Mat Honan:

While we've been celebrating the Innovators Under 35 since 1999, this is the first year we're all coming together to honor past and present honorees during a dedicated TR35 Festival. We wouldn't be able to do this without the support of our partners at JPMorgan Chase. Thank you.

Ted Hu:

It's now my pleasure to introduce our partner at JPMorgan Chase, Rob Matles, Managing Director of global technology strategy, innovation and partnerships. So Rob, JPMorgan Chase has been an unexpected disruptor in banking and in the technology industry. So I think your perspective will be useful in helping companies scale their go-to market strategy. And I'm delighted you're here today to lead the discussion with our next guests. So you're the Head of Innovation Enablement at JPMorgan Chase and likely have a front row seat in accelerating ideas to market. Can you describe your role please?

Rob Matles:

Yeah, Ted, I get asked that a lot and I do basically three things. I'm very lucky, I get to sit on the chip of the spear or the spear. of basically looking for new discoveries to solve problems that we can't solve today with frontier technology like quantum. And in that role, I worked with some of the greatest scientists in the world, plus the great scientists we have here in J.P. Morgan. The second part of what I focus on is really internally about cultivating in a grassroots innovation and really the joke or the end game of that is to give everyone the opportunity to participate, all 50,000 of our technologists. Most people don't know that we're a technology company out of the 250,000 or so people to really participate in that. And then the third thing I do is I get to look at external companies like some of the companies we're talking about today and get to work with them to help accelerate innovation and new ideas. So like I said, I'm excited about this because what we've learned here at J.P. Morgan and I have both internally and externally scaling your ideas is pretty, pretty difficult. And so we get to talk about that, so I'm looking forward to that.

Ted Hu:

That sounds great. Well, thanks Rob for that introduction and I'll turn the stage over to you.

Rob Matles:

Thanks, so today we're going to get to speak to two honorees that are building companies aiming to solve some of the most important problems that we face today. And when you hear about it, I'm guessing every one of you are going to say to yourself, yeah, I've talked about that with my family or my friends or at school or in my company. And so it's my pleasure first to introduce Leah Ellis who's the co-founder and CEO of Sublime Systems. The company that is focusing on making cement carbon neutral, the whole process of doing that. And then we have Janice Chen, who's the co-founder and CTO of Mammoth Biosciences, obviously a biotech company that is really looking at harnessing the power of next generation, of CRISPR to make new diagnostic tests. And I'm not going to steal their thunder. So welcome Leah and Janice. So Leah, why don't you start us off and tell us about your work and the technology behind this amazing concept in industry disruptor.

Leah Ellis:

Yeah, thanks Rob. So my name is Leah and I'm working on a way to make carbon neutral cement. So as you may know, cement is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. It's also the material that we use most besides water and each ton of cement produces one ton of CO2. So it's a huge problem. It's a growing problem because we're using more cement as the world's population grows and becomes more urban. So there's pressure to produce more cement while at the same time there's pressure to reduce the carbon footprint of cement. So what I developed during my postdoc at MIT, and what later spun out into Sublime Systems is a method of making cement, of activating cementitious materials without using fossil fuel, without using high temperature and using instead electricity and an electrolytic reactor to activate those materials. So, yeah, that's the basis of what we're trying to scale up at Sublime.

Rob Matles:

That's awesome Leah. And we have a bunch to talk about how you actually scale something like that. So hold on for a second. And Janice, tell us about what you're doing in healthcare. I had the pleasure of talking to you earlier, it's pretty fantastic as well.

Janice Chen:

Thanks so much, Rob. Yeah, so my name is Janice. I'm the co-founder and CTO of Mammoth Biosciences. Many of you may have heard of the Nobel Prize winning CRISPR technology, which has enabled us to engineer biology with unprecedented speed and impact for human and planetary health. So at Mammoth Biosciences, we are harnessing the power of CRISPR for a new purpose: a programmable diagnostics platform that can detect virtually any genetic sequence of interest. So we think of CRISPR technology like a search engine for biology, and by simply typing in the letters of the guide RNA, like you would in a search bar, we can program CRISPR to find and detect viruses, bacteria, cancerous mutations, antibiotic resistance, and much more. Our mission is to improve lives by reading and writing the code of life. And our next generation of CRISPR platform will reshape the way we predict, prevent, and cure disease.

