Be My Guest | Conversation with BioMap CEO Liu Wei: From add-venture to adventure
A seasoned venture capitalist and entrepreneur, Liu Wei has a compelling story that inspires and enlightens. From leading the charge in venture capital for 18 years to founding BioMap, an AI-driven biotech company, Liu's journey is a testament to courage, foresight, and innovation. In this episode of Be My Guest, Liu shares his transformative journey, challenges, and vision for the future of technology and life sciences.
From Investment to Entrepreneurship: A Bold Transition
Liu candidly described his decision to transition from being a venture capitalist to founding a biotech company as a difficult but worthwhile choice. Reflecting on his previous career, where he invested in 50 companies annually, Liu contrasted it with his current focus on a single company for five to ten years. He remarked, "It's a hard decision, but I think it's worth it."
During his venture capital career, Liu set up four funds specializing in frontier technologies and served as Vice President of Baidu and founding CEO of Baidu Ventures. His motivation for starting BioMap stemmed from a desire to use AI foundation models to advance life sciences, tackling inefficiencies in areas like drug discovery and gene editing.
The Vision Behind BioMap: AI Meets Life Sciences
BioMap is a groundbreaking company that is focusing on developing AI platforms for life sciences. Liu believes AI holds tremendous potential in this field. He explained that while many biotech startups exist, they often lack the resources to build deep AI platforms. This realization led him to create BioMap as a platform-based company that collaborates with other startups and developers, fostering an ecosystem where AI can drive industry-wide innovation.
Liu emphasized BioMap's mission to address critical inefficiencies in life sciences through AI, accelerating drug development and clinical application breakthroughs. For Liu, this isn't just a business endeavor—it's a responsibility to push the boundaries of science and technology for the betterment of humanity.
Key Takeaways: Patience and Persistence in Innovation
One of the most significant insights Liu shared was the importance of patience. He noted that building a company like BioMap requires years of effort to establish a solid technical foundation and business model. Unlike consumer-facing internet companies, which can achieve quick results, biotech and AI ventures need three to five years—or even longer—to demonstrate their core value.
Liu also highlighted the inevitability of ups and downs in the entrepreneurial journey. He shared how challenges shaped his resilience and belief in his mission. His advice to young entrepreneurs is to embrace uncertainty, stay true to their vision, and persist through difficulties.
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