Shekhar Mitra - InnoPreneur & P&G - Part 4

Intro - 00:00:01:

Welcome to the Biotech Startups Podcast by Excedr. Join us as we speak with first-time founders, serial entrepreneurs, and experienced investors about the challenges and triumphs of running a biotech startup from pre-seed to IPO with your host, Jon Chee. In our last episode, we spoke with Shekhar Mitra about his experience as a director of R&D in Asia and the challenges and triumphs he faced taking innovation to a global scale. We also discussed his relocation to China for a groundbreaking project and the mindset that drove him to establish the first innovation center in Asia. Lastly, we dove into the realm of luxury and premium brands and discussed how to redefine consumer experiences by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and creating emotional connections with brands. If you missed it, be sure to listen to part three. In part four, we talk with Shekhar about his time at Procter & Gamble and the entrepreneurial opportunities he found there, sharing how these experiences laid the foundation for his future endeavors as an entrepreneur and mentor. We also discuss his involvement in developing an innovative drug from natural sources, a revolutionary mouthpiece for oral health, and his work with the Cincinnati Art Museum and Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, highlighting his commitment to community, diversity, creativity, and leadership in both the arts and STEM fields.

Jon - 00:01:43:

So you spent a lot of time at P&G, you're in leadership. And this must have been, I'm going to imagine, a very emotional kind of moment to eventually leave P&G. When did you know it was time? And did you know what was next?

Shekhar - 00:01:58:

Yeah. Now I look back and I say, you know what? If I were to do anything differently, if I had the scope, I would always be a non-troublemaker. You know, I have that spirit in me. And I've gotten some opportunities within the four walls of a big corporation to be entrepreneurial. And I felt like, you know. I could have and should have retired a bit earlier. So I had running space to start my own things. I had ideas to do that. But by the time I retired, you know, I was lucky to retire relatively young, at the age of 57, 58. You know, I've been retired for almost nine years now. And, you know, I felt like, okay, I've done enough. The organization was taken care of, you know, because we have succession plans and all of that. And after 29 odd years, you know, and I had a special assignment to think with a small team of people, innovation of the future for the entire company. So I was on that team called Lead Team for six months. That was breakthrough work by a bunch of people that were selected to do it for the whole company. After that work was over, I said, I need to now go out and do some things on my own, you know. And yes, I. I had many ideas to start certain companies, but I felt like I could probably contribute. And, you know, I have a lot of connections. People do trust me and do know what my capabilities are. So I was getting a lot of offers, including corporations, big corporations. But I didn't want that anymore. Right. And so I signed on to some board stuff, you know, international flavors, fragrances. I was on the innovation committee of the board. You know, I had some other board assignments, Aura Brush, et cetera. But most importantly, what I wanted to do was I knew so many people, ex-retires of P&G or other companies. I felt like with all the knowledge we had. We could really serve the needs of lots of companies. That benefit from our thinking approach. On brands, you know? And that's what got me into YourEncore, which is a storehouse of talent pool of mostly big XBNGs. And I did some strategic thinking for YourEncore to lay out high-end, innovation, consulting roles. But that was for five or six years I did that. But most importantly, my... My focus was... To associate with a few breakthrough ventures. Where outside ideas and talent could infuse and bring these ventures to a much higher elevated level, make some of those connections where these venture platforms could apply. And that's the role that I eventually have come down to over the last four or five years. And I also wanted to spend some time on nonprofit and contribution, et cetera. But now my role is, hey, you know, I work with some of these breakthrough, four or five breakthrough ventures. Each of them breakthrough in their own way. But just like ventures, they're risky. And I can take enough risk at this stage, you know. But I want to make them successful so that all the people who are putting their sweat and tears into it also come out to be successful. For me, you know, success to me is not anymore as much as making more and more money. I have enough to live by. But at the same time, Who doesn't want more money? If something exits, that's great for me. But I'm not a big shareholder of any of all this. But I'm a substantial influencer for all of these ventures. So I'm not only just on the board of the advisory board, I roll up my sleeves to work with these teams, bring talent in from outside, bring the connectivity to other companies that can benefit from this. And thereby, these ventures can also be successful. That's what the role I'm playing.

