Ep 71: Entrepreneurship for Scientists - The Journey

Dr. Luis Martinez is back to speak with us about his journey. As a senior venture associate at Capital Factory, a venture capital firm, his love of science began by noticing what was missing–people doing science who looked like him. Luis was raised in an incredible town on the U.S.-Mexico border–El Paso, Tx. His introduction to science came from experiences at the local library and shows like Star Trek and Cosmos. As a high schooler, he was on the science team and had the opportunity to take a state exam for chemistry. But, rather than studying, he took the exam without any preparation. And somehow he passed; ranking first in the state! This, for him, set a path to pursue science in college. He attended Trinity College as a first generation college student and had the incredible opportunity to complete research as an undergraduate. As a junior, he declared himself as a chemistry major and was introduced to graduate school by a guidance counselor. The decision for Luis was easy–graduate school was free–it was a clear yes. As a graduate student at Harvard University, he remembers his involvement in a major scientific discovery that focused on developing organic molecules using efficient and sustainable methods. From this discovery, he also learned about patenting and scaling innovations; important lessons he would need for the future. At the end of his doctorate, Luis had to decide between a postdoctoral fellowship or joining a consulting firm. He chose the latter. After a few years, however, a family emergency brought him back to El Paso to join the university as a chemistry professor. Later on, he again moved to Trinity University as a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation to lead an undergraduate entrepreneurship program. When Luis looks back at his journey so far, he recommends two pieces of advice, “Be bold; and don’t worry about it, it’ll all work out.”               

Check out the previous episode with Luis.

Tune into this episode to hear about Luis’s journey and:

• How he chose his major as a first generation college student
• How he was able to adapt his unique professional experiences to drive his career journey  

Reach out to Luis: 

• LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drluismartinez/

If you enjoyed this episode, check out one more:

• Ep 43: Science CEO Level: Unlocked - The Journey 

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• 10:07 (Cont.) Ep 71: Entrepreneurship for Scientists - The Journey

Transcript

Today we continue our conversation with Dr. Luis Martinez where he shares his journey from first generation college student to scientist, professor, and entrepreneur. What was your favorite part of this episode, Shakira?

Yeah, I really loved hearing the joy in his voice when he talked about discovering science and really enjoying it and realizing like, wow, science is so cool and so powerful. So that's one thing I always love hearing from our guest. especially if they had very little exposure to science before that point. So, yeah, that joy definitely came through in Luis's story. What about you?

Yeah, I also really appreciated how he took us through the timeline of his career, just seeing how he progressed cuz, you know, we've been doing this like mini academia to industry kind of series throughout this season, but everyone we've interviewed till now is still in the earlier phase of their career. But Luis is much further along. So, it was really great to see the possibilities after, you know, that type of career move like where can the journey take you? What can come first? What can come next?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree. Definitely. Plus, his journey was so interesting, right? Cuz he crisscrossed between academia, industry, and entrepreneurship, just weaving in and out and even merging academia and entrepreneurship. So, he tried so much. It was almost like when one door closed or another door open, he's like, "Sure, why not? And so that sort of became his philosophy too, right? Like just give it a try. So yeah, I love that.

Yeah, he gave great advice and definitely a lot of options. So let's listen and enjoy. Hello everyone, welcome back to the show We Love Science. Our guest Today is Dr. Luis Martinez, a scientist, a professor, and an entrepreneur who is currently a senior venture associate at Capital Factory in Texas. We learned a lot about his work in the last episode, as well as his advice for anyone interested in entrepreneurship. So, if you missed it, there were so many great nuggets of knowledge in there. Just hit the link in the show notes and check it out. So, Luis, we are going to jump into the journey segment of our conversation. And so, this is kind kind of where you tell us, you know, how did you start? What were, you know, some of the unexpected things that happened in between and how did you end up where you are now? And the first question I'm going to ask you is going back all the way to the beginning, how did you first get interested in science? What was your science spark or what made you curious when you were growing up?

So, growing up, my parents did not have a science background. Neither one of them had gone to college. Uh, my father was the first person in his family to graduate from high school. My mother had no high school education.

I grew up on the border community of El Paso, Texas. That's sort of where I was raised. Um this incredible community that's on the US Mexican border and in many kind of El Paso stories as a Mexican-American from that region. Um you know, we had family on both sides. We had family on the Mexican side, we had family on the US side. Crossing the border for us, we joke we've never crossed the border. The across US.

So for me, science was something that people did that didn't look like me.

Yeah.

Um I would go to the public library and I'd see these science books and none of them were Hispanic surname.

Yeah.

I'd see TV shows and public television and none of them were Hispanic surname. But I loved it. Like I loved science and and uh so really early like you know I was kind of a science fiction nerd and watching Star Trek and Star Wars and that got me super excited and and uh I was very fortunate to be part of sort of what I call the cosmos generation. So Carl Sean

um you know was on public television and talking about the universe and I was like wow like this is so amazing and so cool

like I'd love to do something like that. So I started studying science and thinking that was something I was going to do sort of through high school

but I also have a a long history of of musicians in my family as well. So if you had known who I was in high school, it either would have been music or would have been science. It's one of the two, right?

