Sean McClain 12:24

Yeah, I think that COVID has opened up all of our eyes to how we can be doing things better. And I think that AbSci is definitely a part of that. But I also think, like, how we, you know, operate, you know, our clinical trials, and and, you know, the speed at which we get new drugs to the clinic, I think, like, all of that’s being questioned right now, and how can we do it better. And, and I think that’s really exciting. Because, again, that ultimately is, is helping patients and getting the medicines that are, you know, deeply needed, they’re at an expedited time. And I think also to what this is, like really opened our eyes to is that like, we have to be prepared for the next pan pandemic as well. Because it could be right around the corner. And if we’re not planning for it, now, we’re going to get hit hard, just like we did with with COVID. And so I think we’re as, as an industry, really banding together to figure out how we can use the learnings of COVID to, again, make the industry better and faster on on a whole.

Carl J. Cox 13:38

Yeah, that’s, that’s incredible. I mean, I just love to hear about the massive improvements and the different areas and clearly, investors has found this is a good thing for you as well. You just recently had some success with raising some funding. tell tell us a little bit. Obviously, we’ve been together a little bit longer you and I personally in terms of understand what’s going on, but just for our listeners to help give an understanding of of what’s been happening for you and your organization, and and Why are people so attracted to invest and be a part of what you’re doing?

Sean McClain 14:14

Yeah, I think what is really exciting about what we’re doing is that, again, it gets back to this whole idea about believing in the impossible. And what we did on the on the bio manufacturing side and being able to engineer a cool life to produce a full length antibody that hadn’t been possible in 40 years. Was was a real lightbulb moment. But we’ve continued to innovate. And we recently got into drug discovery, adapting the platform to be able to discover new drugs that otherwise would not be discovered without our platform. And we recently acquired a deep learning company down in San Diego called Denovium. And one of the aspects of our technology that allows us to move so quickly is that we can, we can screen billions of different cells with all the various different machinery that’s necessary to make a protein and discover a protein, and be able to let the cell tell us what the best conditions are. And we collect all that data. And now what we’re starting to do is mine that data in in deep learning. And where we’re going and I think this is really exciting is being able to leverage that data to be able to build the best billion member libraries for a given target. And eventually, over time, the AI gets smarter and smarter. So instead of predicting a billion member library, it’s a million than 1000. And it ultimately gets smart enough where you can give it a biomarker or target. And it will then design the best molecule or drug for that given target, and make sure that it’s highly manufacturable. And then also give you the cell line. And so you have now been able to go through all of the different evolutionary past that that possibly exist, or combinations of protein variants for that given target, and find the best molecule and cell line that accompany is that and, and again, you have now just discovered the absolute best drug for that given, you know, cancer disease, indication. And it’s going to be a complete paradigm shifting technology, we’re we’re fully in silico. And that’s really where the company is headed. And everyone’s super excited about that. And think of it as the Google in that search for drug discovery and bio manufacturing. We are becoming the Google of synthetic biology. And it’s just a really exciting time here. And we continue this to provide more and more value to our pharma partners, where, again, we’re helping them get the best drugs to the market, at the fastest in the fastest timelines. And again, that’s all helping patients at the end of the day, right?

Carl J. Cox 17:16

That’s right. That’s so with this right? You we were talking about what’s top of my bureaucracy growing a lot right now. How are you doing that? You know, what, how are you getting the infrastructure in place to scale and bring in the people that you need, you’re obviously you’re bringing the technology plays, right? Now. Now you need to catch up all the other people right to help build it and put it in place? What are your greatest challenges in dealing with that right now.