Jon - 00:06:23:

I love that because I think as... I was starting my career, something that was incredibly difficult was not having the network or I just didn't know anybody. I didn't know anybody. And it's really hard as much as I wanted to believe that the network was less important. It's incredibly important. It's so important. Connecting the dots and meeting the right people, the right technical talent, whatever it may be, is so important. So I love this kind of element that you are enabling founders who are starting their journey to lean onto your history, experience, your Rolodex, just to help them reach the success that you've enjoyed throughout your career. So that's amazing to hear. And something that you mentioned is your nonprofit work and the community building and the leadership building. I know one of your initiatives is you have a long time involvement with the Cincinnati Art Museum. Yes. And your wife and you.

Shekhar - 00:07:24:

My wife mostly, yes.

Jon - 00:07:26:

Yes, your wife mostly. Can you talk a little bit about your involvement and primarily your wife's involvement with the Cincinnati Art Museum?

Shekhar - 00:07:33:

Well, you know. I think my wife has a tremendous passion for not only teaching, but to contribute to the community. She's, you know, got a PhD in English literature. But when we were meeting, we were both students, you know, or I was a PhD student. She was a master student. But, you know, she went into on her own volition into art appreciation, learning art appreciation. And along the years, you know, she's... Being 24 years as a docent, she learned to be a docent. And a docent is not easy, and it's not a big job. And Cincinnati Art Museum is probably one of the region's top, not only the region's top, but one of the premier museums in North America, I would say. Because we are very fortunate to have a lot of people who've contributed and granted and given their art and everything, including Procter & Gamble Company. So it's a very, very well-known, fantastic museum. And she learned how to be a docent. And now she's only one of the most sought-after docents. And now she's on the board for the last four years. They recruited her on the board, which is an extremely prestigious position for someone who's a teacher by profession to be on this board. So highly sought-after. She's one of the few, I think, only one who's probably not only on the board, but also an active docent. In fact, this morning, she's a docenting with fifth graders, seventh graders.

Jon - 00:09:09:

Cool.

Shekhar - 00:09:09:

What a joy she gets out of that.

Jon - 00:09:11:

So cool.

Shekhar - 00:09:12:

You know, and we decided that, you know, we are also very fortunate. You know, we are not rich, but we are fortunate. We have enough. And we felt like Cincinnati Art Museum needed to have more exposure and seek out diverse groups of representation. And in this region, you know, South Asians and Southeast Asians have grown. And there was a small gallery for Asian gallery, but nothing that, you know, elaborate. So we decided to be major sponsors for the South Asian gallery, which is absolutely phenomenal. You know, and the whole idea there was, you know, my wife and I thought about it and said, not only do you want to throw more diverse groups of people into the Cincinnati Art Museum, you know, from the community and the extended community around our state. But we also want to kind of have a theme that says, no. India and these countries, Bangladesh and all of these countries, you know, all we hear about are religious rights, Muslims and Hindus and Christians and this. We never think about the fact that Art has grown for thousands of years in this part of the world. Where Christian artists and Muslim artists and then Hindu artists all work together. And create a dot. And what a wonderful theme, right? So that is kind of the theme. So if you come, and I would love to invite you to come and be with us and visit us. And if you go to the museum, the little gallery we created from our funds has art that was done by Hindu South Indians. Then there was art that is inspired by Christians in Goa. Which is a Portuguese colony, then the art done by Muslims 400-500 years ago in India under the auspices of the Raj. So even the kings and the Muslim rulers encouraged art irrespective of who the artist was and what religion they came from. So when you ask a question, when you're in a debate about all the religious rites and everything that's going on in the politics, that's not politics. If you really look at their sense of art, literature, anything that's creative, it's the crossroads and the experiences of different religions, different peoples all coming together. Like I said, innovation happens at the crossroads. Many diverse themes, you know. And that was the whole idea. So not only is my wife a teacher, but we also, you know, I've learned a lot in this area and we have now gotten very involved in the museum. But we are also involved with the ballet, we are involved with the theater, because we really believe that you know, this country has given us a lot. We are extremely lucky, right? So we now want to give back to the community. We've educated our children, right? And they're all doing fine. You know, they're doing well. But now it's like, okay, we also need to give something back. So that is our contribution in a lot of ways. You know, we are also associated with some orphanages and all that where the needs are obvious. I mean, it's extremely sad. It's extremely, and you know, those are obvious things that all of us need to support. But this whole idea of supporting the arts and social justice themes and arts from multiple cultures is something that is very, very dear to our heart now.