Oh, music and science.

Yeah, it would have been one of the two. So what tickled my curiosity was just the awe and the discovery, the

the kind of awe of like, oh my goodness, there's all these things that you can discover and that still are unknown and like how does it work and why does that happen? So how I started my journey is actually pretty funny. me. Um, so I was in high school and was in the band and I was in music and it was my senior year and I knew I wanted to go to college and most likely I was going to do science but I wasn't sure about it yet. But I'd been in music and so you know lots of hours of practice and lots of hours of auditions and you know getting to become an all-state sort of whatever and uh my senior year I was sort of like on the science team and I had to take like a little sort of quiz competition for chemistry and cuz you know I was focusing on the music stuff as well as being a high school senior, right?

Um I didn't study for these tests and I just kind of went in cold and my chemistry teacher at the time was like really angry at me. She was like, "What?" Like, "Yeah, like sorry." Like I had like a band competition coming up like you know other things or I was dating like I don't know other other priorities.

I qualified for state like cold and came in first.

What?

And I you know and in music I done really good but I'd never done it like that easily. Right? I'm like, "Huh, I think the science thing might be something I want to do." Right? So, I knew then going into college, science was something that I really wanted to explore a little bit more fully. And so, I specifically chose a school that had the opportunity for undergraduates to do research.

So, I was part of that first generation of sort of formal REU undergraduate research programs in the mid 80s.

Um, the NSF had just started to do those grants and I was fortunate to be working at to be at a university Trinity University in San Antonio where I got my undergraduate degree that had a a long history of undergraduate research and science and it was in every discipline and because I'd done so well in like this chemistry kind of thing I was like I I think maybe I'll start take a chemistry class and you know maybe chemistry biology or whatever.

So I took a chemistry class and I remember walking my chemistry professor's office and say hey look I understand you all do like research like what's that I'm going get first generation college student like like what's research I have no idea, right? I have no idea. And she's like, well, you know, you know, here's my project and here's what I'm doing and this is what I'm investigating and here's the question. I'm like,

this is kind of like a mystery, right? And that's the only context I had, right? You know, like like you're trying to figure out like who did it, right? You know, who done it? Like that's cool.

Yeah.

And she's like, you know, go talk to other faculty and like, you know, if I'm the one that you ultimately want to work with. I didn't do that because ADHD. I didn't do that because again, college, I had other priorities. Um, and so I came back to her office. I said, "Yeah, like I want to work for you." She's like, "Great. Like, come and join my group." And so, I was fortunate to start doing undergraduate research as a chemist uh my freshman year.

So, second semester of freshman in college, like I'm in the lab like mixing stuff. I'm like, "This is super cool." Like, you know, it's sort of like cooking and we sort of talked about the cooking thing uh earlier, you know, oh, you get to mix things together and like stuff happens. Like, this is super cool. So,

I still didn't really know what I wanted to major in college. I was sort of considering engineering and I was considering chemistry and biology and I was thinking about philosophy and I was okay

sort of religion like I didn't know but I kept on like doing this research and well well in order to understand the research I need to take the other chemistry class and take the other chemistry class

so by the time you know so I do organic which is the research I was doing already uh and I was okay like I was good at it I mean it wasn't the best thing I was at but it was just really cool to understand like this thing I was doing in an organic chemistry lab like how it was at a so I went back I was now in my second undergraduate research experience during the summer with this professor and you know I was in her office she's like okay first question you need to declare a major

oh man uh well what major should I take and she's like well you've taken all these chemistry classes like I think if you're going to graduate in four years you need to graduate it's going to be chemistry she's like great chemistry it is my scholarship was only good for four years so like I needed something I could graduate four years like great I've been doing this lab stuff awesome I can go be a chemist she's like so she's speaking about like what you want to do now that you're entering your junior year.

Have you thought about going to graduate school?

And I was like, no, Dr. Mills, thanks so much. Like, I need to go get a job. I'm here on scholarship. I need to go get a make some money. Like, I mean, I I'll I'll go work in industry. Like, that sounds cool. Like, I'm not ready to go to do more school.

And now I'm going to reveal the secret.

Oh, okay.

She said the magic word. It's free. Yes.

And I was like, "What? Wait."

Yeah.

It's free. She's like, "Yeah, like you know, you don't have to take more loans for graduate school. There is a national need for more scientists."

Mhm.

Um, and you don't have to pay for graduate school. Now, again, remember, I'm a first generation college student.

Yeah.

So, here's my next thought,

and here was my question. You mean like army free? Like, I got to join the army and like, you know, go go fight, you know, put a level of service into the country like it's that kind free. Yeah.

You know,

and she's like, "No, like like they'll pay for your graduate school and you get a little stipen being a TA and like you like this research thing. Like that's what becomes your job. Like you go do that research and like at the end of it you get a PhD."

