What Reef Haven Ventures Looks for in Founders, Science, and Scalable Companies

Are you leveraging your past and your passion to address a significant medical problem? Listen today to find out if Reefhaven Ventures is for you. Welcome to The Connect Current, the flow of innovation in San Diego. We bring you the founders, investors, and leaders building the future across life science, tech, climate, defense, AI, and more. This is where San Diego's next chapter takes shape. Welcome to The Connect Current, the flow of innovation in San Diego. I'm your host, James Zanewicz, and this episode is being recorded at the UC San Diego Park and Market building, so we want to thank them for that support. Today, I'm joined by Dr. Garrett Smith, founder and managing partner of Reef Haven Ventures, and Dr. Nick Morlis, investment partner at Reef Haven Ventures. Welcome, guys.

Thanks, great to be here.

Great to be here, James. Thank you.

So Reefhaven, I got to go to your lunch and got to learn a bit. You back early-stage companies emerging from strong science and technical insight. So today's conversation is really for our founders to learn more about you and how to be better prepared to meet with you. We want to help them better understand what Reefhaven looks for, what stands out, and how to position themselves better for investment. All right, so let's dive in. If they're hearing about Reefhaven Ventures for the first time today, How would you describe what you're really looking to invest in? Who wants to tackle it first?

We're looking for companies to back that are really going to provide a transformational clinical outcome for patients. So if we just start there as the biggest bullet at the top of the page, it's transformational clinical outcomes.

So if a company's like, okay, what does that mean to Reefhaven?

So as a quick example, if you're working in a disease state that has, say, a 60% mortality rate, if you have a thesis around how your device is going to change that from 60% to 30%, that's a transformational clinical outcome.

And for you guys, mostly it's device-driven companies, correct?

That's correct. We will do diagnostics to the effect that they would be able to put you on a different treatment pathway or put you on a different drug that would again bend that mortality curve for the patient.

Okay. And so, so Nick, jumping from you to Garrett, I want to ask, what is your core investment philosophy and what really drives how you evaluate opportunities? So if you're deeper behind that, because that's kind of the first hurdle to get past. What are you looking for?

Yeah, so Nick and I are both founders ourselves. We're fortunate to have built multiple early-stage—

No tiny exits. Like, you look at your background, it's a little impressive. Holly was looking before you came in and she was like, wow.

Thank you. We've been fortunate, though, to work with really amazing people and had really great mentors. And I think that's really part of our thesis is that we want to back amazing founders, and we want to apply our own experience, some scar tissue as well.

Mm-hmm.

But really working with exceptional founders that are solving and addressing really large unmet healthcare problems, like what Nick was talking about. And so one of the things we really evaluate is, of course, starting with the founder themselves. What have they done in the past? What's their passion? Do we think that whatever the problem is and the solution is that they're putting together, do we really think that they can execute on that? Another area that we're looking for is also making sure that they understand the risk of the overall startup journey. So if they don't have an understanding of all the main pieces, such as what's the regulatory path, what is the clinical path, what is their go-to-market strategy— I see you nodding your head— they just really need to understand kind of that overall de-risking process so that they understand what they're getting into, and so we would understand what we're getting into as well as investors.

I spent 2 decades in academics and academic medicine, so yes, I know the pain point well of people like, you can just do it. Like, nope, nope, that's not how that works. And so you're looking for folks who have done that little bit of homework and have some understanding, and they may not have had to have done it before, but they need to have had the training to understand what they need to tackle to move forward. It's kind of what I'm hearing. Is that correct?

That's correct. At the stage that we're at, because we are professional institutional investors as VCs, so oftentimes we're familiar with doing academic startups. Nick and I have both done one ourselves each. And so we understand that the first money and maybe friends and family and may not be at the level that it really needs to be at for us to kind of start investing.

So, Nick, when a company first comes across your desk, what are the first things you want to understand about them?

So I'm going to repeat the first thing that I said.

Yeah.

You know, are we—

just to make sure they heard you.

That's right.

And hopefully we say it 4 more times.

Yeah.

I mean, it's usually 3 before people retain. So 4, you might be great.

