Episode 113: A New Way to Collaborate, Network, and Fuel Innovation in Biotech with BLPN

In this episode, we're exploring how real biotech collaboration happens beyond the booth panels and business cards.

You're listening to Bio from the Bayou, empowering biotech leaders with the tools, assets, and expertise to improve healthcare outcomes.

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Serving the entire Gulf South, but recorded in the heart of New Orleans.

Welcome back to BIO From the Bayou at BIO On the Bayou. I am Patrick Reid, Executive Director of IPX at Auburn University, and it's my privilege today to talk to our guest, Christian Engstrom. He is the founder and CEO of BLPN, an invite-only member-led club that gathers life science dealmakers with a shared goal of helping each other. Welcome back to the show, Christian.

Patrick, so good to see you again. Ian, thanks for having me. Of course, of course. I'm excited to be in New Orleans for Bio on the Bayou. We have good things happening here and happy to support it from a BLPN perspective.

Absolutely. And so we've had you on the show before a couple of years back, but for those who are unfamiliar, what is BLPN exactly and what gap did you see in the industry that this was designed to fill and how has it achieved that goal so far?

Well, first, let's start with— it was originally called Bullpen. And the bullpen is a baseball term, and it's where pitchers gather to improve each other. It's a very competitive place. There's usually 15 or so pitchers in that bullpen, and there's a pecking order from 1 to 15. But the team knows when one of them go out to the mound, the whole team's kind of riding on that performance. So they're improving that person. The analogy for us in life sciences is we're all pitching something as dealmakers, and we all have pieces of the equation. And by gathering together, putting talent in the same room, bringing resources to lifesaving technologies, we're going to move further together. So—

Takes a village.

Yeah, that's the bullpen concept. I was pretty lonely coming into life sciences. I don't have a PhD.

Likewise.

A master's. Had had you know this business process background. But what I learned in other industries was, especially let's take automotive for an example. The dealers, the different manufacturers, they all are tied to the success of the industry. So when you get into local markets, there's competition, but they are protecting each other. They are ensuring that the dealer down the street is healthy. When a dealer falls in a market, it's scary for everyone because it means something economically to them all, and because of it, they. gather quite often to support each other, to move resources around, to ensure that the community's okay. When I came to life sciences after stints in other industries where this partnering was live and well, just didn't find it. Yeah, I hear. I think that there's a lot of reasons why, and I think that, you know, we'll pat ourselves on the back in our little verticals where we do partner, and that feels good. But, You get past the borders of the US and move into other territories, it's very competitive. Move from state to state, it's very competitive. Competitors within pharma or device, they don't like to talk to each other. And so as leaders, you get to see it done one way. And I don't like that. I was trying to raise money for a number of different life science strategies, and I was having these very transactional experiences with brilliant people I wanted to be around. And I asked JP Morgan at the time if they would help me. They were my banker and ahead of JP Morgan conference, and they thought it was a great idea. And, you know, today we're at, I think something like 15,000 followers of our newsletter with a really high engagement rate, 5,000 social members and about 500 founding members. And we have one shared goal. It's to help each other. And we have a mantra. It's find someone to help repeat So, it has been purely organic. We're trying to figure out what to do with this beast that we've created, but it feels pretty good because everybody's there for the right reason.

Just from my personal experience, I mean, going around to events all over, and I mean, even Bio on the Bayou itself, you all have been such a supporter of ours, and, you know, we work together well down here in the Gulf South, in New Orleans, and it definitely seems like you all are just really everywhere.

We've really enjoyed partnering with Bio on the Bayou, And it gets down to our mantra when we're making decisions as a club, it's find someone to help repeat. It's so cheesy, so simple that people self-select. It's like, eh, but it works. I can get into that or I can't. And the people that get into it, this is the way they live their lives.

Yeah.

And we enjoy spending time with each other.

So.

Yeah, I, I know I have met a, a lot of new connections and expanded my network through BLPN and just getting on and watching the webinars and, and listening to these people in, in all sorts of different fields and all sorts of different places. sorts of different transitions in their career. And it's been really, really helpful, I think, in my personal career. So.

Well, I'm glad you found value in it. You know, we, we do these Wednesday master panels this week. We're pitching startup companies through a program we call Moneyball. And if you know about that movie, the guy Billy Beane has the worst team in the worst market and very competitive Major League Baseball. league and, you know, low budget. And he finds a way to uncover the hidden value in players that have been overlooked.

Right.

