🧬 From Hong Kong Childhood to Global Sales: Connecting the Dots | Fengru Lin Rerelease (1/3)

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"You can do whatever you want. You can achieve whatever you put your mind to."

In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Fengru Lin, CEO and co-founder of TurtleTree, a biotech company using precision fermentation to produce LF+, the world’s first sustainably made lactoferrin, and ultimately reimagine how food is produced. Drawing on a nontraditional path into biotech—from Girl Guides in Singapore to sales roles in transactional security and global regulatory environments—Fengru shares how an early love of planning, operations, and people has shaped her approach to leadership and company building.

Jon and Fengru explore how strict but empowering parenting in Hong Kong and Singapore instilled self-reliance, how organizing school camps and long-distance cycling trips foreshadowed operational excellence, and how early internships at places like SeaWorld, Daiwa, Nestlé, and a growing marketing agency clarified what she did and didn’t want from her career. They also discuss what it’s like to do high-stakes, detail-oriented sales across Asia in a heavily regulated industry, the importance of connecting scientists and business leaders, and why rigorous standards and regulatory thinking became foundational for TurtleTree’s commercialization strategy.

Key Topics Covered:

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Find our guest, Fengru Lin at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fengru/

Website: https://www.turtletree.com/

Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee/

Learn more about Excedr:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

Website: https://www.excedr.com

Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:

Website: https://flow.page/kyojin

Resources & Articles:

Lactoferrin in Nutrition and Immune Health (overview article): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7940821

Introduction to Precision Fermentation for Food Ingredients: https://www.goodfoodinstitute.org/reports/precision-fermentation

Alternative Protein and Foodtech Overview: https://gfi.org/resource/state-of-the-industry-report-alternative-proteins

Regulatory Strategy Basics for Emerging Biotechs: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/development-approval-process-drugs

Understanding EMV and Global Card Payment Standards: https://www.emvco.com/emv-technologies

Introduction to Operational Excellence in Manufacturing: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/the-journey-to-operational-excellence

Systems Thinking for Complex Supply Chains: https://hbr.org/2010/02/a-simpler-way-to-think-about

Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:

TurtleTree: https://www.turtletree.com

Singapore Management University: https://www.smu.edu.sg

Nestlé: https://www.nestle.com

Daiwa Securities Group: https://www.daiwa-grp.jp/english

SeaWorld Orlando: https://seaworld.com/orlando

Underwriters Laboratories (UL Solutions): https://www.ul.com

Visa: https://www.visa.com

Mastercard: https://www.mastercard.com

American Express: https://www.americanexpress.com

WPP: https://www.wpp.com

00:00 Intro

00:37 Fengru’s Hong Kong childhood and her mother’s mindset lessons

02:41 Girl Guides, planning camps, and earning the President’s Girl Guide award

04:18 Discovering a love for operations and connecting the dots

05:09 Choosing information systems and marketing at SMU

07:27 Why she never expected to end up in biotech

09:20 Bridging scientists and business: knowing just enough science

10:57 Cycling 2,010 km and what long rides teach about planning

12:16 Internships at SeaWorld, Daiwa, Nestlé Milo, and a marketing agency

14:13 Inside Nestlé’s Milo plant and the fragility of food systems

15:50 Landing a first sales role at Collis and learning global standards

18:08 A detail-obsessed CEO, proposals, and lessons in quality

20:44 Selling into regulated financial markets across Asia

The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.