Yeah.

And I was like, "How long does it take?" Right. Cuz

I got a lot. Right.

Right.

And she's like, "It's about four to six years." And so I did the math. Like I remember this moment. I sort of did the math. I was like, "Wait, so it's free?"

Mhm.

I get paid some. Great. I mean, pizza money. Okay, cool.

I don't have to join the army.

All right. I mean, I was more than willing to do that if that was the deal, but Okay. You know, that's cool. And wait, I get to be under the age of 30 and people call me doctor.

That's cool.

That's kind of cool. So, looking then into my junior year, which is really important because I took PCAM my junior year. Uh, and man, like you better want to be doing chemistry if you be taking PCM. Um, I mean, all of y'all other scientists like you're like, "Oh, organic is really bad. Yeah,

the chemists are like, "Wait till you take Bcam." Uh,

you know, so, uh, you know, knowing my junior year then I was going to go off to graduate school. I started looking at graduate schools. And this was like just a whole new experience for me. Now, there there were people thankfully like we had a university that had other students that had gone on to graduate school. We had I had an adviser who had sent folks to graduate school. So, there was already some support and infrastructure to how to do that. But, you all don't know how easy it is. Now I mean now you open up the computer and like you know you look at the web page there's social media like faculty have got like web pages like back in the dinosaur days there was like these little mail cards that you would like tear off a poster and like you would send into the school and they would send you a big thick brochure on like just the research and what the school was like.

Wow.

Oh and by the way email was still not a thing.

Yeah. So you were like writing letters. with your

Yeah. Like you were like typing letters and like like doing stuff. So

wow.

I I had an understanding about what this research was, but I look at your descriptions, I'm like, I don't understand any of this stuff. I mean, I'm just an undergraduate and like like this looks interesting. So anyway, I kind of went through the process. Um I would not advise how I chose a graduate school is how other people chose a graduate school. Uh I sort of asked like three different professors like, "What graduate schools do you think I should go to?" And they're like, "Ah, here's some programs I think you should go to. what's the program she should go to? I'm like, oh, like only should go to this program and only should go to this program. And so, like

whichever schools had the overlap, like that's the ones I chose.

Okay.

Cuz again, this is all new to me.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's all new to me. Like

fair.

So, I applied to schools. There's this one guy at this university. He was just doing this stuff I thought was super cool. I was like, "Wow, this is super interesting." Thankfully, I I got into the university that he was at. And um I fly up and you know For those of you who haven't done this yet, like as part of the graduate school experience, like there are flyyous and like visit trips where they kind of visit you. They kind of fly you out to kind of visit the school and spend a day there. And so, you know, here I'm as a senior. I'm on like this graduate student tour. Like I'm on like visiting like five schools to kind of figure out where like where I'm going to be. And so like I land at this one place and it's kind of like my third or fourth school that I'm visiting at this point. So I kind of know the drill, right? You know, graduate students pick you up and they take you out and I'm going to have a beer or something like that and then there's like a program the next day and then

you have another beer the next night and then like they put you on a plane and you go home, right? And everything is beautiful and they everything is wonderful and everyone loves you and it's gorgeous. It's it's great. Strongly recommend for those of you think about graduate school. There's only two times maybe three times in your life where people fly you out and tell you you're handsome and beautiful and intelligent and all these things. Like man, it does great things for your ego. Go apply to graduate school. It's a great experience. Then they get you, but that's another story. Um

and so this guy picks me up and I was like, "Oh my god, like you're on my list." Like you're one of the people I want to talk to. He's like, "Yeah, like you know, I'm on my way and you want you hungry? You want some noodles?" I'm like, "Yeah, that'd be awesome." So, I got a chance to meet him.

And he's like, "Well, I'm really sorry. I'm gonna drop you off at the airport, but I've got a um you know, group meeting." I was like, "Man, that'd be really cool. I'd love to go to that. Sure, come on over to group meeting." So, I met the group and then I spent the day. And so, I knew at that moment like this is the guy I want to work with.

So, um I chose University of Illinois in part because I wanted to work with Eric. Um Eric at that point was a uh freshly minted associate professor had just made some really incredible discoveries in the field.

There was still no chance that I was going to go work for him

because he was pretty popular and he wasn't taking like every student they wanted to work for him.

Yeah.

But I was also really fortunate at the time I was also applying for sort of NSF graduate fellowships and Ford fellowships and uh although I was an honorable mention for NSF I did get a Ford fellowship and so I came with my own money.

Great.

And so you know Eric was like great we'd love to have who joined the group and uh that's what really got me into sort of what I did is is is it and I I fell in love.

Yeah.

Again like the awe was an aspect of it but the reason I became an organic chemist is chemistry in particularly synthetic chemistry is one of the few fields where you actually get to make something

like

the awe of holding the world supply I had as an undergraduate like like like this never existed before like until I made it like this is literally like the world's supply and if I drop this like I'm going to be making this for the next nine months. True story. Um

but there was that awe of like you get to make something and you get to study it and then you get to make more and like how these things kind of come together. So

that's really really beautiful.