And he puts together a winner by completely doing it differently. So I think that that mentality with BLPN is, is alive and well. So we're doing that Moneyball program next week, non-dilutive funding the week after that, seed funding, I believe venture funding all the way onto exits and M&A prior to JPM. And there are some things, some, areas that you may say as a leader that that doesn't really apply to me. Like M&A exits. Many folks, let's say in the academic world, might say, what does that really— I'm so far away from that transaction happening in a tech transfer office.

Right.

But because you're a professional, because this is your vertical of expertise and people are dependent on you, your ability to understand and explain what's happening in the life sciences market and having general knowledge of why deals are moving, why they're not, What does interest rates have to do with that? So that's banker talk, right?

Yeah.

But as a startup entrepreneur, understanding the place where you're making your career, it's really interesting. I think if people, you know, care about the industry, each one of these topics and the speakers on the panels are just interesting.

Yeah, awesome. Well, and you've mentioned about those sorts of panels and webinars that you do, but you also put together these master panels and gatherings at things like you'd mentioned at JPM, and you've come to BIO on the Bayou. Many times I've seen you at BIO Alabama. Now that I'm there at Auburn University, you know, previously I was here in New Orleans. For those that host their own events like BIO on the Bayou, how do you design those events so they produce kind of real connections and not just this more transactional type deal and really get that BLPN mantra going and getting the repeat part? You know, find someone, help. It's the repeat, I imagine, that can sometimes be a little more difficult.

I don't know if there is an equation, and I'm not sure how this all happened.

Yeah.

Other than an overreliance on a cheesy mantra that some people are attracted to. The events that we do, I wanted them to be uncommon. I didn't want them to feel like a corporate event in a large market. So we started by convening at the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco, which If you know that, it's in the Marina District. It's right down on the jetty, the endpoint. It's where America's Cup team calls home. And some impressive feats are bestowed upon that club. But it's simple. It's the blue-collar yacht club of San Francisco. It's the everyman's yacht club, and it's sitting right in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. And so—

Great venue.

Yeah.

Over the years, we now have car manufacturers that bring cars in for our members to test drive. So last year, Bentley was a sponsor and we had a yacht broker bring some yachts in. So some folks drove a Bentley over the, the Golden Gate Bridge and then later on took a yacht under. And I've always said that our goal is to reverse the energy. So if we come together, we don't have to chase the opportunities as much if we work together.

Right.

So our events are uncommon. We've done car clubs, we partner with folks, mostly we're looking for A well-priced venue, right? Because we, we, we're not a nonprofit, but I, I don't think profit is really part of the consideration how we operate. Sustainability is. So, you know, advising around that, I would say that we always are successful when we give our talented members the opportunity to shine. They feel ownership. They go above and beyond to make their portion great. You know, people wanna volunteer. So if you give them volunteer opportunities with other great people. You know, sometimes we, we only have so much time on our hands and volunteering maybe to do things that aren't core to who we are as people, it's just tougher to get done, even as worthy as it may be. But putting a volunteer opportunity in front of a life science professional to go work with someone who's amazing, that's a great opportunity, right?

Right.

So passing the baton off to our members, letting them shine, creating a platform for that.

Got it. And for kind of locations like New Orleans or Auburn, Alabama, even, or Birmingham, where, you know, you and I saw each other a few months ago, how do we grow those kind of communities and that network locally to then pull in or I guess branch out to BLPN members outside of that? But how do we really grow that network in between the coasts?

Well, thanks for bringing up Birmingham and Alabama because, you know, we're in New Orleans and I think that it's a little bit more commercial here than in Birmingham. But they do have a great university there doing great work in biotech, amazing tech. They seem to be— and they'll be mad at me for saying this— but very regional and took a lot of pride in the regional excellence. But they got to get out to Boston. They got to get out to San Francisco. They got to spend time in San Diego. They got to shop their medtech elsewhere. Bring in investors, go to these large events and bring that Alabama pride with you and then bring those investors back to Birmingham. Yeah, that's what I think we need to do. Shine a spotlight on the strong tech regionally. So which translates to Tulane. Well, you know, we're missing James Zanewicz this week. Our fearless leader has moved on.

Gone on to San Diego, left us. Bigger and better things.

If we follow his example in life, he is an aggregator of resources, and he also is a collector of resources. And he just keeps them moving through James, and you feel ignited when he's around. And he was never afraid. I've never seen him afraid of spreading the good news, so to speak, of Tulane. what he's working on in, in big rooms, right?

So— No, he is, he is one heck of an ambassador for whoever he's representing. And I certainly learned a lot from him during my time here in New Orleans. And, and certainly as he set up Bio from the Bayou and then Bio on the Bayou, the two of us together. And I mean, it's, he was a fantastic mentor to me.

