What Rural Indiana Can Teach Biotech Founders About Trust | Philip Borden (1/4)

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr: helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.

As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr's partner network: special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners.

“It's the relationships that have always mattered a lot more to me on selecting a partner on that front.”

Philip Borden grew up in Plymouth, Indiana, in a family shaped by agriculture. He talks about his grandparents' farms, his father's work as an agricultural lender, and the early lessons he absorbed about local businesses and long-term relationships.

At Duke, an introductory biology class sparked Borden's interest in molecular biology and the underlying causes of disease. He explains why he chose Duke, how swimming and campus life shaped the experience, and why the relationships he built there mattered as much as what he learned in the classroom.

Borden also reflects on the growing importance of communication, trust, and social judgment in a workplace increasingly influenced by AI. He closes with the independent study that took him into his family's history through Oliver Borden's journals and rural Indiana life before the Civil War.

Key Topics Covered:

If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.

Listen and subscribe to The Biotech Startups Podcast:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast

Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Find our guest, Philip Borden, at these links:

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

Website: https://www.labshares.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:

Duke Cell & Molecular Biology: https://biology.duke.edu/undergraduate/major/concentrations/cell-molecular

Molecular Biology: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21054/

Borden Family Collection: https://archives.isl.lib.in.us/repositories/2/resources/110

William Wesley Borden Papers: https://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/william-wesley-borden-papers-1824-1895.pdf

Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:

Frazier Healthcare Partners: https://www.frazierhealthcare.com

Riverside Partners: https://www.riversidepartners.com

Galen Partners: https://www.galen-partners.com

Longfellow Healthcare Partners: https://www.longfellowhc.com

Duke University: https://www.duke.edu

Harvard Business School: https://www.hbs.edu

University of Chicago: https://www.uchicago.edu

JPMorgan: https://www.jpmorgan.com

DoorDash: https://www.doordash.com

Google: https://www.google.com

Oliver Borden: https://archives.isl.lib.in.us/repositories/2/resources/110

00:00 Intro

03:06 Growing Up in Plymouth, Indiana

03:24 An Agricultural Family Background

03:28 Lessons From a Local Agricultural Lender

04:32 Why Relationships Matter More Than Twenty-Five Basis Points

05:13 Capital Partners and the Cost of a Bad Fit

08:17 Discovering Molecular Biology in College

08:51 Choosing Duke University

08:58 Balancing Science, Swimming, and Fun

11:24 Why Relationships Became His Richest College Experience

11:42 AI and the Rising Value of Social Skills

14:48 Moving From Molecular Cell Biology to Family History

14:52 Oliver Borden's Journals

16:27 Rural Indiana Before the Civil War

16:34 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.