Sean McClain 17:46

It’s all about talent. So we went from 40 employees at the beginning of 2020, to 100 employees currently, and at the end of this year, we’re going to be 225 employees, and likely doubling the year after that. And so when you’re growing at that pace, especially when you’re not in a biotech hub, talent becomes a concern. And we want, we are going to change the world, we are changing the world. But in order to do that, we need great talent, people build great companies, and if there’s one thing that always keeps me up at night, it’s just making sure that we have the talent that’s needed to scale and grow our company, I think that we are taking really great measures to make sure that we have the the recruiting in place, and the the the communications on the PR side and really making sure that we’re becoming well known. And we, you know, have have amazing benefits for our for our employees. And it’s an amazing place to work and really just making sure that we create a place that people love to work, they want to come here and build an awesome company and and, and we’re putting all the structures in place to ensure that we get the talent, but it is, it is definitely something that that keeps me up up at night. But I know it’s something that we’ll be able to to accomplish. But it’s definitely something that you have to keep at the forefront of your mind at all times when you’re scaling and scaling this quickly.

Carl J. Cox 19:34

Absolutely. And And boy, we could probably spend a whole nother episode just talking about the people challenges and getting in your values and the behaviors right at the end of the day. You know, you’re growing at rates you’re talking about that is it’s not uncommon for an Amazon division or a Google division or something like that. Right. You know, it’s it’s not it’s it’s reasonable for companies to grow 30% you know, annually but to get to that when you’re doubling you know, I know was getting exponential it’s it’s a whole different paradigm that you’re dealing with. And so I’m excited for you and the team, you’ve mentioned before, I won’t go into details of it sounds like you’re building a great senior team to help also to help divide and conquer, so to speak, to build that talent pool around you, because yeah, without the people just doesn’t take place. So this, I’ll go ahead and try and you’re gonna say something, but

Sean McClain 20:23

oh, no, I was just gonna say to like, you. When you’re scaling this quick, we all make mistakes. And I’ve made a boatload of mistakes going through. And I think the one thing that I’ve realized through this fast growth, and even being an entrepreneur over the last 10 years is, is really recognizing when you’ve made mistakes and correcting it, and letting the team know, hey, look, you know, I screwed up here and, but look at this is what we learned. And you know what, that’s okay. Like, when we’re trying to create something great here, we’re, we’re always going to have failures, and that’s okay. But it’s, it’s not okay to not recognize those. And I’ve learned to recognize the failures that I’ve had publicly and really let people know that it that it’s that it’s okay, and that we learn something from it. And that’s, and that’s really good. And, and I think keeping that in perspective as well, when you’re scaling, I think it’s super important.

Carl J. Cox 21:27

So, you if talking about this this? How are you keeping on a personal level, this energy you’re talking about? You’re sleeping at night, right? is keeping you awake? And I don’t I can’t imagine it is with with what’s happening? What do you do on a personal level to help keep make sure that you are staying on? Top a game, right? So you can keep on delivering on a day to day basis and get to ultimately a you know, 500 person company in a few years? You know, tell me what that that looks like. for you on your personal side?

Sean McClain 22:03

Yeah, no, so it’s all about keeping the the mind in the right condition. And that means both mentally and physically and I work out almost every single day. And working out really helps reduce stress, it helps keep my mind sharp, and I do try to do some meditation, when I go to bed, if I don’t, you know, put down my book or my phone and meditate for a, you know, good 15 minutes before I go to bed, it’s I definitely have sleepless nights. But I really do try to make a really strong effort of working out and at least doing some sort of, of meditation. And one of the things that I am guilty of, and I tell my team to do it is take time off, I would say that like the one thing that as a CEO, I I fail out is not taking enough time off. I think taking a mental breaks and letting yourself kind of decompress, I think is super important. I tell that to my team. I don’t do it as much as I should. But I know it’s another really important aspect. Again, to keep your your mind sharp.