Jon - 00:13:10:

Absolutely. I mean, I was like in my mind fist pumping. I'm like, yes, this is exactly an art as a unifying, like it unifies the community and really just shows that like we're not at odds with each other.

Shekhar - 00:13:24:

Heart of hearts, humans are all good. You know, everything, I'm not going to get into politics, but everything that's going on in the Middle East today or in Ukraine or whatever, you know, if you look at the fundamentals down to the, I've been to Kiev many, many times on business, and it's so sad to hear about everything that's going on. But whatever the reason in the politics, it's the politics that's driving it. People are the fundamental. They don't want to be in this situation. They don't want to create this kind of suffering. You know, and everyone has the right to live and contribute to their fullest. And I hope that, you know, art and music and things that I find are really ones that can unify different cultures and they can bring it together if you really do it in the right way.

Jon - 00:14:13:

Totally. And I love hearing that your wife is with fifth graders and then the younger and the future generation. I know you also co-founded the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers. Can you talk about how you founded that and its mission?

Shekhar - 00:14:29:

Yeah, I always felt that growing up at a big corporation like Procter & Gamble, when I first came here, like I said to you, initial part of our dialogue here, that, you know, I felt a bit lost. There's only 11 Asians in headquarter. Now there are more than 300. There are COOs and presidents at Procter & Gamble that are of Asian origin. My time, there was no one. And Mr. A.G. Lafley, one of the CEOs I mentioned during our discussion, he had come in from Japan, and I had just been brought back from China because our oral care business in the U.S. was in trouble. So they wanted me to kind of create innovation for oral care. So 2000, when I came back, he assigned me to create, he and his HR head assigned me to create an affinity group for Asians within P&G. And it was only 30, 40 of us, like I said, another 300, 400 in headquarters. And of course, in India, organization, and in Thailand, and other places, Asians, all over, right? Philippines, but headquarters, which is the hub of P&G. And I felt like, you know, we had certain things that we needed to really build as leaders, as Asians. You know, I was brought up in a place where I never showed off how much I scored in science or history or whatever. The expectation was that, you know, you got 90s, you know, when I was growing up. My mother said, okay, you're not first or second or third. You didn't do enough hard work, you know, and the Asians, you know, generally our upbringing is we don't talk about ourselves. So I was saying that that was actually not the right thing. On the other hand, talking too much and being too aggressive is also hard, right? There's a balance in a leadership style. And I felt like without changing ourselves within P&G, someone like me, I could be very effective. I could contribute in a meeting and not stay silent. So that I was going unnoticed during my initial leadership roles and very early on, 30, 40 years, 30 years ago. And, you know, I felt like there were certain things I was observing that I could do when I was the affinity in charge on P&G, that I could start creating training. I could start bringing in my Caucasian friends to train people, not to change the Asian future generation of Asian leaders, but to create with their style. You know, my style, for instance, is very consensus. I like to listen to everyone, then I make a decision. Not that I'm pleasing everyone. You cannot please everyone. So it's a consensus that listening. And some of my colleagues were quite effective. At making a decision and hard decision right there and making it right there. And, you know, didn't even care hoots about, you know, how the others felt. But I would do it very softly and explain to them why I made the decision. The effect perhaps was the same. I feel mine is more long-lasting approach to creating relationships. So I thought to myself at P&G while I was doing this leadership that I could get people to learn through experiences and case studies. Then a friend, an ex-colleague of mine, Tom Fernandez and myself, she was from the manufacturing side and I was from the innovation R&D side. We said, you know what? With a bunch of some of our friends, we said, you know what? I bet you all the stuff we are doing within P&G. Asian community across big organizations and middle organizations needs it. That It's invented in my mind a mission for creating an organization called Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers. It's not restricted to only scientists and engineers. Anybody could come in. It's not restricted to Asians only. In fact, we have in our recruiting sessions for big companies coming in, we encourage people from all walks of life to come in and recruit with these big corporations. It's a great, great convention we have once a year. And that cemented the mission, which is to develop the future generation of Asian leaders. Who are scientists or engineers by background or training. Because that's what's missing. Now you see, you know, all the CEOs, you know, more board members, et cetera. It's a process and it has to start early on to create the future generation. Now, Jon, you know, I'm very proud of this organization. It's very close to my heart. And the CEO, Khánh Vũ, who is a Vietnamese, Khánh Vũ is the CEO of this organization. We have a terrific board of many industrial representatives from GE all the way to P&G. And Khánh Vũ and his people have done a phenomenal job. We have women's leadership coaching now. We have more than 3,000 participants. Every year, we have regional conferences, four regional conferences. We have recruiting sessions where you name it, the top companies are coming to recruit for two days. The next generation of collegiates who have graduated, they get their talent from the CIS convention. We have top-notch speakers and politicians coming to talk. We have CEOs. You know, of Northrop Grumman and GE, you know, giving keynote speeches. So now if you go out to CIS, in fact, I'm supposed to give a talk on October 3rd, which is the convention in Atlanta. And I'm unfortunately going to be coming back that day from Asia. So I'll not be able to do that. I have to let them know. But the point is that if you go to one of these, you will see the spirit of learning just coming. Together. You know, so we have all these sessions of women leaders talking to women of different levels within professional organizations, what they have faced or panels discussing. You can imagine, right? I'm not describing it the right way, but you can imagine how much learning there is from people like all of us who've been in these situations. That's incredible.