Rob Matles:

So, thanks Janice. Again, this is why I'm so excited to be here to talk to both of these fantastic, we'll call them innovators in totally different industries. And I'm going to ask a couple of questions. We're going to save some time for everyone to ask, well, not everyone but a lucky few, to ask some questions at the end. So think about it, post it in the chat if you have any, if they come up. So regardless of the industry that you're in, everything's moving so fast and now there's pressure to scale. Janice, your work in the COVID era obviously brings a new definition of past and Leah, you have the same problem because what you're working on is one of the biggest contributors to the destruction of our planet. So I'm gonna start with you, Leah. Tell me or tell us how you worked around the pressure to scale your company, it's technology, and just pressure cooker of, can you go faster?

Leah Ellis:

Yeah, great question. So the pressure is huge, especially because cement is a commodity industry. The average cement plant produces a million tons of cement per year, and here we are with a new technology. And so getting from zero tons of cement per year, up to a million tons per year, which is the volume you have to produce it if you're going to compete on cost is a huge challenge. So our approach is to dice up those scaling steps into very logical steps and to scale up and de-risk both the technology and the business in sync. So with an eye on the techno-economic model, and then also talking to partners and early adopters and people who are willing to pay a green premium early to be on the cutting edge of innovation and to receive carbon credits, the policy part of getting those early adopters is really important too. And then with that approach, de-risking the business, the customers and also the technology just ratcheting up the scale, not incrementally, but in a sober way so that you don't end up spending a lot of CapEx going from zero to a million.

Rob Matles:

Thanks, I know in talking to all kinds of different people and companies in the industry, you always want to get there to the finish line, but you have to do it smart so you don't blow up the finish line. So Janice, we talk about speed in the climate crisis. I think we can talk about speed even in a different way in COVID because it's something that touched us all. So tell us what resonated from Leah's answer or how you all are dealing with the concept of speed and scale in this unprecedented attack of the invisible enemy.

Janice Chen:

Yeah, absolutely. And I love Leah's response. I think for all of us, I mean, time is a luxury. And so when at a startup part of being able to scale rapidly is really understanding your core competency, focusing on what you're really good at, and then partnering with others in areas where you lack those capabilities. So for example at Mammoth when COVID-19 hit, we were the first company in the world to demonstrate the use of CRISPR to detect SARS-CoV-2 in patient samples. And of course this was just a proof of concept at the time, but our ability to execute quickly with new technology catalyzed a number of partnerships with academic, corporate and government agencies to help us accelerate the development of our COVID-19 tests. So in a really short amount of time, these partnerships unlocked access to clinical samples, manufacturing capabilities, accelerated development timelines, regulatory expertise, and a path to market. I think that a key difference from Leah's experience is that in the healthcare industry, there is also a defined regulatory framework. So the FDA plays a critical role in enabling companies to commercialize healthcare products and ensuring the protection of patients at both the individual and community level. So because of this framework, the product development process has to follow strict regulations and standards. So this ultimately benefits both patients and the companies behind the products, but it does require significant capital investment and time for execution.

Rob Matles:

Yeah, I think you've hit a chord because I believe the questions are blowing up online here. So such great, I would call inspirational concepts that you talked about. I guess we could probably talk about that specific subject forever. Let's talk a little bit about trade-offs because as you approach scale, what are some of the trade-offs you've faced and what role has – and I think Janice, you talked about this a little bit – but the broader ecosystem, whether it's technology or partners, have played in helping you with making those decisions and even more so is how do you prioritize it and how do you figure out if you're winning or measuring? So Leah let's stick with you and why don't you give us your views on that?

Leah Ellis:

Yeah, that's a great question. Of course for an early stage startup, everything is a priority, but when it comes to scale or an engineering project it's often said that you can pick two out of the three: you can pick cost, quality, or time. And so these are three things and you don't want to compromise on any of those three things. So I think the way we're going about it with making the fewest amount of trade-offs is scaling in logical increments where we can do a great job on quality, keep the costs down, and also move quickly to prove out the techno economics. So I know the theme of this conference is big and bold, and we've always got our sights on big and bold, but a really important thing when you have something so ambitious, it's also to be grounded in reality, to not get ahead of yourself because things move so fast and things snowball. So picking the right goals as you scale is so important.

