Articles and videos covering my entrepreneurship journey
At 22 I founded Kaitek Labs, one of Chile’s most renowned synthetic biology startups at the time, where my team focused on creating a new detection technology for toxicity in shellfish. Kaitek closed on 2018 after receiving over 30 international awards and recognitions, raising half a million US dollars in public grants and private funding, and allowing me to attend business and innovation programs in Europe, Asia and Silicon Valley. Needless to say, it was a wild ride.
Kaitek’s post mortem
Probably my most-read article. A recount of everything I learnt in the almost 6 years I spent as the founder and CEO of sybio startup Kaitek
An autopsy for my first start up
It’s been a year since then and now that I finally sit down to write This, the real post mortem, the autopsy for my dead child, there’s finally a small sense of peace. It’s over, isn’t it?
Life as a rebel
Adventures in SOSV’s biotechnology accelerator, Rebel Bio, where I spent 4 months in 2017
Life as a Rebel / Week 1
Interested to see how one of the biggest biotech accelerators worldwide is from the inside? Join me in the four-month adventure that is Rebel Bio, SOSV’s global biotech accelerator.
Life as a Rebel / Week 2
“Your business works in language first,” he says, and my inner linguist sobs in a corner of my mind. “Even the impact you have happens in language first.”
Life as a Rebel / Week 3
This is vertiginously fast, and a lot is expected of us. But at the same time, you can see yourself moving forward and suddenly there’s a road laid in front of you and for a brief, beautiful moment, you know what to do.
Life as a Rebel / Week 4
“You can program computers with code and bacteria with genes.” Bill reminded us that day. “You can also program humans with words.”
Life as a Rebel / Week 5
An accelerator is about finding if your idea has wings, and if it can take off. So if it crashes and burns right away that’s good – you won’t be working 2 or 3 years on something that’s never going to work
Wrapping up
Our four months at Rebel Bio are up. And being a Rebel, I learnt, is not about being a reckless contrarian.
Advice and reflections
Miscelaneous articles in entrepreneurship
Weird advice for better pitches
There’s a gigantic amount of people who can give you better advice than me in pitching. So I decided to compile a list of weird advice instead.
Consejos para escribir sobre ciencia
Por temas de trabajo, estos son los últimos meses que me quedan para escribir freelance libremente, así que le pedí a mis editores en Synbiobeta que me mandaron todos los encargos posibles. Ayer entrevisté a dos CEO/CSOs de empresas espectaculares biotecnológicas, y esta semana que viene me tocan dos más. Llevo casi cincuenta artículos publicados…
Selling half-baked cakes
If you ask any serious investor what’s the most important thing a startup can do they’re likely to mention three things: sell, sell and sell. Us biotech founders though, after receiving the selling mantra, generally get an extra phrase: good luck.
Síndrome de pequeñeza
Desde el cierre de Kaitek que vengo lidiando con un problema de ego. Que no se malentienda: ya tenía problemas de ego de antes, estilo delirio de grandeza. […] Lo que pasa es que ahora tengo el problema inverso: delirio de pequeñeza, si me disculpa la RAE.
Distortion fields, quitting and choice making
How do you know when you’ve gone too far and you should jump ship before you find yourself so way under not even the fish will listen? How can you tell when it’s time to stop believing your own bullshit?
The talk of shame
I thought walking the walk was the hardest thing about being an entrepreneur, but not for this. Once everything around you goes down, and after you’ve dropped off the radar to lick your wounds and gather enough strength to come back, it’s time to talk the talk. Welcome to the talk of shame.
Videos
Pitch videos, press apparitions and my TedX
Campaña: Belleza De La Ciencia (2019)
Cliente: Preunic
Innovación Icare: Cómo enfrentar el 2018 (2018)
Hans Eben, Gerente General de Unilever, Carolina Altschwager, Directora Ejecutiva de Almabrands y Emilia Díaz, Fundadora & CEO de Kaitek Labs se adelantan a lo que viene en innovación este 2018.
Rebel Bio Demo Day pitch (2017)
Final pitch presentation for Rebel Bio’s Demo Day, presenting Kaitek’s MOSES.
Ceremonia de Premiación Premio Inspiratec (2017)
Así fue la premiación de InspiraTEC 2017, iniciativa que reconoce a las mujeres destacadas en tecnología, donde Emilia participó como conductora del evento por segundo año seguido. El evento contó con la presencia de la Presidenta de Chile.
#LasNiñasPueden (2017)
Rostro de campaña para #LasNiñasPueden, de Comunidad Mujer.
Meet Kaitek Labs (2017)
Short intro video done by Rebel Bio about Kaitek Labs’ MOSES project.
TedXPUCdeChile: Alimentar al lobo correcto (2016)
Emilia Díaz relata su motivación y dificultades para emprender y ser exitosa con su objetivo: impactar en las vidas humanas.
International Business Model Competition, First Place (2015)
Emilia Diaz, the founder and CEO of Kaitek Labs, a student startup from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, delivers her presentation at the 2015 International Business Model Competition at Brigham Young University, Provo. Kaitek Labs went on to take 1st place at the competition and distinguished itself as the first foreign and female-led student startup to take 1st place in the history of the IBMC.
Emilia Díaz 