Venture Capital in Psychedelic Medicine – Brom Rector – Learning with Lowell- 161

February 21, 2023

Are you curious about the future of psychedelic medicine and the role of venture capital in funding its development? Look no further than our guest today, Brom Rector. As the founder of Empath Ventures, a VC fund dedicated to psychedelic medicine, Brom is at the forefront of a burgeoning industry with enormous potential to revolutionize mental health treatment. Raised in a military family, Brom’s personal experience with psychedelics has given him a unique perspective on their therapeutic benefits. In this 90-minute interview, Brom discusses the science, culture, and investing opportunities of the psychedelic industry. He shares his personal journey, the challenges facing startups in the space, and the exciting projects Empath Ventures is working on. If you’re interested in learning about the intersection of psychedelics and medicine, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Stick around until the end to hear Brom’s advice for those interested in pursuing a similar career path or starting a psychedelic startup.

Brom links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bromrector/

https://www.empath.vc/

PODCAST INFO:

The Learning With Lowell show is a series for the everyday mammal. In this show we’ll learn about leadership, science, and people building their change into the world. The goal is to dig deeply into people who most of us wouldn’t normally ever get to hear. The Host of the show – Lowell Thompson- is a lifelong autodidact, serial problem solver, and founder of startups.

LINKS

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzri06unR-lMXbl6sqWP_-Q

Youtube clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-B5x371AzTGgK-_q3U_KfA

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lowell-thompson-2227b074

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LWThompson5

Website: https://www.learningwithlowell.com/

Timestamps / chapters

00:00 Intro Brom Rector

0045 Eragon series

01:15 Psychedelics in real life

03:09 Personal experiences with psychedelics 

03:48 Experiment on venture capitalist (VCs)

05:17 Wolfy VCs

07:07 Psychedelics  and religion

11:15 Illegal psychedelics 

14:30 Changing thoughts on psychedelics 

16:05 Veterans, metnal health, sexaul assalt

17:36 Drug abuse

18:30 Science research

19:23 Psychedelics category breakdown

21:28 Invest before regulatory approval

22:16 VC vs startup founder

23:22 Jeff Bezos vs Joseph Stalin

24:00 Life in a hedge fund

25:45 Raising a VC fund

26:21 Time horizon

26:55 Machine learning background on investing

30:06 Traits to look for

31:02 Discerning fact from fiction

31:41 Lux Capital, where to get in early

35:55 Switzerland 

36:27 Research tools

37:00 Twitter under Elon Musk, Youtube, and shadow ban

39:39 Beyond – Place in mexico that does  psychedelic therapy

41:14 Opioid epidemic  /sacklers/ fines 

42:43 Empath ventures after 10 years

44:55 Mental health impact

46:00 Why mental health and psychedelics 

48:33 Hard work, luckier you get

51:21 Leaving hedge fund

53:20 Difficulty in knowing if on right path

54:00 Lesser fun parts of fun

54:45 Honey pot investors

55:54 Investors taking time

57:50 Not losing knowledge

59:5 Platform vs specific

1:02:30 False marketing for startups

1:03:50 psychedelics defensibility

1:05:17 Brom during freetime

1:05:54 Making friends in 30s

1:06:55 Dating/friendship

1:07:46 Untapped potential with psychedelics

1:10:13 psychedelics for learning

1:12:00 Billion

1:13:07 Billions tv show and change

1:14:23 books!

1:17:01 Currently learning

1:18:45 Newsletter podcast

1:18:19 Keeping investors happy

1:21:21 Problem he needs help with

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