Carl J. Cox 23:19

I think that’s a great, great advice right there, Sean, the I just had recently myself, I’d taken a few I had my birthday, and I had a little trip to go on to. And I actually had five days of knowing now. And literally, I didn’t look at it for one time. And it was it was really weird when I came off of it right? Because you get addicted right to for me, I am a zero inbox guy. So I can end each day I typically have zero, you know, I clear it all out. And so to have this like build up, but it was during that five days, I was truly able to relax. And yeah, so I but it’s easier said, you know, to get to there, especially when you have so many people in your mind and you have investors that you know, and you have different elements behind it. But yeah, when you hit that next big milestone, whatever it is, take a little time off Sean. But keep the working out. But I think that’s huge. How you have the workout, you have the meditation. That’s what’s keeping it now. It’s funny. What listeners may not know, especially, you know, when we were working together, I had to come to your house one time we used to go to your office, and one time I come to your house and you’re like Oh, I can’t I can’t move. And so we’re gonna have to have this meeting to talk about strategy here and and so I literally go to your house and you get this big brace in your neck. tell the audience what happened. And I think is remarkable. Because I’m once again glad we’re able to even have this discussion because it’s pretty darn serious.

Sean McClain 24:53

Yeah, no, I was in a very serious biking accident I was, I was in Denmark on a business trip. And a couple of my colleagues and I were riding bikes around Denmark looking at the city before the conference had started. And I ended up losing balance on on my bike and fell straight over my handlebars, hit the top of my head, I heard it hurt, hurt it snap, I have my whole body went numb. And I was taken to the hospital. And I ended up breaking my T one and T two vertebrae and was one of the most like crazy experiences of my life. I had the neurosurgeon come in, and he basically it was like, 99% of the time when I see this, you’re paralyzed from the neck down. And he’s like, you just missed going into your spinal cord and and if you would have, you would have been paralyzed. And he’s like, for for whatever reason to your the good news out of this as well is that your ligaments were strong enough to actually hold everything in place. And so you actually didn’t need surgery. But it’s like, the bad news is it’s going to be one of the most painful recoveries that you could ever experience. And I ended up flying home from from Denmark, a week later. And, and the crazy part about the whole accident was like First off, said it’s gonna take about a year to fully recover, I think I got fully recovered, and in about six, six months really was diligent on on my PT. But one of the things that was great about all this was, when I talked about taking time off, this really forced me to take time off. And I was at a critical place in my life as to what I wanted to do with with AbSci and, and it allowed me to really step back and be like, what, what do I want in my own career? What do I want to, you know, what type of CEO do I want to be? Do I even want to continue this? Dude, do I want to sell AbSci? Do I want to continue to grow outside? Like, what do I want to do, and it just really made me realize that AbSci was doing something extraordinary here. And I want to see AbSci literally changed the world one protein at a time. And you don’t get many opportunities like that. And it made me realize that I needed to push all the chips all in on on AbSci. And this is like this was my calling and what I wanted to do, but I you know, it sounds weird, but I wouldn’t have I don’t think come to that conclusion, if I hadn’t had a an experience that changes your life in a way that is really hard to explain, and then makes you think that wow, like, I’m so grateful for the life that I live and I need to really do what I’m passionate about and do what I know what I’m supposed to do. And it kind of just allowed me to have it all kind of come together. And and so I think it was a very scary but but yet life changing experience for me. And it definitely changed me for the better.

Carl J. Cox 28:34

Sean once again, just because we were working together as little privy to stuff stuff, which I want to discuss openly in the stuff but you rejected some big opportunities in that period of time. And it is interesting for you to reflect and go that moment of pause in your life allowed you to stop in to think and go what is what is this about? Right? And what a great, what type of difference should I be making in the world and it’s fascinating how that literally a life and death thing. I mean, I remember being there with you, you’re in a tremendous amount of pain, you couldn’t barely move it but you were still moving forward. I mean, you didn’t stop working during that period of time. And I just I always I commend you. I don’t want to make a comparison because I didn’t get close to breaking my neck. But I lost my appendix. And I was in the hospital and September 4, three, you know, it took me three months to get back which is a lot less than you but but you know if I would have it was pretty bad burst in it. But it’s it. Same thing happened to me. It’s interesting, you talk about it, I made some life changing decisions. And it’s still contained and continued them and I don’t think I would have went there if I didn’t have that moment in that reflection and that pause even though it’s painful and awful and miserable was it was it and it’s it for me it’s kind of same thing. It’s just like This my tenure my big, hairy audacious goals. It’s like it’s all the more cemented more than ever now. And if I was just going along with my normal stuff, I might have not taken the easy path. But taking a different path, you know, and it sounds like, once again, that’s what you just described. And I just, I’m curious, yeah, would you? Did you ever think when you had accelerated finishing school and you’re working at your parents house that and breaking your neck? Did you ever dream, you’d be at where you’re at today? And about the cliff that you’re about to climb? I mean, did you ever envision that back then?