Jon - 00:21:01:

And honestly, again, I'm thinking back on. When the P&G CEO went to the career fair at school and you just happened to get connected. And, this conference is making, like, is connecting people across the board.

Shekhar - 00:21:21:

They're getting jobs at Shell. They're getting summer internships at Northrop Grumman. You know, they're getting summer internship at Eli Lilly. I mean, imagine. We didn't have that. Perhaps you are much younger than me. You might not have had that either.

Jon - 00:21:37:

That's so amazing because I think you basically have created that moment where you got recruited by P&G at scales.

Shekhar - 00:21:46:

Exactly.

Jon - 00:21:47:

It's at scale versus like, you know, just like praying that someone amazing shows up to your career fair that you happen to be at. This is like, no, in your area, we are going to connect you with the leaders in industry who can kind of show you the ropes and mentor you. And I love to hear that.

Shekhar - 00:22:05:

Very well characterized. Very well. That's how they are feeling, the younger generation. Mid-tier professionals feeling like they're learning from those who've gone through the trenches. The upper level VPs who are coming in and talking to them, but the VPs themselves are learning through network. The VP of innovation at GE is learning from the VP of innovation at P&G. Albeit different industries, but look, over networking, over dinner, over lunch for three days.

Jon - 00:22:34:

I mean, despite the difference in industry. Crest white strips came from the packaging department. So why wouldn't this be beneficial, even if you're like GE or if you're in pharma or whatever industry might be? That's amazing to hear that you have created this ecosystem.

Shekhar - 00:22:55:

Innovation is a crossroads of diversity and connections. Innovation, creativity is all about connections. The most creative people I've come across are the ones that make connections. And so you are, you know, you have hit the nail on the head that that's the opportunity that SACE is doing. You should get to meet Khánh Vũ. He's very inspirational to me. And he's a CEO. He came in when we could hardly offer him a salary, you know. And now he's the CEO and doing well. And I think SACE has a fantastic budget, you know, supported by corporations. Members. We don't charge the college members. We don't charge them.

Jon - 00:23:38:

That's amazing. And that's something too that I think when I was thinking about choices of school, it almost feels like there's a stratified. Some schools have access to certain networks, but this, it doesn't even matter. You don't have to go to Harvard. There's a winner and loser. There's amazing institutions all over the place. And I love that you are democratizing the opportunity for the future generation versus I think. When I was going through that process, it felt kind of gatekeepy. There was like people were creating these barriers. And you know, there was such a strong emphasis, like, you have to go to this school to be able to get access to those opportunities. And it really broke my heart, because there's so many bright people, hardworking people all over the world.