Fantastic. Fantastic. So I'm looking for An unmet clinical need that is really challenging for patients, has bad outcomes, and the intervention that is proposed, the science that they're going to put against that unmet need, is going to have a large impact on patient outcome, mortality and morbidity. If they have those 2 things, then I'm looking for what their Evidence generation strategy is. So are they going to start in an ovine model? What are they going to do before they get to their first-in-human? And then what are they looking for for their clinical pivotal trial? Understanding both the size and the capital that's going to be involved, as well as what endpoints that they think they're going to go after. Now, that might change as they get closer to the clinical study, but they need to have a point of view on it At that early juncture, at least.

So digging a little deeper into that, what separates exciting science or technology from an actual investable company in your eyes?

I would say that although I am a scientist by training, from a venture perspective, there is no exciting science that does not change the outcome of an unmet need. So it's great that you found something unique, But we're not going to be passionate and excited until we see how that's going to change the standard of care of medicine.

And so when you are looking past that standard of care into the founder and the team, we've talked a bit about what you like to see in them, but what gives you pause when you're looking? So Garrett, maybe if you can tackle this one first. What are the red flags for you when you're looking at companies that people should be aware of and know to either have overcome in advance or not to do if they expect to get a Yeah, so I think 2 things that I see most often.

The first is a founder that may not be open to being coachable. And we really think it's critical at the early stage, especially if they've never done this before or been successful before, is to be open-minded for coaching from us, but from others. It's not just doing what we say, it's listening and then incorporating it or Deciding the best path forward, but really knowing that they hear some of our advice. So one, that, that's really important. The second one is on the side of, does this actually fit with a market need? Because if you look at it statistically, almost all of the major companies that fail early on, it's because they're going after the wrong market completely.

Mm-hmm.

And initially most companies will say, no, we know that we're going after the right market. But actually, if you dig in a little bit more, you can see that they're not going after the right one. So those are the 2 that come to my mind.

Anything different for you?

I would say to that, yes, and—

So we're doing improv today.

I love it.

Do they have a team that is put together— even if they don't have any experience, is it the right composition? From my perspective, for a medical device startup, you want to have a clinician, you want to have a business person, and you want to have an engineer. Those 3 archetypes need to be in place just getting started.

And then what's their culture like of that team? Because just because you have the archetypes doesn't mean they work well together.

Well, this— so that's a great question. And this goes into the— what we like to see, and that is that the founders have a long relationship together. They've already gone through life challenges or other school challenges, but something where the friendship and the trust is already built.

Yeah, you want to know they've been through some lows as well as some highs and they came out of it together, 'cause it affects how you communicate and how you work well and how you, you know, there's gonna be adversity as you start a company. There's no way there's not, especially now. I mean, you guys know that the current market and current environment, it takes longer, you have to be more focused, your burn has to last longer and be lower, and that means there are tough times and often tough decisions that have to be made as a team.

That's right. There are always bumps along the road.

Yeah. So as that, so say you've got this great, They've worked together in the past, they're positioning themselves well, they have the right combination. When a company comes before you, do you like to see a deck? Do you just want a conversation? You know, how do you like the information presented? Then what information do you want in that first meeting? Because every fund is a little different in what they wanna see. Some want to know you've done research in the background. Some are like, no, we understand that space, we don't need to know the background, we wanna know about your tech. What is it you want to see presented and how do you want it presented to you? 'Cause also some people like Never a deck again. Others are like, yes, I want a deck with these 7 slides. What is it for you guys?

I think first of all, if we can get a warm introduction to start, that's always best.

So always come through Connect is what you're saying?

Yeah, exactly.

We've got James in Connect.

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, that's my only point actually.

So that's not serving at all, but.

But I think in terms of reviewing the material, we do like to see a deck before taking a meeting. We've looked at thousands of decks. I won't say tens of thousands, but it's possible. And I think very quickly investors, especially when you know this space, can tell fairly quickly through pattern recognition, like where the holes are. So oftentimes I think when we take the first meeting—

I love how Nick's smiling as he—

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think oftentimes with the entrepreneurs, when we're meeting them for the first time, having more of a conversation is important. And also, I think if entrepreneurs can also ask, hey, if the investor has looked at the deck and if they have any questions up front, then they can address those concerns in the beginning as opposed to us having a concern in the back of our mind that maybe doesn't come up right away. But I don't know, Nick, what would you add to that?

I'm gonna say this a lot.

Yes and yes.

Yes and yes.

I love it. All right.

That's what happens when there's 2 people. It's like that plus. Or if you get in a fight at some point, our ratings will go down.

