[ros86]

> I see a ton of founders and funders with zero biology background thinking that they have the vision and can just hire biology expertise.

Genuinely curious about your data here. The two first companies mentioned in the article (Zymergen and Gingko) have founders with biology background. Many other companies I know as well.

> You would never use CRISPR if you had the option of using Cre. I’ve made several stable transgenic animal lines using Tol2 transgenisis, which is much higher efficiency, too.

That probably depends on the organism you're working with. E.g. with baker's yeast, my preference would definitely be CRISPR/Cas9 instead of cre recombinase (see e.g. https://academic.oup.com/femsyr/article/15/2/fou004/534426 ).

[tbenst]

> Genuinely curious about your data here.

I invest a little in the space so have seen some pitches at IndieBio, YCombinator, and talked with a bunch of companies. There are indeed some really great founders with biology background as you point out. But have been seeing more and more founders from software background. The enthusiasm is great, and people with software backgrounds have a ton to contribute! Just maybe shouldn’t be the CEO.

> baker's yeast, my preference would definitely be CRISPR/Cas9

I’ve never worked with yeast but was under the impression that you could just give them plasmids and call it a day?