I started working with Eric at University of Illinois. We ultimately transferred to Harvard which is where he's currently he's been a professor there for a long time. So I kind of reappied undergraduate programs and all that kind of stuff. But thankfully transferred over to Harvard. All my credits and stuff from Illinois transferred started in that program. And while I was at Harvard, I was really fortunate to be involved in a discovery that became a pretty interesting project and a big deal.

Okay.

I remember sort of making so quick sort of science background. Uh organic molecules have a property known as kirality

which means uh they are sort of left-handed or right-handed. They kind of mirror images of each other

and uh At the time in sort of the the early 90s, pharmaceutical companies in particular, but chemical companies broadly were very interested in making only one of the handed molecules at time.

Yes.

Uh and that's important because for chyro receptors like human beings and animals and plants um the interactions with one of the hands of those molecules is probably the right one and for the other one it could be deletarious or there's no effect at all. So there's a lot of interest in like can we build these molecules of one an enchantimemer or of the other one chirality or the other

right

but can we do that catalytically that was where we were doing the work and can we do it in a way that is in some ways sustainable or that doesn't involve anything so I joined Eric's lab the reason why I thought he was doing the hardest stuff is back in those days he'd had this catalyst that took this intermediate from plastics chemical industry relatively inexpensive and catalytically added an oxygen in a very unique waym uh that in with bleach as the reagent and salt water is waste.

Wow.

Super amazing, super transformative. It's sort of what got him from assistant and associate professor.

Very cool.

Is a big deal.

It was very cool. Very cool. So I came onto a project thinking about the same kind of principles but seeing if we could do something differently. Instead of adding an oxygen, we're going to add another nucleophile to it and kind of open that epoxide. But be able to do that. And it turns out it worked. Uh and it turns out there was no waste. Nice.

Every atom that we used went into the product.

Beautiful.

And like I remember like when I made the discovery, you know, I sort of was like taking the tea back home that the the the subway and remember writing in my journal. It's like I think I might have made the most important thing I've ever done in my like lifetime at this point.

I guess this is what it's like to peak at like 25, you know, like oh no, like I don't know if I'm gonna do anything this great. I mean back to imposttor syndrome like I don't know if I'm ever gonna do anything this good,

right?

Um and so that really thought like wow like yeah like this work is kind of like really cool like you know it was it was collaborative you were building on the discoveries of other folks the kind of dynamics that happened in research lab uh were sort of interesting.

Okay so as you are continuing telling us about your journey also let us know how your career plans evolved and how you kind of I don't know if on purpose or on accident also stumbled into entrepreneurship. I think that would be really interesting.

So it was all accident. Uh so what this discovery did is in addition to writing papers, it took me down the path of sort of being a co-inventor on the patent.

Going through the patenting process with the university, licensing that patent out,

seeing that technology go to scale.

And so that got me like really interested in this whole kind of tech transfer path. And patents.

So, it was cool, right? So, you know, I graduated with my PhD and I have a couple of papers and I have a patent and

I'd gone through this experience of like patenting this thing.

Um, I'd been doing some management consulting kind of

um um preparations and interviews at the same time. So, by the time I was graduating with my PhD like I didn't know like would it be academia

or would potentially be be consulted.

Yes.

And so, I was getting ready to start a postoc and I had interviewed and put in my applications for a couple of consulting firms and it turns out you know I got an offer from a consulting firm and like I didn't know what I was going to do cuz it was going to be like a pretty distinct break from science. So my then to be post-docctoral adviser gave me some great advice.

He he was incredibly kind because he said

two other things that were really kind of impactful. One of the most important things he said was you know Luis well you're still kind of young. I mean you're kind of starting this journey off.

Give it a try.

You can always come back.

Mhm.

And I was like, "Huh, I had thought about that before." He's like, "Yeah, like when you're what? You're not even 30 yet?"

Yeah, that's great.

You try that out. You don't want it. Like,

yeah,

come back and be a postoc somewhere,

right?

And then he said, "But I need to decide cuz like I didn't know whether or not you're going to go into that bench or not."

Which was, you know, just the fire I needed because like the consulting firm was like Oh yeah, you got till Friday to make a dec a decision.

Oh, okay. Okay.

So, I took the leap. Um I became a management consultant um

for a small boutique firm that was based out of Boston.

At the time in the late 90s, it was one of only three companies in the world that did uh strategic measurement consulting and investor relations and corporate communications for biotechnology and medical device companies. And what was unique about uh the company uh back then they were called Feisting King Partners. What was unique about the firm was that we only exclusively served biotech and medical device companies

exclusively.

Okay.

The second thing that was very unique about the firm was that we had our own sort of team of PhD scientists that were on staff.

And so for every consulting agreement that we had, we had a partner, we had an MBA level person.