Let's save that for the last 3 minutes. So I think the other thing that I'd like to hear or see in a first presentation is a laying out of everything they know, both good and bad, about the opportunity and the technology. And even, I would say, a sin, right, is like leaving out like an obvious flaw and like pretending it's not there.

Address the elephant in the room.

Address the elephant in the room. I don't want to pull teeth to get things that are relatively obvious out of you. I want you to like think of me as a partner. You want me fully informed so that then I can ask more nuanced questions or I think give also some nuanced guidance. So that trust and that honesty has to start with that very first meeting.

So if they're doing that and they're getting this information to you, they're sending you that, they've gotten the warm intro, they're sending you the deck in advance. What's the ideal length for that deck for you guys? Like that sweet spot of, X slides is great and you kind of give them what you want covered, but you obviously don't want 50 slides because you get inundated with decks. What's a good number and what information is the must include?

I think 7 to 12 slides would be great. And I think I might be anchored on the 7 that you said.

7 is better. Yeah. We spent a lot of time when I was at Tulane doing interviews with investors and strategics and they were all like 5 to 7. If you can't do it in 5 to 7, you don't know your business.

Maybe I'm showing my scientific background. I'm a little— I'm 3 slides more circumspect, right? And so what we want to see, and this is a great chance to repeat it a 3rd time, what's the unmet clinical need? How are you going to make a transformational difference in the patients' lives? What reason to believe data do you have? What proof of concept have you already demonstrated that would lead us to believe you've got momentum in the right direction. And then an understanding of not only the clinical study that you're going to run, so what is your evidence generation strategy, but what is your regulatory pathway and why is it the right regulatory pathway? Have you had a Q-sub with— I'm getting to some— have you talked to FDA? Yes.

There you go.

That's basic, right?

Yeah, but sometimes it's not basic.

And then what the funds will be purposed for. What milestones are you going to hit that take a lot of risk off the table and will give you a value inflection?

You want to know that milestone, that timeline.

That's right.

Yeah. Garrett, anything else?

Oh, I think just willingness to pay, right? Who's going to pay? Because we were just having a conversation earlier that it's really easy to assume that, oh, this is a great scientific product, people are just going to buy it, or doctors are just going to buy it, or insurance is just going to pay for it.

And that's normally Customer discovery, you gotta code, and all the basic things that, again, you often don't think about coming out of academia.

That's absolutely correct.

Or even outside academia, but especially coming from outside where many medical innovations arise.

Right, and I think just to add to that, it's the willingness for others to pay, but it's also who's gonna be the buyer of the company, right? Because in our field, like 80% of the exits are M&A. So knowing who the potential buyers are, what they'd wanna see, what type of data that ultimately the company needs to generate, either commercial sales-wise or clinical data to pull that trigger. That's absolutely vital for the success of the company, not just the success of the company and our own investment, but also for the success that will get out to more patients, right? And that larger company will commercialize the technology.

As we kind of covered a lot of what you're looking for now, it's also good for folks to get to know each other and establish long relationships? Because we always tell, you know, our entrepreneurs when they're talking to investors, it is a long-term relationship and you should get to know them as people as well. So what is something for each of you that potential entrepreneurs who are approaching you should know about you as people so that they're able to establish that relationship? What's the little inside thing where you can know they listened to the Connect Current and did their homework and maybe I should give them that meeting? What's their little cue that lets you know maybe I should take this meeting? Giving me a code word. Porcupine.

Maybe it's just, I heard you on the Connect podcast.

Oh, I like that.

Yeah.

What are some things from your backgrounds? Like, what are, what are some of your favorite moments from your past when you were building your last companies and whatnot? What, for each of you, is there a favorite moment you've each had as you've progressed along your career? Obviously Reef Haven, but stepping back from that to something before.

So I guess for me it would be the passion and the excitement that I felt getting my first company stood up and raising those first dollars to actually have the dry powder to do the work that we envisioned we might be able to do. And I want to see that same unbridled enthusiasm, almost just unreasonable optimism that they are going to succeed, and the openness to being coached, which I think Garrett brought up, because that was part of my being able to lead my first company is that I was very open to coaching. I had an absolutely fantastic board chair that gave me great advice along the way. And so I'd love to see that. So that's what they should know about me, and I'd love to see that in them as well.

That's a great answer. What about you, Garrett?

