What would that previous version of yourself think about you now?

Tim DraperFounder and Managing Partne, Draper Associate · I back the ideas that look crazy first

Basepair saw a gap in genomic research tools and built the software scientists truly need. 🔬

4 Mar 2025 · 1 min

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1:00

A Harvard genomics researcher left academia after seeing scientists waste time on clunky tools. He built Basepair to fix that, teaching himself to hire, raise money, and sell along the way. His family, with no business background, became his biggest cheerleaders.

Questions this video answers

He would be extremely surprised and proud, noting that the recent years involved learning to hire a team, raise capital, build products, and do sales—skills that were previously unfamiliar.

Chapters

I joined a Harvard Medical School cancer research lab. We were one of the earliest labs to use genomics for cancer research, and I saw the data explosion happen firsthand. So that was a motivation for me to leave academia and build the software that I wish I had, that I wish my colleagues had. And that is the future we are building. I don't come from an entrepreneurial family, so nobody really understood what I was doing, but they knew that they need to support me, and they did support me a lot without understanding what I was getting myself into. They have been a huge cheerleader all along the journey. Every time they get a little win, they are more happy than I am.
What would that previous version of yourself think about you now?
I think that guy will be extremely surprised and proud because the things I've done in the last few years I had never done before, like hiring a team, raising capital, building products, doing sales. So looking back, that learning has been very important for us to be where we are today.