Yeah.

And then we had one of our PhDs and then we had like someone else on the firm that helped support that that that that engagement. And

it was because we had this philosophy of well we need to understand your science as well as you do and so that's why we've got like our egghehead PhDs so

you know because I had this experience with this patent and had experience with sort of small molecules like I was the pharmaceutical small molecule platform guy you know

so it was really interesting I I I did investor relations so you know how do you as a company engage with your investors corporate communications how do you communicate what you're doing to all of your stakeholders and then more traditional kind of management consulting work that we did for our clients and

it was an incredible period of time. I kind of call that my MBA or I call that my postto um you know I worked with everything from two guys in a lab rat literally like two people and a lab rat are like hey like we're going to build a business around like the lab rat um to publicly traded medical device companies and pharma companies.

That's amazing.

It was a really incredible experience. Um I didn't know later how that would then now prepare me for what I'm doing today but Yeah, it was incredibly interesting, incredibly exciting. I was on an airplane a lot. I was working with a lot of companies. We helped, we serviced all our clients west of the Mississippi for the firm.

We had to build our own practice because I was the number two guy in our California office. We were building our California office out.

Um, and then uh we were on sort of assignment and additional engagements for other companies firm. So, it was really interesting, learned a lot, worked in lots of ecosystems, lots of biotech companies, lot of medical device companies. Really, really interesting strategy work.

Um, And then my dad took ill and I always had like this, you know, dream opportunity to kind of be a professor. So I took a leave of absence from the firm.

Okay.

Went back to El Paso to spend some time with my dad and my family.

Yeah.

And I was like, look, like here I'm in town. I've got this PhD. I've taught like anyone to teach like a collab or something.

Uh very soon like you know became a like I'm not saying we have a faculty position but if we did

right and I was like, "What do you mean?" It's like, "Well, it turns out like we've got an opening. You're here. You know,

we'd love you to be a part of like building a department."

Yeah. Yeah.

So, I said yes. Um, and started my my academic career at University of Texas at El Paso.

You went back.

I went back. Yeah. A little bit later. Uh, it was interesting. I had a meeting with a with a mentor of mine

and, you know, we were having like a scotch or something at a conference and I had this choice of like going and joining this AC IC kind of institution in my hometown

um or to continue on sort of the management consulting VC track and I remember like man George like I don't know what I want to do and he's like Luis how many Hispanic PhDs in organic chemistry came out this year.

Yeah.

And he asked me that question because I know what the answer was

and I was like about 20

according to the latest NSF report. He's like yeah if you take this job at Utah they'll be your students. And I was like, George, that's not fair, man.

Fine.

So, I went to go at a predominantly Hispanic serving institution

uh in my hometown.

Very nice.

Where a majority of the students were from my hometown to be a chemistry professor. And so I taught chemistry there. Started a research lab, started supporting and um training master students and PhD students. uh really proud of the success that they've had. Uh we work in an area known as chemical biology which is how can we use these small molecules to kind of probe interesting questions in biology

is sort of like a like a fish hook is sort of like a like a probe to sort of explore the the chemistry. The molecules we were interested in are permiscuous molecules which means they do lots of different things. Uh so we were very interested in molecules that had like multiple effects and specific I was interested in those kinds of molecules that engaged in oxidative stress. So we were looking at redux kind of small molecules that that sort of did all sorts of interesting different things and we're kind of using these as a probe because as chemists we know how to make them and we had an interesting approach in how to make them in a way that was sort of combinatorial to make lots of ranges of these molecules and we had this interesting approach that used microwave. So it was this really kind of cool combination of emerging technology microwave synthesis and sort of impact in biology in small molecule synthesis that we were sort of building. So it was a great experience but because I had this experience as management consultant they said man like we just started this tech transfer office like we could really use your help. So I started advising the tech transfer office

and can you just explain for our audience what tech transfer is in like one or two sentences.

Sure. So tech transfer is the transfer of technology typically or research typically from an academic institution to some sort of commercial application. And so I had been while I was a graduate student part of that process and the fact that I was an inventor, I was part of a patent that then got transferred. So I knew intimately what you needed to have as part of the patent application, how to pull that patent application together, and then when that patent then was licensed to another company, the experience of sort of what that licensing was and what those terms were. And then as I worked as a measurement consultant, I did a lot of that kind of like working with companies and helping them figure that out on the strategy side. So because I had that experience, They're like, "Look, we're just starting this tech transfer office and like you've got some experience. Could you help advise us and help pull that sort of thing forward?"

So, I helped them license their first couple of technologies out as a professor while I was still doing the professor stuff. And because I wasn't busy enough, um, a couple of buddies of mine that I had met at the time said, "Well, hey, you're a management consultant and you used to do that. You still want to be in the game?" And I'm like, "Yeah, I kind of really miss being in the game." So, I co-founded uh a consulting firm called BGB Strategies. in the early 2000s which worked with small businesses and startups up to a million dollars worth of revenue.