Rob Matles:

Great, and so Janice, what are your views and thoughts and experience with trade-offs and prioritization, juggling probably a thousand things that come across your desk every day?

Janice Chen:

Yeah, well what Leah said is absolutely right. You have these categories and sort of pick two of three, right? So in diagnostics it's very similar, everyone wants faster, better, cheaper, and that's obviously the ultimate goal. But in the absence of unlimited time and capital, you have to make trade-offs. So at the highest level we look at this problem through a top down and bottoms up approach. And what I mean by that is at the top we ask what's the value proposition of the technology, what are the capabilities and the differentiation? And then at the bottom we ask, what is the unmet medical need and what does the end customer want? So ultimately, these two have to meet in the middle and we decide on specific customer requirements that helps us prioritize these trade-off decisions and ultimately allows us to focus on building products that will add value to society and lead to a sustainable business. I think the other element to decision-making is, especially when it comes to trade offs is using your company mission and values to help with your guiding principles. So for example, our mission is to improve lives by reading right and writing the code of life. And one of our core values is rigor. And so that means we'll never make decisions that are not supported by the science and data and we'll not make trade-offs that will compromise the safety and performance for a product. So I think all of these different elements are critical inputs and it is a difficult decision at times. And I think there's all kinds of both micro and macro trade-offs that need to be considered. But I think it's all about making sure that you're driving towards the mission and ultimately providing value to society.

Rob Matles:

Great, I have another hundred questions to ask you but I'll keep it fair and take some audience questions now. I think we have time for maybe one or two. So let's start with a question from Susan Stark. Let's see here, it's...when it comes to scaling your work, what is the difference between scaling your company and scaling your product and you need different engines so to speak? So Janice, why don't we flip it around and let you start and then Leah you can add in your comments.

Janice Chen:

Sure, so I heard the question is scaling your company and scaling your product. I think the common thread for both are the people behind all of the ideas and execution in terms of meeting that end goal. So certainly when it comes to company building, you're talking about an organization of people who have just tremendous skills and experience and ability to push things forward. And then when you talking about the product, you're talking about having the ability to translate all of that effort into creating something with material value that in our space really will impact and improve patient lives. I think that they both come with kind of their own challenges on the product side. I talked about manufacturability, actually scaling and having raw materials to actually build these physical devices. You're also talking about working through regulatory frameworks and making sure that you're developing something at the end of the day that meets particular quality and regulatory standards. On the company building side, you're starting from just one person to 10 and now at Mammoth we're 120 full-time employees that comes with its own incredible opportunities. And so I think I'm grateful to have the opportunity to be able to drive something, towards something that we find so important in this world. So...

Rob Matles:

Thank you, thank you, great insight. Leah, you got the floor for this one now.

Leah Ellis:

Oh, well I think this is a really great question. And this really goes to the heart of the startup experience. You have a mission to scale up some element of hard tech, and also you have to scale your organization. And I think the way you go about those two things are totally different. With the hardware side of things, you often hear that the move fast break things approach. So hammering away at the scale and building things, testing things, iterating, but you cannot take that approach when building a team. So the approach that I've taken to team building is a very sober one where I will take as long as it takes to find the right person to fill a role, I will scour the world for excellence. I will really, really calibrate my bar for excellence and do a really rigorous hiring process because that is something that will make things scale faster if you take the time to do it right upfront. We have a huge challenge for a startup is scaling your people.

Rob Matles:

Yeah, I think what both of you talked about is really a common way to think about it, regardless of what industry you're in. I'll just add two things that I think are important in this scale is what I would call the ancillary or support services around whatever you're doing. So things around, especially if you're a global regulatory in jurisdictional differences, that's really important and support and getting new customers, those things. And at least in my experience are things that need to scale quickly as well. And I just thought to be helpful for those of you on the call to hear that. You know all things that are good happen very fast and come to an end quickly. And unfortunately we're out of time, Leah and Janice, it's been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to talk with both of you today. I wish you both the best of luck and I'm excited to see what happens next. And I'll bring it to a close here. Ted, we'll continue the discussion with more honorees in just a moment. So stay tuned and have a great rest of your day.

END