When A16z – Andreessen and Horowitz was founded, their main idea was to support technological founder CEOs rather than professional CEOs (see Ben Horowitz describing this logic here or in Chapter 9 of the book “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz).
Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, in addition to other successful tech company CEOs, are technological founders. They are innovators that serve as a driving force to improve understanding of new technologies and their potential applications. They continue to innovate and drive technology forward.
Reaching this understanding paved the way for one of the most successful venture capital firms to date (a16z). Horowitz and Andreessen understood that founding CEOs require strong, supportive networks and mentorship to succeed and bridge the gap between technological knowledge and a strong understanding of business and hiring environments to provide technological innovators with the skills necessary to run a successful company. To address this need, they built supportive networks to provide mentorship and assistance to the founders of the companies they funded.
Science founders are not different from technological founders – they are the ones driving innovation; however, they lack the business skills and experience required to build a company. At Nest catalyst, we want to help by quickly building supportive networks for our cohort founders, allowing them to push forward with their innovations while being supported by some of the best managers and leaders within the biotech ecosystem.
We know that scientists have a deep understanding of their technology and innovation directions, together with a strong dedication to the goal of impacting lives, all of which will help them to become successful with the right support.
Be the change.
Nest Catalyst is an educational program geared to support young Israeli scientists worldwide, to commercialize their scientific findings by founding a company. The program includes expert insights and hands-on training on a variety of topics related to early science entrepreneurship while introducing the scientists to the local and global biotech ecosystem. The program is followed by a week-long visit to the Silicon Valley to meet in person the local ecosystem and an exclusive pitch night.
