🧬 From Law School to Teva: Learning a 45,000-Person Organization | Mati Gill (2/4)

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science. As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr's partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners. "There's one thing that we haven't been able to innovate, which is how to make the day longer than 24 hours. So it's all what you give up." In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee sits down with Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs. Mati traces his path from juggling a minister's bureau with Israeli law school to joining Teva as an intern with no private-sector experience, then learning a 45,000-person org from the chart up — until Teva's financial crisis handed him the mandate to build the innovation program that became AION Labs. Key Topics Covered: Juggling Government and Law School: Why Mati said yes to a minister's office mid-law-school. A Health Crisis as a Reset: Being wounded in a terrorist attack and the priorities it forced. Starting at the Bottom of Teva: The deliberate choice to intern at a company he knew nothing about. Learning a 45,000-Person Org: Coffee with the former deputy R&D head twice a week, plus a walk through the org chart. Never Waste a Crisis: How Teva's financial collapse gave Mati the mandate for a new innovation program. Industry-Academia Partnerships: Where collaborations break down and what the Weizmann model gets right. If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening. Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Mati Gill at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matigill/?originalSubdomain=ilWebsite: https://aionlabs.com/ Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee/ Learn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/Website: https://www.excedr.com Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:Biotech Partnerships: How Industry and Academia Work Together: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-researchThe Story of Copaxone — From Weizmann Lab to FDA Approval: https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/cop-1-copaxone%C2%AE-story-drugIndustry-Academia Drug Discovery Collaborations: https://blog.drugbank.com/the-collaboration-between-industry-and-academia-in-drug-development/Brian Chesky on AI Founder Mode — Invest Like the Best, Ep. 471: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brian-chesky-ai-founder-mode/id1154105909?i=1000766196703 Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Teva Pharmaceuticals: https://www.tevapharm.comAION Labs: https://aionlabs.comWeizmann Institute of Science: https://www.weizmann.ac.ilDanaher Corporation: https://www.danaher.comThermo Fisher Scientific: https://www.thermofisher.comAirbnb: https://www.airbnb.com Donna Baron (Dana Bar-On), Head of Academic Collaborations, Teva R&D: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barondanaJeremy Levin, Former CEO of Teva: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_LevinKåre Schultz, Former CEO of Teva: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A5re_SchultzEli Hurvitz, Founder of Modern Teva: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_HurvitzYair Benita, CTO of AION Labs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybenita Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:56 Three Life Anchors and the Decision to Say Yes06:03 Juggling a Minister's Bureau and Law School08:13 A Wounding, a Reset, and the Decision to Finish09:04 Time Is the One Resource You Can't Innovate09:15 Choosing Teva: Industry Over Government for a Reason13:34 Early Days at Teva — Starting from the Bottom15:09 Strategy for Thriving in a 45,000-Person Organization18:47 Org Chart as Discovery: Meeting Everyone Systematically20:16 Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste22:13 Managing Up, Down, and Across: Teva's Leadership Styles22:49 Building the External Innovation Program from Scratch27:41 The Bio-Innovators Talent Program and Its Origins32:14 What Makes Industry-Academia Partnerships Actually Work34:43 Outro The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.