Conference Presentation, Keynote
Reshma Shetty Speaks at Y Combinator's Female Founders Conference 2016
- Ginkgo Bioworks anticipates spanning the next century to master the design and programming of biology, positioning itself as the future "Intel of biology" by making biological engineering more accessible.
- The company plans to execute a multi-year strategy involving a one-year initial ramp-up, followed by approximately five years of technology platform development and business model validation prior to achieving product-market fit.
- Operational plans include replacing multi-year plant extraction cycles with a five-day yeast fermentation process to resolve supply chain challenges.
- Capitalization strategy involved waiting until 2014 to join Y Combinator and raise venture funding only after securing customer traction and clarifying the market, having previously acquired equipment at 10 cents on the dollar during the 2008 financial crisis.
- The organization aims to establish a competitive edge by systematically recruiting undervalued individuals from underrepresented groups, with an internal goal of improving workforce diversity statistics early in the growth phase to avoid the negative outcome of a homogeneous workforce.
- Recent data indicates a slight improvement in diversity metrics within the three to six month period following the initiation of internal discussions, though leadership notes uncertainty regarding whether this represents a sustained trend or statistical variance.