Shekhar - 00:24:30:

All over, you know, and that's one thing I've come across now, you know, doesn't matter what university you go through, it's your attitude and how much of an entrepreneur and creative you are, how much of a leadership learning you have, you know, constant learning, you know, and conscious learning, you know, that's what gives you the competitive advantage. In the age of machine language, right, I mean, and machines, AI doing the work, what's going to differentiate the leaders of the future from the machines? Machines will be able to put together everything, but, you know, it's the thinkers, it's the leaders who are going to lead to create better machines or better enterprises, that's going to be the key, right? And leaders with transparency, with empathy, you know, with honesty, with risk-taking. Those are the ones that will really make it, I think, in the age of AI and machines.

Jon - 00:25:30:

Totally. And something as you were describing that, like what it means to kind of stand out is, we have this saying, and it's not my saying, I didn't make it up, but it's like, you hire for attitude and you train for aptitude. Fantastic. It's hire for attitude, train for aptitude. And from our perspective, it's like, You can't train attitudes. Like you can't train that like if someone is willing to Put in the work. They might not know all of the ins and outs today, but you can train that if they're willing to put in the work, right? And I love that. And as you're looking forward, you know, one year, two years. For you, an entrepreneur, and your involvement with early stage venture and the society, what's in store for you?

Shekhar - 00:26:26:

Very exciting. You know, what I'm finding is that learning never stops and learning builds on learning, right? So what I'm finding is that This part of my life, which is built on past learnings, but I'm learning new things. You know, I'm associated with the breakthrough drug from natural sources, which is going to be the only drug in the market when FDA approves it. Which will not only get rid of very, very challenging eczema. On children all the way to adults, but also be an antibiotic. So it'll get rid of infection from eczema. Okay? And it comes from a natural source. Talking about nature, how smart nature is. It comes from a plant extract in Amazon. I'm associated with a company that's taking tap water. Under pressure and centrifugation creates ultrafine bubbles. That is taking nutrients into plant cells and growing them by two, three times with half the fertilizer. Penetrating benefit ingredients into skin cells and increasing fermentation is by 30-40%. It's called hydrosol. I'm associated with a company founded by somebody who's designed endoscopes for surgical instruments. Mike Hanuschik in Menlo Park is called Proclaim Health, that company. That will be the first personalized mouthpiece that has 60 small jets, pumps lens through it. For seven seconds. Completely cleaned their entire mouth and your teeth. And it has shown 85% reduction in bleeding gums. Seven seconds of usage. You don't need to floss anymore.

Jon - 00:28:20:

And it's chemical-free. And it's chemical-free.

Shekhar - 00:28:23:

Chemical-free. Just water, pump water through it. You can see that. Proclaim health. Okay? I'm associated with a company that's the best hair growth product called UVA Therapeutics. Press releases out there. BosleyMD has licensed that product. A big CQG company is now working on this. Also from a plant extract. That's, you know what it's doing? It's rejuvenating mitochondria, which is the energy-producing part of ourselves.

Jon - 00:28:53:

Wow.

Shekhar - 00:28:53:

Look up UVA Therapeutics. So what I'm saying is... Each one of these I'm lucky to be associated with, as a board member, advisor, whatever. It's not, if it exits, yeah, fine, I make money. But I want to make them successful. Why? Because I'm learning so much, so many new things. Not only to work with small, nimble, agile organizations that are creating this, and I'm trying to be part of that and contributing by making not only connections, but bringing in new ideas. But most importantly for me, My learning has multiplied five, ten times from what I had done in the past. So I feel like I want to live a long life just because I'm excited and passionate about this. And then, you know, contributing to really solve in small ways orphanages problems or animal shelters or community giving and taking from the community is what I would say an added passion of my wife and I and our family together. So I think, you know, I'm very excited. And I know that I don't have enough time, you know, but at the same time, every day is, I feel like I'm very, very lucky. And like I said, I'm... Oh my God. I mean, I keep myself busy and my wife is, and we travel a lot on his history and we are just back from Antarctica and all of that. We love those kinds of travel, but you know, my wife says, you know, the kind of work you're doing, I mean, you're passionate, but it looks like you're working harder than you used to work at P&G. But you know, clearly I don't make the kind of money I used to make at P&G, right?

Jon - 00:30:43:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, everything that you just described is what keeps you young.

Shekhar - 00:30:49:

Exactly.

Jon - 00:30:49:

That's what keeps you young.

Shekhar - 00:30:50:

I really believe it. I really believe that.

