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Reshma Shetty Speaks at Y Combinator's Female Founders Conference 2016
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Ginkgo Bioworks co-founder Reshma Shetty speaks at the YC 2016 Female Founders Conference in San Francisco, California
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The Power of Biology
Reshma Shetty introduces herself and shares her passion for biology, emphasizing its capabilities as a self-replicating and self-repairing technology. She argues that biology is the most powerful manufacturing platform on the planet and discusses her vision for designing biological systems at Ginkgo Bioworks.
"hello everyone um so first off I'd like to uh thank both Jessica and Susan for inviting me to be here today it's a real privilege and honor to speak to such a talented amazing group of women here um s..."
From Utah to MIT: My Journey
Shetty recounts her journey from growing up in Utah to studying computer science and biology at the University of Utah. She reflects on her experiences in a biology lab and how they shaped her desire to merge engineering with biology during her time at MIT.
"all these things um so in my mind biology is the most powerful manufacturing platform on the planet um and and it's what I want to be able to use to build stuff right um and so for us a genko what we'..."
Meeting Tom Knight: A Turning Point
Reshma discusses her encounter with Tom Knight at MIT, who inspired her to think about biology from an engineering perspective. She highlights Knight's innovative approach to simplifying and designing biological systems, which influenced her vision for Ginkgo Bioworks.
"officially 8 years ago but I think it really has its roots quite a little bit longer ago um uh I grew up in Utah um my house is like just actually off to the side of this picture uh I went to the Univ..."
Engineering Biology: A New Frontier
Shetty shares her belief that biology can be engineered like other disciplines. She emphasizes the importance of applying engineering principles to biology and how this perspective led her and her colleagues to explore the potential of designing biological organisms.
"um and so then I decided to try to actually merge the two uh halves of my life uh when I went to grad school um and I went to grad school at MIT and that's where I met this uh person here on on the sl..."
The Birth of Ginkgo Bioworks
Reshma narrates the founding of Ginkgo Bioworks and the challenges they faced as graduate students. She discusses their initial struggles with the traditional paths of academia and industry, and how they decided to pursue entrepreneurship to tackle the engineering biology problem.
"and and pair up with the freshman in in in freshman biology labs and learn how to pipet and do biological research right um but Tom brought a very interesting perspective when he uh went to biology he..."
Defining Our Mission
Shetty emphasizes the importance of having a clear mission when starting a company. She shares how Ginkgo Bioworks defined its mission to make biology easier to engineer, which became the guiding principle for their work despite lacking a product or revenue initially.
"these folks over here um so uh this is Barry Jason in Austin um and they were also fellow graduate students with me and and MIT um and we all basically fell in love with this idea of you know engineer..."
Navigating Early Challenges
Reshma reflects on the early days of Ginkgo Bioworks, including their virtual operations during the 2008 financial crisis. She discusses how they creatively built their lab on a budget by acquiring secondhand equipment from defunct biotech companies.
"know that you're ready to graduate is because you can't stand the side of your thesis work anymore um but uh but you also kind of go through this crisis of what am I going to do next right um and so f..."
Finding Product-Market Fit
Shetty explains the process Ginkgo Bioworks underwent to find product-market fit over several years. She describes their approach of using the scientific method to test hypotheses about their business model and the importance of aligning it with their mission.
"right and you know we had toyed with the idea of starting a company um you know Jason and particular had been interested in this for a couple years we even tried to enter the MIT 100K competition it's..."
The Importance of a Mission
Reshma discusses the significance of having a mission statement for a startup. She reflects on how a clear mission can guide a company through challenges and help maintain focus on solving the problems that matter most.
"in those little bit of Revenue or a little bit of money from whatever Source you can sort of pay your bills and keep going right um and so what Sal said really resonated with us we had a lot of ideas ..."
Diversity in Tech: A Personal Reflection
Shetty shares her thoughts on diversity in the tech industry, particularly as a female founder. She discusses the challenges of maintaining diversity while building a sustainable business and the importance of addressing underrepresentation in biotechnology.
"think about if you're going to start a company is what is your mission right and believe it or not we actually got this from a Harvard Business School case uh uh called building your company's Vision ..."
Learning from Moneyball: A New Approach to Diversity
Reshma draws parallels between the film Moneyball and her approach to diversity at Ginkgo Bioworks. She discusses the potential competitive advantage of hiring undervalued talent from underrepresented groups in technology and biotechnology.
"of Geno and then we're going to go figure out everything else after that and I I truly believe that this is the most important thing to do when you're starting your company for the first time because ..."
Taking Action on Diversity
Shetty emphasizes the need for Ginkgo Bioworks to proactively address diversity early in their growth. She shares her hopes for improving representation within the company and the positive changes they've seen since initiating conversations about diversity.
"they they would have said no uh because we had no product and no idea what our product should be um uh but what we knew is that we wanted to work on this mission to make biology easier to engineer and..."
Conclusion: The Path Forward
Reshma concludes her talk by encouraging the audience to think about diversity as they start their own companies. She reflects on the importance of building a diverse workforce and the potential impact it can have on the future of their businesses.
"so this is how we got started and for the next few years we basically just looked for product Market fit right we tried to make something that people wanted and and the basic approach we took was for ..."