And then we also worked with accredited investors who were evaluating technologies coming out of Los Alamos National Labs and Zia National Labs.

So uh really interesting sort of startupy kind of stuff. And so yeah, like I was doing a lot of different things. Um

that's pretty cool.

I was fortunate to meet my wife there at UTAP.

She's a rocket science She's a rocket scientist.

So, she needed to be where the rockets were.

So, um I left UTAP. I left UTAP. I left being a professor at UTAP. Um

uh thought that I would go back to the bench.

Okay.

And so then I thought, well, you know, this was again 2008, 2009.

Uh because it was 2008 2009 economic downturn, we had to close the consulting firm down because people couldn't afford us anymore and we just had to close the company. down. So, I know what was it like to close a company. It's not a lot of fun.

And so, because of the sort of what was happening, I was like, well, the future probably for science is going to be these large research institutes for a while. And so, I took a job at scripts,

okay,

sort of to figure out what was going to happen in Florida at the time while I was there. And I'm really glad I did that because like it really reminded me that I I loved the work, but like being at the bench and doing all that kind of stuff and still being a scientist at that kind of level was at that point kind of a younger man's game. And it really teaching and working with undergraduates. So I was blissfully happy then ending up teaching at a liberal arts college as a professor of chemistry at Rollins College in Winter Park and I loved it. I had I was now at my dream job.

Oh nice.

Very nice.

However, faith

had something else in mind.

So my wife So I'm a I'm a trailing spouse. I'm I'm a proud trailing spouse. My wife's a My wife's a rock star. Um she got recruited to be a distinguished professor here at university in San Antonio.

Lovely.

And um she was very wise when she got the offer. She said, "Well, I'm not moving with the Texas without my husband."

Okay.

And they're like, "Well, who's your husband?" And they're like, "Well, he's an alum. You might have heard of him, Duce. Martinez." And they're like, "Wait, like the chemist?" Like, "Yeah, the one who was at UTEP, right?" Like, "Yeah, the one we gave that award to a couple years ago." Like, yeah. Oh, yeah. We know him. Yeah. Yeah, we don't want that guy. We don't want that guy. You know,

um

but it turns out like I I joke they did want but like like like

the chemistry department said like look like we've got lots of organic chemists here. Like we don't need another one.

Mhm.

So the president

at the time was like you know looking at your resume

you're this really odd duck because he he did say odd duck. Um I wish he'd called me a unicorn but regard He said, "You know, you've got this like science professor expertise. You've been a professor. You've taught students. You've been a faculty member. You've written grants. You've done that. You've also got like this interesting consulting background that's really unique and really different. You're management consulting. You work with biotech. You started your own consulting firm.

We've got this entrepreneurship program. Our inaugural director just stepped off. She's off to go launch her next company. And we really need someone to kind of lead it and to kind of like build it and like my faculty tell me I need a faculty guy

and the business people tell me I need a business guy

okay

and like you seem to be this odd doc that's the right choice so do you want to lead a university entrepreneurship program

so naturally because I love my wife I said yes

a I like that

um but it was conditional I said look I said I'm happy to do it but on five condition like okay number one they've got to do entrepreneurship for real. I'm not interested, you know, I'm from undergraduate research. I'm from doing stuff for real. Like, it's not about studying how other people build companies. It's not about like, you know, reading books. Like, they've got to do like entrepreneurship for real. Like, we're kind of undergraduates like building real companies.

Nice.

Like, okay. Number two, we've got to engage in the local ecosystem here. Um, we've got to be a part of, you know, it's not about starting businesses just for students on the university campus. They got to be engaged with the ecosystem. system in San Antonio, throughout the state of Texas. We really need to connect them with other people that are building it that are not stupid. Like, okay. So, number three, I said, look, I'm an alum and only ever time you ever ask me for anything is when you want money. Um, we need to engage alumni in the process of working with our entrepreneurs. We need to serve alumni to some extent, but we engage them in working with our entrepreneurs. Um, but we're not going to ask them for money. We're going to ask him for for their time and their effort first before we ask them for their treasure.

Yeah.

And in helping them build program. He's like, "Okay." He's waiting for me to ask for more money. Number four, I said, "I'm not interested in building a program that's a copy of somebody else's."

So, if you're like, "Look, I want you to take Stanford's program and bring it here or want to take this other program and build it here." I'm not interested in that. Like, this is unique institution in a unique city with a unique opportunity. Like, it's got to be unique to this place and got

Yeah. So, I want to build something that is perfect and right for this place. He's like, "Okay, what's your last condition?" I said, "It's easy. It's got to be a priority for you."

Oo.

He's like, "All right, done." So, I joined.

Easy.

