#27 – The Evolution of Biotech: Lessons From 35 Years of Early Stage Investing | Terry McGuire

Ventured Growth with Hercules Capital

Healthcare and biotech venture capital plays a critical role in funding innovative medical technologies, drug development, and life-saving therapies. These investments drive advancements in healthcare, transforming science into products that improve global patient outcomes.
Terry McGuire is a founding partner of Polaris Partners, with over 35 years of early-stage investing experience in medical and information technology companies. As a venture capitalist, Terry has invested in more than 80 companies that have raised over $7 billion in equity and corporate capital.
In this episode, Hercules Capital’s Janice Bourque and Terry McGuire discuss Terry’s trajectory from generalist to distinguished expert in healthcare and biotech venture capital, strategies to find the right scientists and product, Terry’s biggest lessons in raises, limited partnerships and investor relationships, and much more.
Topics Include:

• Terry’s path from generalist to venture capitalist
• Strategies to find the right scientists
• 3 traits that can turn a scientist into an effective CEO
• How to turn science into a product
• The emerging technologies to look out for
• Strengths and weaknesses of the industry
• Terry’s biggest lessons from the evolution of raises, limited partnerships, and investor relationships
• And other topics…

Terry McGuire is a founding partner of Polaris Partners, with over 35 years of early-stage investing experience in medical and information technology companies. As a venture capitalist, Terry has invested in more than 80 companies that have raised over $7 billion in equity and corporate capital. He also co-founded three companies: Inspire, AIR, and MicroCHIPS. Companies Terry has supported have touched more than 60 million patients and directly saved over 400,000 lives.
Terry has been listed as one of Scientific American’s Worldview 100, Forbes’ Top Life Sciences Investors, and Forbes’ Midas 100 List of Top Tech Investors, among others. He is the chairman of the Global Venture Capital Congress, serves on several public and private boards of directors, and is the recipient of various awards, including the Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Life Sciences awarded by Harvard and the City of Jerusalem.