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Venture Capital for Life Scientists: How to work with, for, start, or invest in a venture capital firm
Venture Capital for Life Scientists is a practical roadmap for scientists who want to turn breakthrough biology into funded companies—and for those curious about joining or starting a venture capital firm themselves.
Written by scientist-founder-investor Will Alaynick, PhD, this book explains how venture capital really works in biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, and life science tools. Starting from the basics of financial markets and the “valley of death,” it walks you through fund structures, portfolio strategy, term sheets, and exit paths, always with examples drawn from real companies such as Genentech, Moderna, Illumina, CRISPR startups, and more.
You’ll learn how
Decide when a project should become a startup instead of another paper or grant
Build founding teams, structure equity, and protect IP in life science ventures
Navigate SBIRs, non-dilutive funding, venture rounds, and milestone-based financing
Prepare for due diligence, negotiate investor terms, and manage your board and burn rate
Explore career paths “at the intersection of science and capital,” from operating roles to investing
Whether you’re a PhD or MD in the lab, a founder raising your first round, or an investor entering life sciences from tech or finance, Venture Capital for Life Scientists gives you a structured, scientist-friendly guide to working with, working for, starting, or investing in a life science venture capital firm.
Written by scientist-founder-investor Will Alaynick, PhD, this book explains how venture capital really works in biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, and life science tools. Starting from the basics of financial markets and the “valley of death,” it walks you through fund structures, portfolio strategy, term sheets, and exit paths, always with examples drawn from real companies such as Genentech, Moderna, Illumina, CRISPR startups, and more.
You’ll learn how
Decide when a project should become a startup instead of another paper or grant
Build founding teams, structure equity, and protect IP in life science ventures
Navigate SBIRs, non-dilutive funding, venture rounds, and milestone-based financing
Prepare for due diligence, negotiate investor terms, and manage your board and burn rate
Explore career paths “at the intersection of science and capital,” from operating roles to investing
Whether you’re a PhD or MD in the lab, a founder raising your first round, or an investor entering life sciences from tech or finance, Venture Capital for Life Scientists gives you a structured, scientist-friendly guide to working with, working for, starting, or investing in a life science venture capital firm.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 21, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 4, 2026
As someone with a background in science, this was an informative book. For anyone interested in pushing their work further or trying to understand the business side, or vice-versa, this book is a great start.
The book is dense. It is definitely more like a textbook. So it may take a while to push through some of the "boring" parts, especially if you have no background or experience with it.
Nevertheless, I learned a lot from it.
There are some typos and maybe some missing figures, which can be a bummer. Maybe they will be corrected in the future.
The book is dense. It is definitely more like a textbook. So it may take a while to push through some of the "boring" parts, especially if you have no background or experience with it.
Nevertheless, I learned a lot from it.
There are some typos and maybe some missing figures, which can be a bummer. Maybe they will be corrected in the future.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review