I became a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Trinity. Built that entrepreneurship program from the ground up. Uh, spent about a decade there. Very proud of the work that we did there. We helped launch over 60 student startups. Uh, those startups have gone on to collectively raise And these are undergraduates, so this is no technology transfer stuff that they've done. Uh those companies have gone on to raise over $60 million of non-diluted capital. Um started an accelerator, an incubator, a venture competition, a mentor program, and really proud of the work that uh me and my team did in 2021. I believe we won the sort of outstanding entrepreneurship center of the world award uh for 2021. So really proud about that work that We did as part of that experience I had the opportunity to start mentoring in the local ecosystem because I had this experience and I was working with university entrepreneurship program.

Yeah.

Um started mentoring in all our local ecosystem kind of co-working spaces accelerator started mentoring nationally

um with tech stars and then eventually with Mass Challenge and so I've been part of building the San Antonio ecosystem as well.

Yeah. No, I really like that. Luis, I also just wanted to quickly you know note I really like also how your journey has kind of like gone back and forth a little bit, you know, between like academia and more like entrepreneurship. But then also, I think it's really um like beautiful how all of these things that you've learned have sort of also just like built on top and like meshed with each other really well to kind of lead you to where you are now. So, I also want to ask, you know, based on where you're standing right now in your timeline, if you had to look back and give some advice to your younger self, what would that be? Be bold.

Love it.

I like that one.

Um, I was again like first generation college student.

Yeah.

I I didn't know any startup founders that were Latino. Startups were not a thing.

So I I I mean I I was pretty riskadverse at the beginning. I was much

more riskadverse younger than I was

than I am now later.

That's interesting. That's interesting. Yeah. So I think one piece of advice that I would give is kind of like be bold. Like it's okay to like take a bold step. I looking back I I did do those things through the course of this kind of narrative. But part of me was kind of really hung up on like oh my goodness like how am I going to eat? Like oh my goodness this is not a safe choice. Like oh my goodness like this is going to close a lot of doors for me. Like oh my goodness like

yeah

like I don't think I'll ever come back. Like like I don't know like like it's it's hard. So for advice I would give you people. Um

okay

the the second piece of advice that I would give my myself. So, don't worry about it. It'll it'll all work out.

Um, it's hard when you're unemployed.

It's hard when you don't know what your next step is going to be. It's hard when

you don't feel you have lots of options ahead of you.

Of knowing like what the right decision is or what the best decision is or like

it's like right and best

right and best, right?

And um I'm here to share with everyone that a career is measured over decades.

Yes. Snaps to that.

So, it'll all work out.

Yeah.

It all work out. Like, go do something. Go do something. Just start somewhere.

Do something somewhere. And it may or may not be where you ultimately land and end.

But trust. Third thing I would say is trust.

Trust that that experience that those con actions that whatever it is that you do during that time, that season

will be helpful and impactful later.

I like that.

And so be bold.

Yeah.

It'll all work out.

Yeah.

Trust.

Yeah.

That it'll all work out, I think, would be important things. And then and then the last thing that I'd share is again like don't don't don't be hung up on the perfect or

Yes.

the right.

Right.

Just what's next.

Yeah. Yeah.

Um I think is is important to share. I agree.

Um, and then the last thing that I would tell my my younger person, I I really wish I I do a lot more of this now than I did back then, but get out and meet more people.

Ah, network.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, as an undergraduate, I I I didn't I mean, I did a little bit, but not really as much. And as a graduate student, certainly I did a little bit, but not as much. And then at the end of my career, then I kind of had to. But like that opportunity to meet more folks that were doing lots of different things. It's a lot easier now with, you know, social media and email and

and profiles and reaching out and connecting people in conferences either virtually and certainly virtually now like this how we all got connected virtually, right? Like this whole world that we live in now, it's a lot easier. The barrier to make that happen decreased a lot.

I really like that, Luis. Yeah, I I think those are some really really great points.

What I'm saying is start somewhere.

There is no perfect path.

And I think that that's part of the sort of miasma, the illusion of what we have as graduate students is that you have this illusion of a perfect path, right? You start as an undergraduate and become a graduate student and you go from a G1 to a G2 and a G2 to a G3 and then you pass your quals and then like you're in this kind of like memory everland where you're just kind of a graduate student. BD and then like you finally like get your stuff together and like I got to graduate I got to finish this and like then you're done and you do a posttock and then you become an assistant professor and an associate professor and like it's a linear path right and then after professor you you can become a dean right like like that's the linear path right

yeah

and and that's that's fantasy land I I mean that's that's like that's like pointing to to Bill Gates and saying like oh the path that everyone will follow. It's like no, I mean, yes, a lot more people become professors, but

like that linear path is a is one path. I mean, I had friends of mine that have gone on to in, you know, I'm never going to be an academic,

okay?

They go off in industry, have an incredible industrial experience,

and then they're like, you know what, man? I'm done with this. I'm going to go be a professor. And like boom, they go become a full professor.

Yeah.

Because of what they did in industry.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

And then I know people who start as professors that were either didn't get tenure or ended up hating it for lots of reasons or or loving it but things didn't work out for whatever reasons.

Yeah.

You know, this twobody problem is a real thing if we're married, have partners, like it's a real thing.

