Steven Li: You began building software from an early age and you continued to pursue that passion by studying Computer Science at MIT before dropping out. Given all the different paths you could have taken, how did you decide to spend a 10+ year journey building software for the life sciences?Many companies and industries say they’re changing the world, but Biology can truly transform life as we know it, from the medicines we take to the crops we grow to the household goods we rely on.
Li: With that thesis of accelerating the speed of scientific research, what was your first idea for how Benchling could make that happen? And did that change since you wrote the first lines of code in 2012?Benchling was started with a vision of making research and development what it’s meant to be — a collaborative process to turn ideas into scientific progress and improve the lives of people everywhere.
Li: Paul Graham and Y Combinator backed Benchling in the Summer of 2012 and, for the next three years, you and your team worked quietly until you raised a Seed round led by a16z. What did those years look like?We kept it simple and focused in the early days – everyone who worked at Benchling wrote code and everyone talked to customers. We hadn’t yet set our sights on working with big enterprise companies.
Li: A startup’s first few customers tend to be crucial because they can be great sources of feedback and loyal, long-term users who also refer their friends. Who was Benchling’s first paying customer and how did the team get them on board?A common theme with Benchling that started in the early days is that customers begin using our product in an academic setting for free and then often go on to join a startup or enterprise and take Benchling with them.
In terms of key stakeholders, at biotech startups we are usually talking to the Chief Science Officer or even the founding team. At larger companies, we are working with R&D leaders and their IT colleagues. We are customer-obsessed. It can take 5-10 years of R&D before our customer’s products hit the market. It’s challenging work and has a high failure rate. But the reward is transformative products that can dramatically enhance lives. That’s fuel for our team. Everyone in the organization spends a lot of time talking to customers and we partner closely with them when we build new capabilities to make sure they will make a big impact in their work.
i left MIT at 21 because they told my i had to leave