Meet Activate’s New Executive-in-Residence, Ranulfo (Randy) Allen
Since joining Activate this summer as our first Boston-based executive-in-residence, Randy Allen has been laser-focused on helping fellows—and showing them why now is a great time to be a science entrepreneur.
Randy Allen, Activate executive-in-residence
If there is a usual path to an executive-in-residence position, it’s not likely the one that Ranulfo (Randy) Allen took to Activate. He’s a freshly minted MBA (The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth). But he earned that credential after having already built an impressive career as a scientist, researcher, entrepreneur, and market analyst. So it’s hard to think of a better CV for an EIR and mentor to Activate Fellows.
Allen earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Stanford, studying carbon nanotube/conductive polymer composite solutions under professors Zhenan Bao and Gerald Fuller. After some post-doctoral work studying applications in smart plastics, flexible electronics, wearable electronics, health monitoring, and 3D printing, he founded and served as CTO of a sensor manufacturer, Pascalor, focused on IoT applications.
From there, Allen joined Frost & Sullivan, where he held several research analyst roles focused on chemical, materials, and food science industries. That experience led him to the venture world, most recently at Pillar VC.
Since joining Activate this summer as EIR—our first based in the Activate Boston Community—Allen has kept a very full calendar of meetings with fellows. And in his down time (when he’s not supporting future titans of industry) he enjoys snowboarding, smart podcasts, and dumb reality shows.
We’re extremely grateful to have him on the team and sat down with him to learn more about what motivates him and get his perspective on science entrepreneurship.
Q: What drew you to this position and to Activate?
I want my career to center around helping science entrepreneurs at the forefront of confronting climate change. Commercializing technology is so difficult especially for first-time entrepreneurs who do not have intricate knowledge of growing a business. I have been lucky enough to learn about the business side of scientific entrepreneurship from a variety of viewpoints and I want to share my experience with those who, with the right support, are poised to have a large impact on our society. Unlike other organizations, Activate is well-suited to shepherd entrepreneurs into a good position in which they know the biggest potential pitfalls for their companies and strategies for remaining agile if those obstacles start to manifest.
“In my startup, we made these decisions off of hunches and now I want to help others gather accessible information before diving in headfirst.”
Q: You bring a wealth of experience as a mentor to our fellows. But are there specific elements of the early-stage startup experience that you're most keen to guide fellows through?
I’m looking forward to discussing the strategic decisions for the companies. Choosing which markets or particular problems to address or to which grants they should apply is crucial. Entrepreneurs work extremely hard but all that work can become detrimental if they are moving in the wrong direction. This is especially problematic for scientific entrepreneurs since pivoting is not as easy.
Lessons I’ve learned from being a market research analyst and from business school have helped me to wrap my head around how to think about these types of decisions. In my startup, we made these decisions off of hunches and now I want to help others gather accessible information before diving in headfirst. Outside of that, I also want to make the journey less lonely and stressful for all our fellows. Entrepreneurship is tough!
“Now is a great time to be a science entrepreneur. ”
Q: Given the rise in climate tech investing, and movements at the federal level toward better supporting science innovation, what's your perspective on what it means to be a science entrepreneur today, compared to when you became a founder?
When I became a founder, there was not as much momentum behind climate change solutions among the public or in the corporate world. Now, there seems to be a confluence of shareholder interest driving corporate actions, investor interest and amenability to longer exit timelines, and general public awareness that is leading to the next wave of climate tech startups. Now is a great time to be a science entrepreneur. For more and more applications, it’s possible to drive down the green premiums to a widely acceptable level. Additionally, whenever the U.S. establishes a carbon price, it will be today’s new technologies that will be able to capitalize on it.