Program goals

Startups with a safety net

See whether starting a company is right for you through a hands-on, experiential learning process.

Learn how investors think

Learn how investors and entrepreneurs evaluate science, build companies and raise money. We bring in successful entrepreneurs and industry professionals to give guest lectures, and you will get feedback on your projects from several leading VCs.

Build relationships

Connect with leading investors and experienced entrepreneurs -- and the scientists in your cohort. Many alumni build on these relationships after the program ends. A few alums have received job offers from venture funds we met during the program and from their portfolio companies.

Program structure: 10-week program

Lecture / guest speaker series

Every week we have a two-hour lecture, often with a guest speaker. Past speakers range from entrepreneurs who've started multiple billion-dollar companies to entrepreneurs who raised $10M+ before finishing their PhD.

Startup project and VC visits

Teams of ~3-4 students / postdocs develop and refine a startup idea with feedback from VCs. At the beginning of the program, a VC will "seed" teams with a topic they find interesting, and over the next ~8 weeks teams will turn that idea into a pitch for a hypothetical startup. Every 1.5-2 weeks, we will visit a different venture fund and get feedback on the projects.

Who would benefit?

The program is designed for Bay Area grad students and postdocs, especially those in molecular and cell biology or bioengineering programs, who are interested, or think they might be interested, in startups and VC.

No prior experience in biotech is required. To keep everyone on a level playing field, we don't allow anyone to work on any of their own tech or IP during the program -- you will come up with your project ideas with your team, with guidance from VCs.

In the past, we've only accepted individual applicants, but we are considering letting teams of 3-4 apply together, in addition to accepting individual applications. If you are a team who would like to apply, please let us know.

Any level of interest in startups and VC is welcome, whether you are set on starting your own company, or whether you just want to dip your toe in the water. The program is designed to replicate the unstructured nature of starting a company -- we create checkpoints and guardrails to guide you, but most of the project work is self-directed.

About

Bay Bridge Bio is a completely free and independent program. We are not formally affiliated with any university, fund or company. The program was created by Richard Murphey while he was a grad student at Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Richard had worked in biopharma startups and VC before grad school, and created this program as something that he wished had existed when he was a student. You can read more about Richard and Bay Bridge Bio here.