So, you know, for the folks that are still here, and you, you're great at this too, I think you're, we're, we're talking about James, but you've been instrumental in building this and you build communities everywhere you go. But for others need to pick up that, you know, task as life science leaders, we need to be advocating for our industry as well.

There's—

Now more than ever, really.

Now more than ever, we need to be able to tell our high net worth friends that they need to put money into early stage life-saving technologies instead of that, you know, $100 million real estate deal they're considering that may make sense in a lot of ways, but, you know, tie it to their personal stories. Does someone in your life has— have Parkinson's? diabetes, cancer, maybe we should move some of that investment opportunity, you know, over to biotech or life sciences. So, you know, I would just say like our whole industry has to advocate better, not just our regional centers of excellence like Tulane.

Yeah. And I know another cheesy comment, you know, high tides lift all boats, but that's true also. And I know in New Orleans, that is why LSU Health New Orleans and Tulane work so closely together is because we're in a small ecosystem. We're not gonna really push the needle much individually, but together we could really do that. And so I think that's the important part. Of course, all of these institutions and even these startup companies and everybody else, we're competitors, but we're also, as you said, in the same industry. We've gotta help keep that moving forward. Personally, I was one of those guys that thought, oh man, this is cheesy as hell. You know, I don't wanna do this. And then I sat through it, you know, would do the LinkedIn stuff and reach out to folks and set up meetings. And it was, I mean, it's, it is, it feels too cheesy.

It does.

But once you get—

It's real.

Once you get over that activation energy, you know, then you really do build a more meaningful network, I think. And it's a little different than, hey, I met you at a conference, here's my card. Meeting this way, and I guess 'cause you're priming the pump of these interactions by saying, look, We're all over the country. We're all in the same boat. Just connect with folks. See if there's something that you might find of interest. There may be nothing, but it can't hurt to have those connections and talk.

You know, and maybe we take an opportunity to talk to the community and I'll just say thank you. Thank you for being open to each other. If people don't answer and they don't take that next step, a lot of folks are asking us all for a lot of things. And one more entrepreneur saying, hey, you know, that connection you have at LSU, Or Auburn or Tulane, can you move it over to me? So many within BLPN are saying yes.

Yeah, why not?

And that is rare. So maybe we keep working on this trust thing so people talk to me. I mean, there's no shortage of good ideas for how BLPN should grow. And I would just challenge them when I do get these suggestions, like, why are we trying to grow? And actually, that anti— it's not anti-growth, it's just counterintuitive that you would assume that we want to double our numbers. And I don't. I want to double my deep connections.

Right. We want actionable connections.

With the folks that we have, how do we make it deeper so that we really can depend on each other? And if we add more members along the way, great. But so that's actually going to be my focus in 2026. And we talk about opening up chapters, and we've kick that around. And most of that, where it goes to when you talk to folks, they talk about building out numbers in a chapter. I don't know. I'm going to give a shout out to Tamika Jackson, who started a nonprofit out of the bullpen called the Beautiful Way Foundation. And they're out of Boston. And Tamika has sourced several of her board members out of the community. And they're focused on diversity in clinical trials. And we have an event coming up. with Tamika prior to Thanksgiving, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. And it's a community event. She's having a pop-up healthcare center at a Boston high school. And Bullpen's gonna support it. We're gonna use it to get our members out and volunteer on a Sunday morning and like do service together. And it's gonna be somewhat quiet, very regional, but that's a great chapter meeting, I think.

Right, yeah.

That's cool.

Building a community.

Not bureaucracy, but like, let's go do something together in our community. So we'll do more of that in the next year, but continuing to focus on the fundamentals of find someone to help repeat.

Got it. Well, I certainly appreciate what you've built and where it's going. But for listeners who want to engage with BLPN, whether to attend an event, apply for membership, or suggest programming, what's the best way to start?

Go to our website. It's blpn.club, and there's a Contact Us button. You can go look at our mission and our events and membership. But in the end, you're gonna fill out a contact form and I review it. And we are looking for decision makers, deal makers. And if you're a vendor or a manufacturer or a service provider, it's okay. Just need to be the boss. You need to be making some decisions within your organization or making the decisions within your organization. And then we love having you here. There's no selling in the bullpen. So if you're coming thinking that this is a great opportunity to get what you need, Don't come. This is a great opportunity for you to meet someone amazing and help them.

A pay-it-forward model.

Yes.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, thanks so much for talking with us, Christian. We'll be sure to keep an eye on BLPN and your work in the future. As always, we'll have Christian's contact info and informational links posted in our show notes. Make sure you check them out to learn more. Thank you once again for joining us.

Thank you so much. Great job, guys.

Thanks.

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