Sean McClain 30:44

You know, it’s funny, on one hand, I did on another I did. And I would say, like, back then I would have thought that I would have been where I’m at a lot sooner. It always takes way longer than you ever imagined. But, you know, I always knew that there was something special here. But I didn’t, I didn’t quite realize the extent of like, what this could become, I think it was just like, I just kept pushing forward and pushing the bounds. And and, and we’re gonna continue to push the bounds. And I’m sure that like, I’m gonna surprise, myself and everyone else around us when, you know, in 10 years from now, we’re doing something, you know, so much bigger than what we’re doing today. And I think it’s just, it’s just a testament to like, the team and like, what we’re doing, we continue to push the bounds of what is possible. And to me, like, we’re like the rebels and and like, we’re, we’re, we’re defining the future of synthetic biology and pushing new technologies, or they’re going to change the world. And, and so, yes, I am. It’s not exactly where I envisioned it. But like, I always knew that it was there was something special here. And and I’m just blessed to see it to where it’s, it’s really become, I mean, the team that we have now has really taken, you know, those initial ideas that that I had, and turn them into something so much bigger, and it’s just, it’s fun to be a part of something that is just so much bigger than, than yourself.

Carl J. Cox 32:31

Yeah, yeah. It’s awesome. This is this has been fantastic interview, Sean. So I got to ask my wife, one of my last questions here. So books, you know, I’m a bit of a bookie, I know you like to listen to books, what are some top books that you would recommend for our audience?

Sean McClain 32:49

Yeah, the one that I’m just finishing up now is No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings. And it’s about the the culture of Netflix and how they have pushed the limits of how a business can can operate, that’s very different than our you know, what we think of as a as a as a successful culture. And I think it really allows you to push your your own AI ideas and and figure out how we can be doing stuff differently to stay innovative and, and to build great companies which I just I, I have a ton of respect for Reed Hastings and and what he’s built and that that book is awesome. I recommend it for any entrepreneur. I rapidly grown a company to read that. And then the the the second book that I that I really love. It’s actually more of a negotiation book, but it’s Never Split the Difference is another one. And then the third one, The Hard Thing About Hard Things. And that’s the book that you you had recommended to me, Carl, I love that book. It is Yeah, it it. It resonates on so many different levels. So those would be my three, top three books at the current moment.

Carl J. Cox 34:15

Yeah, that’s great books. I read the No Rules Rules that is on my to do reading. Never Split the Difference. That’s excellent. And it actually it’s because it is it’s more than just a negotiating book. It’s it’s more than that. I agree. And The Hard Thing About Hard Things Yeah, that’s, that is definitely one of my top 10 books, especially for CEOs because that’s why I love to interview people on topics. It’s different for those on top, you know, and you have to make really challenging and difficult decisions. And I think his reflection of what he went through. I think it helps you see some things that you’re just like, Yes, I know I need to make it despite how difficult you know these things are and so thank you, thank you for sharing. Those are great, great suggestions. And then Interesting, the additional is Powerful by Patty McCord, who worked for Reed Hastings really is a great book I think also to read alongside No Rules Rules, especially for thinking about how to build out your team and your culture. I think it’s, it’s, it’s excellent. So with that, Sean, it’s been this has been amazing. We’ve been here talk with Sean McClain from AbSci where can people learn more about you and your organization?

Sean McClain 35:28

Yeah, you can visit us on our websites and and LinkedIn page. Awesome.

Carl J. Cox 35:34

Awesome. So Alright, Sean, thank you so much. Thank you for listening to the Measure Success Podcast, wishing you the very best at measuring your success.

Outro 35:45

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