Between Two COO's with Michael Koenig

Tom Masterson, COO of Deep Genomics, on AI drug discovery where precision beats creativity. He explains how the company's siRNA model picked an approved cholesterol drug out of 3,500 candidates for a target it had never seen, why it designs toxic molecules on purpose, and how a COO runs a company where the lab and the software move on different clocks.In this episode, Tom and Michael discuss:The difference between life sciences and healthcare, and where a tech bio company fitsBrendan Frey, Geoffrey Hinton's lab, and a thesis that was right but earlyRetiring 40 task-specific models when a foundation model beat themLab in the loop, and why the best training data includes molecules designed to be toxicThe siRNA result: a target the model had never seen, and nine picks out of 3,500Why drug developers think in 10 years and machine learning teams think in an afternoonFrom chief of staff to COO, and getting scientists to adopt processRunning waterfall and agile side by side, on a quarterly board and advisor rhythmThe N-of-one problem: a hero to the world, or a hero to your shareholdersAbout Tom:Tom Masterson is chief operating officer of Deep Genomics, the Toronto company building biological foundation models for RNA drug discovery. He joined in business development and strategy, then served as chief of staff to founder Brendan Frey and to CEO Brian O'Callaghan before becoming COO. He partners with the CEO on board and investor relations, owns the company's project management and executive functions, and is the person who turns Deep Genomics' science into its business story. Before Deep Genomics he was the first employee at Microbiome Insights in Vancouver, worked in contract research and healthcare design strategy, and founded Caregiver Support, a startup that helped family caregivers through medical crises. He started his career selling dental lasers at a medical device company. He holds a BSc in cell biology and genetics from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Harvard Business School.Resources mentioned:Deep Genomics: https://www.deepgenomics.comGenomeKit (open source): https://github.com/deepgenomics/GenomeKitAlnylam Pharmaceuticals: https://www.alnylam.comModerna: https://www.modernatx.comMerck: https://www.merck.comBroad Institute: https://www.broadinstitute.orgConnect with Tom:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mastersonthomas/Connect with Michael:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koenig514Building Helm: https://helmapp.aiSubscribe to Between Two COOs:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coos-with-michael-koenig/id1596195041Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OQY2oizo3rWUlwhmtdpSiNewsletter: https://betweentwocoos.com

Paul Kedrosky of SK Ventures says AI capex is driving up to 70 percent of US GDP growth, and most of it is now borrowed. He walks through the money map, the 2029 maturity wall, why AI tokens are a deflationary commodity, and three ways the AI bubble reaches companies that never touch a data center.In this episode, Paul and Michael discuss:Why AI capex now accounts for 30 to 70 percent of US GDP growth, and the historical moments that looked the sameThe money map: how the buildout moved from hyperscaler cash flow to more than 60 percent external financingThe 2029 maturity wall, and why it rhymes with the mortgage resets of the financial crisisTokens as the first hyper-deflationary industrial commodity, and the growth math that followsWhy developers are a misleading signal for how the rest of the economy will use AICircular financing: when one company is customer, supplier, investor, and lender at onceWhether anyone is safe building on top of the frontier models, and what quant funds do insteadThree things operators should do now: guard your signal, vet your vendors, and stop extrapolating from codersAbout Paul:Paul Kedrosky is co-founder and managing partner of SK Ventures and a fellow at MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, where his research focuses on AI and the future of work. A former Wall Street technology equity analyst, he consults with major asset managers, is a regular contributor at CNBC and Bloomberg, and co-hosts a weekly show with former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.Resources mentioned:Paul Kedrosky: https://paulkedrosky.comMIT Initiative on the Digital Economy: https://ide.mit.eduNational Bureau of Economic Research: https://www.nber.orgCoreWeave: https://www.coreweave.comHudson River Trading: https://www.hudsonrivertrading.comJane Street: https://www.janestreet.comStratechery by Ben Thompson: https://stratechery.comConnect with Paul:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-kedrosky/Newsletter: https://paulkedrosky.comConnect with Michael:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koenig514Building Helm: https://helmapp.aiSubscribe to Between Two COOs:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coos-with-michael-koenig/id1596195041Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OQY2oizo3rWUlwhmtdpSiNewsletter: https://betweentwocoos.com