Jon - 00:30:52:

That's what keeps you young. You're learning, you're getting out there, and you're giving back to the community. And I think that really resonates with me because I'm a firm believer in giving back to the community because the community in which you, an individual grows up in. You owe it a lot to the community that stood you up. And so I think it's a civic duty for all of us to give back and support the folks that, versus just being like, I did it on my own. I don't believe in that. So that's amazing to hear. And in our traditional closing fashion, we have two closing questions. And Shekhar, you've been so generous with your time, first and foremost. But the first question is, would you like to give any shout outs to anyone who supported you along the way?

Shekhar - 00:31:38:

Oh, absolutely. You know, I really have to say that my mother had made a lot of sacrifices as I was growing up because it was a joint family. It was a complex situation. Refugees trying to stand up on their legs. And, you know, my father had a good job. My uncles had a good, you know, found good jobs, etc. But my mother had to bear the brunt of, you know, big family. And like I said, unfortunately, she didn't live that long, not long enough. I have to say, my mentors, you know, Professor Burson, people who really held my hand while I was taking a risk. You know, and made it seem really easy. Number of mentors within Procter & Gamble company. I have to say that. I have to say that my wife sacrifices, without those, today I would not be who I am. I would not have accomplished all of this. You know, and my children for keeping me challenged. You know, my son, my son, very good golfer. I have tendinitis and ancient things and he is given me a set of iron and I have been out playing golf with my heart. My youngest one is in California, San Francisco. And I hope I'm going to connect you all. You know, he's making me read stuff that is philosophy. He loves to read. And my daughter is absolutely phenomenal. I mean, she's an investor for M12, which is the Microsoft's venture ring. And she has done three Ironmans, three Ironmans, all starting, you know, the one that she did at the age of 22, she did it in 13 hours. The next one in 14 and a half. The last one she did at the age of 33, she finished in 16 and a half hours. I said, stop, you know, stop. But the brave, how brave she is, you know, jumping into the Hudson River, swimming two and a half miles, 122 miles advisor in 126 miles, and she's absolutely, she's taught me. No holds barred, dad. You can do it.

Jon - 00:33:51:

Talk about pushing yourself. Pushing the limits.

Shekhar - 00:33:55:

And she has a very challenging job too. She enjoys it. But one thing we did with all our children, fortunately, they are following their own passion. Just like a good parent, you say, hey, don't get carried away. In this case, Ironman, don't get carried away. But she's really taught me that. You know, everything is mental. She says that, you know, Ironman dad is ultimately, at the end, your body is given away. There's no question. The mind is driving you to finish it within 17 hours. Mind is driving you. And I feel like the mentor's child that she's not me is at an ounce.

Jon - 00:34:38:

That's amazing. Oh man. And I love that. And I love the... One is how you're learning from your children too.

Shekhar - 00:34:48:

Yeah, you're learning. I mean, I'm constantly learning from them. I observe them in my own way. I don't always talk, but I observe them. And you know what? My brothers, my siblings. Enormous sacrifice on their part. They were as smart as I am. You know, I know genetically they are there, you know, as smart. They did not get the kind of... Support I got when I was growing up. Of course, I was 12 years different, you know, and my father was doing a lot better. There were not refugees anymore out in the street. But my brothers faced a lot of the brunt of it. But they single-mindedly gave me the support, especially after my mother passed away. And I have to say, you know, that's the community. I cannot ever be more thankful.

Jon - 00:35:41:

You never forget that.

Shekhar - 00:35:43:

Never forget.

Jon - 00:35:44:

That's absolutely beautiful. And as you're thinking about on your younger days, if you could give any advice to your 21-year-old self, what would it be?

Shekhar - 00:35:53:

My 21-year-old self. Well, you know what? I would say that never, ever feel like You know, you've had a failure and don't make yourself feel little by that. Because I've had lots of failure, even to this day, I feel like, oh, my God, I stood up there and I made a real ass of myself. You know, I said these things, you know, I reflect on it and I said, oh, how scary that was.

Jon - 00:36:21:

By the way, I still have those moments where it's like I'm reliving it. You're just like, oh.

