
08:28 Long‑Game Relationship Building and Why You Don’t Burn Bridges
10:26 Selling “Your Baby”: Finding a New Home for Tethys’ Technology
12:28 Entering the Digital Health Boom at Rock Health
14:38 How VCs Evaluate Startups: Team, Traction, Market, and Business Model
17:02 The D2C Pendulum and Emerging Women’s Health Channels
19:40 Joining Neurotrack: Eye‑Tracking to Detect Early Cognitive Decline
22:31 Launching a Web‑Based Alzheimer’s Risk Test in 137 Countries and D2C Lessons
24:09 Selling Cognitive Risk Scores to Japanese Life Insurers as a Female Executive
34:18 Epigenetics and Early Cancer Detection at BlueStar Genomics, Focus, and Capital Discipline
37:05 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.