Underdog Founders - how this 1st time founder disrupted traditional scientific institutions
It's easy to point fingers at legacy systems. Pedro started a company to prove scientific careers were due for an update.
Quick announcement:
We’re back baby! Work has been crazy busy, but we have several founder interviews on the pipeline. If you know impressive founders, I’d love to meet them.
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Would you set out to disrupt traditional institutions if you had zero startup experience?
Pedro was born in Espinho, a small town near Porto.
One of his first challenges in life came when two ankle injuries forced him to give up on his dream to become a professional volleyball player.
As a short player for volleyball standards, he relied on his ability to jump to compete.
Without strong ankles to absorb the impact, he was forced to find a new hill to climb.
When Pedro looked through his skills at the time, one thing stood out:
He loved leading his volleyball team.
Having science as a plan B to sports, he began a career in science where he could lead a team and impact society.
His first job was with Pfizer in the UK, followed by a PhD in stem cell biology in San Diego and LA.
In 2013 Pedro moved back to Porto and met Joana Moscoso. He’d worked abroad in 3 different countries, Joana in 5.
They both saw how scientists struggled to navigate career decisions that are often volatile and complex.
Enter problem validation mode:
- Most universities and research institutions agreed that career development services were subpar.
- Alternative solutions like consultancy firms were expensive and equally underwhelming.
- Career support was largely done offline, with institutions believing it would continue that way for years to come.
Pedro and Joana set out to test online career development services - and quickly found themselves changing lives.
One of their first researchers was working in Qatar and trying to move to the US to be with her partner.
Her CV was excellent - her interview skills were not.
After they connected her with a specialist in interview training, she landed an offer and finally moved in with her partner in the US.
Pedro, founder of Chaperone with Pedro Jr, founder of Sleep Deprivation LLC.
Chaperone was born - the first career development marketplace for scientists.
Online is scalable and transparent - career development consultants could now be rated by users, rewarding top performers and aligning incentives.
They completed their online platform and officially launched in…March 2020.
All institutional clients immediately put all contracts on hold.
The first 3 people to join Chaperone all had kids - following entrepreneurial dreams is a lot harder when you need to put food on the table.
The team survived the cash-flow crunch and landed the EU Commission and Karolinska Institutet (who awards the Nobel prizes) among other clients.
Today, Chaperone works with B2B and B2C clients across 12 countries.
They’ve supported scientists working in Biology, Pharma, AI, Physics and others, coming from top institutions such as the European Molecular and Biology Laboratory, the Champalimaud Foundation…the list goes on.
Scientists can now access experts that were only available at Ivy League /OxBridge level schools.
Democratizing access became a startup buzzword, so it’s great to find companies doing it right.
Underdog Founders 23 - Pedro Resende, Chaperone
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