Shekhar - 00:36:26:

So I would say don't do that because it's human to make mistakes. But don't punish yourself for it. Perhaps there's something in my upbringing that always made me feel like I needed to be punished at the end of the day. But, you know, in spite of that, I've survived and done fine, fine. You know, I've impacted the lives of lots of consumers, et cetera, et cetera. You know, I've built organizations. You know, I would say, you know, if I were 21 today, I would take more risks and become an entrepreneur because I truly am very entrepreneurial in my own way. But having said that, I would not lose out on all the learnings I've had working in a big corporation, working with a ton, many, many people, hard-nosed people. And then I would say, you know. I might have worked myself too hard and not smelled the roses enough. Don't forget to take time off to pursue something that's experiential for you, whatever that is. No, whatever that is. Don't shortchange yourself on that.

Jon - 00:37:35:

I mean, again, it just reminds me of when you were working your tail off in Colombia and that didn't stop you from enjoying New York City.

Shekhar - 00:37:45:

Within the limits of affordability. It didn't stop me.

Jon - 00:37:50:

And it doesn't have to be much.

Shekhar - 00:37:52:

It doesn't have to be much. And yet we, in my community of Asians, I feel that our children are driven to a point where they may be missing out on idle time. First of all, computers have taken over and things like that, and texting has taken over. Idle time is the time when your brain is making connections, believe it or not. Making your brain cells, you know, and the creative part of it is idling and dreaming of possibilities. It's something that all young people, 21-year-olds, should continue to do. I applaud my son, who is 26 years old, and said, well, I'm taking a risk. I'm starting this company and he reads a lot. He makes connections, but he reaches out to the external world, you know, and I feel like, wow, you know, that's a life maybe I should have had when I was 21.

Jon - 00:38:47:

But honestly, hearing your story, I think you found a very entrepreneurial avenue within P&G. It doesn't sound like it wasn't entrepreneurial.

Shekhar - 00:38:58:

No, it was very, very. And the kind of brands I worked on or helped create had to be entrepreneurs.

Jon - 00:39:06:

Those are startups. Those are startups.

Shekhar - 00:39:08:

Those are all startups. You put the nail on the head. Those are all startups. And Lee was a startup. Rallisett was a startup. Dresswise Strips was a startup in its own right. And credit to P&G that they allowed me to do that.

Jon - 00:39:23:

That's absolutely beautiful. And I honestly don't know a better place to wrap things up. Shakar, you've been so generous with your time. I will take you up on, I will see you in Cincinnati.

Shekhar - 00:39:33:

Absolutely. Or Florida.

Jon - 00:39:36:

Yeah, or Florida. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Thank you again for your time. I had a blast. Absolutely. And I think every listener is going to find so much inspiration, value from this conversation. So thank you.

Shekhar - 00:39:50:

And I learned a lot from you. I really did. The way you summarized, the way you took away messages and summarized it, I think those are as valuable, if not more valuable to the listener, I believe.

Jon - 00:40:02:

Thank you.

Shekhar - 00:40:02:

Thank you.

Jon - 00:40:03:

I'll see you again soon.

Outro - 00:40:07:

That's all for this episode of the Biotech Startups Podcast. We hope you enjoyed our four-part series with Shekhar Mitra. Be sure to tune into our next series where we chat with Noam Solomon, CEO and co-founder at Immunai, a pioneering biotech company that is comprehensively mapping and reprogramming the immune system with single-cell biology and AI to power new therapeutic discoveries, accelerate drug development, and improve patient outcomes. Prior to founding Immunai, Noam had a dual career in both industry and academia. Noam has a double PhD in math and computer science and served as a postdoctoral researcher at MIT and Harvard University. Noam also worked as an algorithms developer and a data scientist, consultant, and head of data science in several high-tech companies in Israel. Noam's extensive background in math, computer science, AI, and machine learning gives him a depth of experiences that founders can learn from. The Biotech Startups Podcast is produced by Excedr. Don't want to miss an episode? Search for The Biotech Startups Podcast wherever you get your podcasts and click subscribe. Excedr provides research labs with equipment leases on founder-friendly terms to support paths to exceptional outcomes. To learn more, visit our website, www.excedr.com. On behalf of the team here at Excedr, thanks for listening. The Biotech Startups Podcast provides general insights into the life science sector through the experiences of its guests. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from the podcast is at the user's own risk. The views expressed by the participants are their own and are not the views of Excedr or sponsors. No reference to any product, service or company in the podcast is an endorsement by Excedr or its guests.