Building, Selling, and Rebuilding: A Biotech Founder's Second Act with Tero-Pekka Alastalo

🧪 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 94 🧪

What does it take to build a biotech company, sell it right before a crisis hits, and then find the motivation to start all over again?

In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Tero-Pekka Alastalo, Co-founder & CEO of Avenue Biosciences, a protein engineering company re-engineering therapies to make them cheaper and faster to manufacture. An MD-PhD and trained pediatric cardiologist, Tero-Pekka's path from Stanford postdoc to founder took him through a genomics company that was sold just before COVID, a stint at the acquiring organization, and ultimately to co-found Avenue.

Key topics discussed: ● Selling a genomics startup weeks before the COVID shutdown ● Life inside an acquiring company, and knowing when it's time to leave ● How Avenue re-engineers proteins to lower manufacturing costs ● Building a platform play inside the biosimilar market ● Where AI is actually accelerating drug discovery today ● Finding the right investor niche for deep-tech biotech ● Why go-to-market, not technology, is the hardest problem to solve

🎧 Whether you're a founder weighing an exit, an operator navigating a company post-acquisition, or an investor trying to understand platform plays in biotech, this conversation offers a grounded, honest look at what building — and rebuilding — actually looks like.

📩 Connect with Tero-Pekka Alastalo:Email: tpa@avenuebiosciences.com

🌐 Learn more about Avenue Biosciences: https://www.avenuebiosciences.com/

👉 Watch now and subscribe to the channel!

💬 Tell us in the comments: Have you ever had to rebuild your motivation after a big win?