Got Laid Off, Then Built the Lab AI Biology Needs

What we talked about.

Matthew, cofounder of Flock Bio, joins Sunny Ray to explain how a layoff turned into a new company. Matthew and his team spent years doing high throughput molecular biology at a lab that was acquired by Ginkgo Bioworks, then closed as the company divested COVID era assets. After the layoff, Matthew pitched several startup ideas to his cofounder before landing on RNA therapeutics for bird flu, prompted by a USDA funding push. When vaccine focused funding pulled back, the pair pivoted to offering custom pooled library and molecular biology services instead, opening Flock Bio in Alameda, California. The conversation covers how the team sources DNA from more than ten synthesis vendors, why customers save time by outsourcing rather than building libraries themselves, and how AI virtual employees now help run finance, outreach, and pipeline work alongside just five human staff. They also discuss the split between therapeutics and protein engineering work, plans for internal R&D including an oncology project, and how the two cofounders divide decisions.

Laid off from a molecular biology lab, he and his cofounder built Flock Bio using AI agents as virtual staff.

The questions, and the answers.

Got laid off and built the lab AI needs, can you give some context?

My team and I specialize in high throughput molecular biology, running experiments that answer thousands to billions of questions at once. We were most recently part of a company acquired by Ginkgo Bioworks, which had one of the largest biotech IPOs in 2021. As COVID related work wound down, that company divested assets, so we picked up the lab, moved down the street, and opened the company we always wanted to build.

Can you walk me through the week that decision got made?

My cofounder is a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits, including Invitae, which grew to about 3,000 people. Once we had notice the lab was closing, I sat at a brewery pitching him company after company, since I had severance and some runway. I pitched ideas for over a couple of years until last year, when the USDA put out a billion dollars for bird flu research, which led us toward RNA therapeutics.

What did you take with you from the old shop in people, process, and equipment, and what did you leave behind?

We deliberately left behind large infrastructure, automation, and capex heavy equipment, since we tuned our process to stay lean. What we kept was the team and expertise. My cofounder and I have worked together off and on for years, and combined we have over 50 years of experience, so instead of customers cycling through mistakes, we just tell them the right answer and build it for them.

Who was the first customer and how did that first order actually happen?

Our first customer was a small startup working on innovative high throughput molecular biology, asking really tricky questions on the margins of what we could support. We found them through social media, putting our products out there and having a conversation that eventually closed the deal. That customer is already a repeat customer and intends to keep coming back.

In plain language, what lands on your bench and what leaves it?

People want to run experiments as a pool answering thousands or billions of questions at once, which means building and assembling custom DNA. We do not synthesize DNA or do chemistry ourselves. Instead we work with over ten DNA synthesis manufacturers, mixing and matching their products, then QC and sequence everything so customers just focus on their scientific questions, not sourcing logistics.

Where does AI actually show up in a molecular biology services lab today, and where is it still hype?

For us AI is omnipresent. If we tried to do what we are doing now even a year or two ago, the people cost would have closed the company. Flock has five human employees, but I also manage about 15 virtual AI employees that run a huge amount of go to market, finance, NGS design, and coding work. Tasks that used to take weeks or months now take hours to days.

What does a good week of outreach look like for you right now, and what does a bad one look like?

A good week means a lot of social media interaction that converts into inbound meetings, and ideally meetings that convert into sales. A bad week is often seasonal, like the last week of August when much of the planet is on vacation and real ideal customers go quiet, even though general noise continues. Interestingly, this past summer stayed strong, especially right after the Fourth of July.

Just to put it in simple terms, does this connect to longevity and living healthier?

Definitely, I put that under quality of life, and I think that is where biotech is going, working on diseases that do not yet have an answer. Whether it is peptides for obesity, cancer therapeutics, or autoimmune conditions, we really just want to help people. That is why so many of us choose biotech over tech, we love science but also want to make a difference.