🧬Cyriac Roeding - Part 3 | Founding Shopkick During the 2008 Financial Crisis | Transforming Retail with Mobile Tech | Exploring AI’s Use in Clinical Trials & Reshaping Drug Development

The Biotech Startups Podcast

Part 3 of 4: My guest today is Cyriac Roeding, founder, investor, and CEO of Earli, a company on a mission to transform cancer into a manageable condition. Using innovative gene therapy approaches, Earli’s technology forces cancer cells to produce a synthetic, non-human biomarker—overcoming the limitations of relying on naturally occurring biomarkers that cancer may or may not provide.

Cyriac is a serial entrepreneur and investor who has created ventures at the intersection of physical and digital worlds. He has invested in startups like OpenAI and served as CEO of Shopkick, which was acquired for $250 million. His current focus, Earli, has raised nearly $60 million from top investors. Cyriac's journey from launching his first startup at 15 to being named a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer showcases his valuable insights into building successful startups.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Launching Shopkick during the 2008 financial crisis and securing funding against the odds
• Partnering with Best Buy, Macy’s, and Target to pioneer in-store rewards using ultrasound technology
• Overcoming GPS limitations with innovative hardware solutions
• Switching from retail tech to life sciences, with a focus on AI and engineering
• Cyriac’s vision for digital clinical trials to accelerate drug development

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Find Our Guest, Cyriac Roeding, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyriacroeding/

https://www.earli.com/

https://www.joinrewind.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

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

https://www.excedr.com

Excedr Socials & Website

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr

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

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

Earli: https://www.earli.com/

Kleiner Perkins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleiner_Perkins

Shopkick: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkick

AI in Drug Development & Clinical Trials: https://www.earli.com/post/how-ai-is-powering-earlis-mission

Biotech Startup Support: https://www.excedr.com/resources-category/biotech-startup-support

People Mentioned:

John Doerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-doerr-03248211/

Steve Jobs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

Reid Hoffman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/

Aaron Emigh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronemigh/

Alexis Rask: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleinoff/

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:58 Joining Kleiner Perkins as an entrepreneur-in-residence

05:43 Developing the idea for Shopkick

08:20 Securing Best Buy as a partner and navigating retailer challenges

11:11 Using ultrasound technology to solve GPS limitations for in-store tracking

13:25 Partnering with major brands and scaling Shopkick to profitability

16:25 Transitioning to life sciences and shifting focus to biology and AI

20:18 Exploring the potential of digital clinical trials

24:05 The intersection of biology, engineering, and software as the next frontier

27:57 Cyriac’s vision for the future of drug development

31:30 Outro

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