Lior Eldan, co-founder and COO of Moburst, has reinvented what his agency sells three times, from app store optimization to AI products. He explains why replacing people with AI is backwards, why managers have to do the work, and why automating a broken process just gets the AI blamed.In this episode, Lior and Michael discuss:Why Moburst has moved off its winning product three times since 2013, and what each move brokeBuild vs. buy for services: why an acquisition brings a founder, and what the day after actually looks likeManagers do the work: the rule that keeps middle management from becoming a layer of measurersWhy replacing people with AI is backwards, and what Moburst now requires of every junior hireForward-deployed: what an embedded team found inside a mortgage company's operationsAnswer engine optimization and why an LLM reads your whole digital footprint, not your websiteFix the process before you automate it, and the cadence underneath a company that keeps reinventing itselfAbout Lior:Lior Eldan is co-founder and COO of Moburst, the digital marketing agency he started in 2013 with Gilad Bechar after the two met as HR officers in the Israeli army. Moburst began in app store optimization, grew through acquisitions including Uproar and Kitcaster, and now sells AI products alongside its services. Adweek has named it one of the fastest-growing agencies in the world.Resources mentioned:Moburst: https://www.moburst.comKitcaster: https://kitcaster.comHubSpot: https://www.hubspot.comSupercell: https://supercell.comClaude Code: https://claude.com/product/claude-codeTucows: https://tucows.comConnect with Lior:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lioreldan/Connect with Michael:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koenig514Building Helm: https://helmapp.aiSubscribe to Between Two COOs:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coos-with-michael-koenig/id1596195041Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OQY2oizo3rWUlwhmtdpSiNewsletter: https://betweentwocoos.com

Part 2 of 2. Part 1 is here: https://betweentwocoos.com/65 In part 1, Joe Yaffe explained how an orbital data center works. This time, the question is whether it works as a business. In this episode, Joe and Michael discuss: Why Cowboy Space measures itself in cost per GPU hour, not cents per kilowatt hour Why a lot of new space companies are run by technologists who aren't asking if it's a business What has to go right to raise the billions this needs beyond the first $365 million Why the perfect rocket engine is designed to sit on the balance point of failure How being your own only customer changes what a failed launch costs you Six-year chip life, and why you stop caring that you can't reach them The seven-year wait for a data center in Northern Virginia Which agencies regulate an orbital data center, including the FDA Why hiring, not physics, sits at the top of his list The December 2028 launch date the whole company runs against About Joe: Joe Yaffe is COO and chief legal officer at Cowboy Space, which is building data centers that run in orbit. He spent 31 years practicing law in Silicon Valley, fifteen of them at Latham & Watkins and the rest at Skadden, where he was managing partner of the Palo Alto office. He studied ancient Greek in college. Connect with Joe: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephyaffe/ Connect with Michael: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koenig514 Building Helm: https://helmapp.ai Subscribe to Between Two COOs: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coos-with-michael-koenig/id1596195041 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OQY2oizo3rWUlwhmtdpSi Newsletter: https://betweentwocoos.com

Part 1 of 2. Part 2 drops later this week. Joe Yaffe had climbed as high as the ladder goes. Fifteen years at Latham & Watkins, then Skadden, managing partner of the Palo Alto office, 31 years advising founders and CEOs. By his own account, his idea of a midlife crisis was moving from one mega law firm to another. Then Baiju Bhatt stepped away from Robinhood, Joe asked what was next, and the answer was space lasers. In this episode, Joe and Michael discuss: Why switching law firms counted as a midlife crisis, and what that says about risk The three traits Joe saw in every successful founder across 31 years of client work The easy button for a lawyer, and why he calls it second grade lawyering One way doors and two way doors, with a real one from Cowboy Space Getting to an undergraduate understanding of rocket science in about a year How data centers in space actually work, explained without an engineering degree Why the second stage of the rocket becomes both the data center and the radiator Why none of it breaks the laws of physics About Joe: Joe Yaffe is COO and chief legal officer at Cowboy Space, which is building data centers that run in orbit. He spent 31 years practising law in Silicon Valley, fifteen of them at Latham & Watkins and the rest at Skadden, where he was managing partner of the Palo Alto office. He studied ancient Greek in college. Chapters 00:00 Cold open 01:11 Introduction 02:27 Thirty-one years, and a very small midlife crisis 04:03 Meeting Baiju Bhatt 05:13 "I thought I would die at my desk" 05:31 Space lasers 06:34 "If you do it, I'll come join you" 07:32 What twenty years beside founders teaches you 09:13 The eight billion people rule 11:46 Second grade lawyering 13:26 Tapping the brakes and hitting the accelerator 14:33 One way doors and two way doors 17:14 "Be careful with the rations" 18:13 Zero to rocket science in a year 19:45 "I'm the liberal arts guy in the room" 22:03 Acronyms, and blowing a fastball by you 23:27 Advice for anyone standing at the fork 26:37 The best advice he got before he jumped 29:29 How Cowboy Space works, explained for the rest of us 31:05 Asimov wrote about this in the 1940s 35:27 Turning the second stage into the data center 36:30 The radiator epiphany 37:50 Cheaper than Earth, or it's a science project 39:29 Why they're building their own rocket 43:54 Chips, cooling, and NVIDIA 45:54 "We're not breaking any laws of physics" 47:50 Four companies at once 50:37 Nuclear reactors on the moon Resources mentioned: Cowboy Space: https://cowboyspace.com I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, which collects "Reason", the 1941 short story on beaming power from orbit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/055338256X Connect with Joe: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephyaffe/ Connect with Michael: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koenig514 Building Helm: https://helmapp.ai Subscribe to Between Two COOs: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coos-with-michael-koenig/id1596195041 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OQY2oizo3rWUlwhmtdpSi Newsletter: https://betweentwocoos.com