G-51 Venture Scholar Profile: Andrew Bogorad
This week I got to know Andrew Bogorad, a doctoral candidate working on his PhD in Biophysics at Boston University’s School of Medicine. While it is not often that a Venture Scholar comes from outside the School of Business, it is even rarer still for them to be scientists pursuing PhDs. Intrigued, I was curious what brought Andrew to the G51 Venture Scholar program.
“When I was in Cornell (where Andrew studied for his Masters in Biomedical Engineering several years before), I took a class in entrepreneurship for scientists where we worked in teams to develop an idea and then a business plan and pitch deck to present it, which I really enjoyed. When I came to BU, that interest stayed with me and I took some classes at the School of Business and kept looking out for opportunities to get involved,”
At the School of Medicine, Andrew’s thesis involves the study of the mechanisms on how cells regulate protein synthesis in response to a variety of stresses, such as infections, nutrient deficiency, and protein misfolding. Understanding how these cells behave and react can have implications on the study of a wide variety of diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s Disease. I wondered how his participation in the G51 Venture Scholar program fit with his work, if at all.
“I’ve been thinking about getting into some strain of venture capital for awhile now. I’m interested in leveraging a scientific background with early stage commercialization experience and turning it into business opportunities. I also work at the Office of Technology Development that manages inventions and discoveries that originate from university research, where part of what we do is assessing commercial potential, which is not a trivial matter.”
The G51 program fit well with Andrew’s work in the Office of Technology Development as well as with his interest in entering the world of venture capital. As we spoke, he expressed that he found it refreshing and fun to have something new to look at every week. Although he expressed a personal preference in assessing biotech deals, he assessed and presented on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) start up last week and received positive feedback from a tough reviewer – a G51 partner who himself has owned an SaaS company for several years and was very familiar with the industry.
The company Andrew is analyzing this week advertises that its products will increase operational efficiency in plants, save time, reduce variability and increase productivity. Andrew will be speaking with the entrepreneurs behind the business tomorrow, in order to refine his understanding of the enterprise.
“The most important thing I’d like to talk to them about tomorrow is the value proposition and how their product delivers it. I also want to ask them about their growth strategy – what their goals are and how they see themselves getting there.
There are many ways in which an idea can be useful but figuring out where it can be most useful is what’s interesting, I’ve really enjoyed being part of the process,”
-Written by BU MBA candidate Joanna Ghazali
