"Under 40" Biotech Billionaires?

I assume he started young.
Credit: Forbes

Since the dawn of capitalism, Americans have been entranced by rich youngsters. Their quirks, foibles, and outrageous lifestyles make magazines' front pages and serve as cultural touchstones; Richie Rich, Eloise, Bruce Wayne, and Montana Max all represent the genre well.

Forbes recently got into the "Youngest Billionaires" game, with the 2013 list featured prominently on the website. Forbes profiled 29 individuals under 40 with net worths >$1 billion, whose life stories reveal several interesting trends.

How does one become an "Under-40" billionaire?

1. Drop out of college to start a tech firm, or
2. Inherit your wealth.

That's just about everyone on the list. By 'tech,' I mean computers, gadgets, or apps - nary a biologist or chemist among the ranks (there are three engineers, but they've made their fortunes on the business side of things).

Thought Experiment: What would one need in order to be a baby-faced biotech billionaire? 

(For the purposes of this exercise, we'll ignore inheritance, and focus on "bootstrapping" from a standard middle-class childhood.)

For one, you'd likely need to forego college, and probably grad school. A five-year Ph.D., coupled with a 3-year postdoc shaves eight potentially game-changing years out of your 20s and 30s. Not to mention you're still paying back student loans and likely making below-market wages the entire time. Make no mistake, you'll have to start early, and perhaps look to hire your Ph.D. friends on the other side.

Next, you need what folks in the tech sector call a killer app. What does that mean for biotech? Something cheap to produce, easy to sell, relatively non-toxic and easily handled, and usable by people around the globe. A simple cancer diagnostic, perhaps, or a revolutionary photocatalyst. Maybe a new strain of fungi or bacteria for food production, or a serendipitous discovery of a new dye or drug (Hey, it worked for Perkin!)

Credit: Shutterstock

Third, since you'll have to weigh each wild idea or ground-shaking concept you create against its future commercialization value, you'd need a fundamental shift in your view of scientific communication. Open-access journals, blogs, national meeting presentations? Not for you. Timely patent applications and I.P. guardianship will be your bread and butter, so no sense in risking inadvertent disclosures. 

So, follow these easy 1-2-3 steps to biotech billions, right? Well, of course it's never that easy. Luck plays a crucial role in start-up ventures, as do connections. In this field, one's credibility might be undermined without a college degree, which might make initial fundraising tough. The barrier to entry might also be too high; tech entrepreneurs can start with a laptop, but biotech needs lab space, reagents, journal access, safety gear...the list goes on and on.

Readers, I'm sure this sounds nice and logical on paper, but I must have missed something along the way. Can you think of any high-net-worth youngsters who cut their teeth in chemistry? Why don't more young people see science entrepreneurship as a valid career direction?

Coincidence?

Here at JLC, I've been mighty tough on routine weekend work before. I feel (and still do) that time management, equipment investment, and clear project goals go a long way towards giving you free time to play on Saturday mornings.

Well, a recent Forbes piece forced me to re-think a bit about my own weekend track record. Bruce Booth wields a mighty megaphone, arguing that equity, financial risk, and personal time investment in biotech startups drive innovation in ways that pure translational research cannot. He drops in a real gem near the middle:

"A great chemist in a drug discovery startup can personally change the trajectory of the equity of the startup with a new lead series.  Working over the weekend actually might change the outcome of a startup."

Found art:
Marshmallow Fluff Pac-Man

Intriguing. Really makes you think, too...does that apply to me? Then it hit me: every major discovery that's come my way has happened on a holiday or weekend. That initial grad school hit? Saturday morning, while boss was out. Postdoc molecule? Holiday weekend. My new intermediate? Came in to check TLCs on a Sunday. On and on we go...

I do have a possible explanation. Weekend work, though it takes away from social and family time, presents an opportunity for your brain to think in different ways. To escape the work week drudgery, break the mold, maybe read that random paper or set up that "this will never work, but hey..." experiment in the back of your hood. Maybe that's where true innovation happens.