Yeah, so, so much of my career I will attribute to UC San Diego, doing my PhD there. I started a company off my PhD research. I worked at the tech transfer office there. And I think something I'm the most proud of is I helped start an entrepreneurial program on campus. It was called Blue Link, now it's called Health Link, and that's something that still exists to this day that is supporting entrepreneurs at the university level. So I think this passion that Nick and I have for helping founders is really a huge part of our thesis, and hopefully that comes out. So I guess somebody can talk to me about, you know, UCSD and the days of entrepreneurship there.

I like that. Fantastic. Because I do think too, what you're both really getting to is you established mechanisms for feedback for people in many ways, and you want to see an openness to it. And I was having this conversation with my board of Connect the other day about how feedback is a gift, and too many people see feedback as a negative thing and a criticism when it's actually helping you grow and become the best and most you can be. And I think it's really great if someone can find an investment partner that wants to do that for them as well. It's probably the right investment partner because it is a relationship and it's long-term. And that's one of the reasons we were so drawn to you guys and why I wanted to have you as one of the first investors on the podcast is knowing that about you and that it really is more about giving back and paying it forward than just the business of the deal. And I think that's fantastic and what's really special about Reef Haven.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Am I hired? No, but seriously, is there anything else about Reef Haven we haven't asked that we should know before we get to our last Connect Current question?

I think I'll just say, you know, we've been very active as investors. We Just started Reef Haven, you know, less than 6 months ago.

Yeah.

Did our first close on the fund in December, made our first investment in December of 2025.

Congratulations.

Thank you. We've already made our second investment, also in a UCSD-affiliated startup. So the first one was in AI robotics for surgery. The second one we just did was in cancer and better cancer treatment and cancer care that we're really excited about. And then we have a third one that's looking to close here soon. So just want to say we're actively investing, and we also feel really grateful to have wonderful partners in San Diego and UCSD and SDSU and other groups. And Connect, of course.

We spun out of UCSD. I mean, Connect was started inside UCSD in 1985 and spun out in 2005. So long history together. Love the academic institutions here and, you know, our origin story there, and especially Mary Walshock, who is So instrumental, as well as several other people, in setting us up in a way that I think, much like Reefhaven, equally focuses on the culture and sociology about innovation as much as the science and technology. And with that, we always like to focus on something more personal as well, and we ask our guests what drives their innovative flow, what sparks their creativity, what gets their juices flowing. So Nick, do you want to go first?

Sure. I would say that I'm powered by the enthusiasm of the entrepreneur as they come through the door. Like, that fills me up and triggers my enthusiasm and seeing the vision of how they are going to change the world, they're going to change the lives of patients in a meaningful way, that just excites me to have those conversations and keeps me going, charging long after that conversation.

It's that connection.

Yeah.

Garrett?

Yes, and—

Your turn, Garrett.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's definitely what Nick said. That's probably primary for me. I think the other piece is we focus a lot on the patient and the unmet clinical needs, as we've said multiple times here. But when you see a patient that's suffering, I've seen patients in the ophthalmology clinic that suffer from eye disease or whatever. But when you see that patient group that's suffering, you know, that's just not one patient. There's thousands, tens of thousands, maybe millions.

Mm-hmm.

And then there's also this perfect marriage of a solution that will solve that clinical problem. That's one of the most motivating things on the planet to get that out there. I think when we find founders that have seen and been able to match those 2 things with the patient need and the solution, that's where we get really jazzed.

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for coming in and joining us. Excited to launch the Connect Current, have you guys in the first weeks. Fantastic conversation, fantastic reminder that innovation is not just about discovery, but the ability to actually turn it into something that matters for patients and can profoundly impact the quality of the patient experience. That was 5 times, I think, so we're doing good now. And generate real value in the world, not just revenue and financial-wise, but with impact. And really appreciate you joining us today.

Thanks for having us. This was absolutely fantastic.

Yeah, our pleasure. Thank you.

Thanks for listening to The Connect Current. As always, we will have more information on Reefhaven Ventures, Garrett, and Nick in our show notes. If you want to learn more about Connect and explore resources around San Diego's innovation ecosystem, visit our LinkedIn page or connect.org. We will see you next time on The Connect Current, where San Diego's innovation story keeps moving forward. Thanks for listening to The Connect Current. If you want to learn more about Connect and explore resources across San Diego's innovation ecosystem, follow us on LinkedIn or visit connect.org. We'll see you next time on The Connect Current. Where San Diego's innovation story keeps moving forward.

This podcast was edited and produced by Resonate Recordings.