🧬 Transforming Food Systems with Lactoferrin & Precision Fermentation | Fengru Lin Rerelease (3/3)

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"Our vision is really to transform the food system. We want to be able to nourish and nurture people, the planet, and animals, and we do that by producing better-for-you ingredients through sustainable methods."

In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Fengru Lin, CEO & co-founder of TurtleTree, who is leveraging precision fermentation and a people-first culture to bring the high-value milk protein lactoferrin to market while reshaping how the food system serves both consumers and farmers. They discuss TurtleTree's strategic refocus from cell-based milk to commercially viable ingredients, the importance of business-centric leadership in biotech, and how thoughtful team-building enables faster execution, better fundraising narratives, and earlier commercialization.

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:

SupplySide West ingredients conference: https://www.supplysidewest.com

IFT FIRST Annual Event and Expo (Chicago food conference): https://www.ift.org/events/ift-first-annual-event-and-expo

World Economic Forum feature on lactoferrin & precision fermentation: https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/posts/lactoferrin-supports-immunity-boosts-gut-health-and-improves-digestion-but-right/1441804124654488

Global Dairy Trade lactoferrin pricing overview: https://www.globaldairytrade.info

Merck KGaA company overview: https://www.merckgroup.com

Dow Corporate company overview: https://corporate.dow.com/en-us.html

Thermo Fisher Scientific company overview: https://www.thermofisher.com

Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:

TurtleTree: https://www.turtletree.com

Abbott: https://www.abbott.com

Fonterra: https://www.fonterra.com

Merck KGaA: https://www.merckgroup.com

Dow: https://corporate.dow.com/en-us.html

Thermo Fisher Scientific: https://www.thermofisher.com

Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com

Google: https://www.google.com

Excedr: https://www.excedr.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:37 TurtleTree’s mission to transform the food system

02:22 Building an HR-first, people-centric culture

04:08 Business-centric leadership as a “big symphony”

07:10 Empowering experts & orchestrating the team

08:12 Shifting focus from cell-based milk to lactoferrin

10:44 Commercial logic of lactoferrin vs whey & casein

13:11 Choosing precision fermentation over heavy CapEx

15:03 B2B2C strategy & “Intel Inside”-style branding

16:53 Impact on farmers, dairy, and plant-based milks

18:13 Fundraising realities & gross margin discipline

20:55 Stories of investor skepticism about “business” founders

23:30 Walking scientists through investor communications

26:03 Conferences, customer feedback & vegan demand for lactoferrin

27:35 Team gratitude & advice to her 21-year-old self

27:53 Outro

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.