Yeah.

And so people are kind of like, forget this professor thing. I'm going to go become and work in industry or work in business. So I I think that like we all make lots of decisions lots of times for lots of different reasons. So just Choose what's in front of you.

Yeah, I really really like that. I think,

hey, I've only got four, you know, I I put in a hundred applications and I got four job offers. Awesome. Go take one. Or I put in 100 job applications, I only have one job offer. Awesome. Go take it.

I think that's excellent advice, Luis. And

just do something.

Yeah. And we are now going to get into the last um segment. Love it.

Um we've really really enjoyed speaking with you. I feel like you have so much richness in your story. like you know just with regards to work and your journey I I think there just you know needs to be more time.

Oh well I appreciate the generosity that you've given me. Thank you

there. Yeah there's so many things um that you were able to share that I know our audience will really appreciate especially for those where this journey or you know who are interested in a similar journey and this is all really new to them you know and they're maybe a little bit more worried about taking some of these risks and like you know what does it really mean and yeah so they're really going to learn a lot from what you have shared just now. So, thank you so much.

No, thank you. And look, I remember where I was at this structure myself. And again, just like everybody else, it's like, oh, but I wanted to be perfect.

Yeah.

It's like, okay, it'll work out.

It will work out. And it always does. You're an example.

That's the thing. Well, well, I mean, there's lots of there's better examples than just me. Trust me, there's better examples than just me. But the point that I'm making is that It doesn't have to be like your dream.

Yes.

Tomorrow,

right?

It can be step one towards that dream. It could be step two towards that dream. It could be step three towards the dream. What I have really been blessed by is um the people that I've worked with along this journey.

Um my former students, my colleagues, colleagues, my collaborators, the mentees I've worked with, mentors that I've had, our clients, our portfolio companies, our members, however it is that you want to do that. Um, our team,

just the ways in which the whatif gets enhanced by those that accompany us during that journey,

the ways in which back to wonder, right? The the awe that one gets when they're like wow like that's like you know like like yesterday we had a a a a startup founder this changing agriculture here on the world you know here in the world because of insights that he has as a scientist right so like the insights you can get in like through the course of that journey can be really transforming

yeah

so just do something just get out get out of the building

go to that thing that might scare you you a little bit. Go to that event that might be a little scary. Reach out to that person on LinkedIn. Reach out to that person on Twitter.

Yeah.

And maybe that person or that advice is with you for a season.

Or maybe they're with you for a lifetime.

It's okay. It doesn't matter. When you're when you arrive, you're like, "Oh, here I am."

Yeah.

And it makes and it looks like it was a linear path, but

Right. But it's not. Yeah. No, that's

it. Never is.

It never is. So, be open to that opportunity.

Thank you. So, so, so one thing I wanted to just comment on um sort of what you just said about we want it to be perfect. Like what is perfect anyway, right? Like that's that's not a thing that anyone could really sort of define for every single person. Like what is that? So, exactly.

Yeah. I I love what you said. Just follow your path and go out there and do things

well and understand You can always change your mind.

Mhm.

Yeah. Very true.

You can always be like, "No, not here, somewhere else. No, not with them, with these other group of people. No, not this, this other thing." Like,

our power, our agency, don't get I mean, it's not infinite, right? You know, you've got a boundary conditions of things you can and can't do. You know, there's things obviously that are kind of like legally you can't do. And well, first like there's things that are against the laws of the universe, right? And then there are things that like legally sort of can't do, right? You know, and then there are things that morally that you can't do, right? You know, like there's just, you know, like we live in limits. That's okay. Like,

but you can always change. You can always change your job. You can always change the cities you live in. You can always change, right? So, I think it's important to just be okay with 80% is sometimes okay or um 20% is part of this journey.

Yeah.

Um and I think that we live in a moment where we see people who are at a certain stage stage or certain point of their journey or certain level of their sort of notoriity or their their publicity and you're like, "Oh, it was so easy." Or, "Oh, it seems so clear." Or, "Oh, like

if only."

Yeah.

And I'm here to say is like just take that first step. Just do something like just get out of the building and just

do it. Just do it.

Love that.

I don't think either one of you would have figured out that you would be talking to me when you started this journey when you started this journey.

No. We very true.

I don't even think honestly that we had an entrepreneur on our like initial list of people to like talk to. So yeah, we we could not this. You're absolutely right. But we are going to wrap up with our final segment

which is our fun way to end the conversation and also to just give a view of our guests outside of all the important work that you do. And we call it lifelines. We're so Easy. All the things. All the things.

Love it.

So, Luis, please share with our audience what brings light and enjoyment to your life outside of your work.

That's simple. I have an incredible spouse who

uh brings me joy

and wonder and love and awe

and challenge and excitement and

um every day. Um I'm blessed. to have four incredible kids that um every day being a part of their life journey um is just a true privilege. So, it's

and then uh I'm fortunate to, you know, still have my mother in my life and I've been fortunate to have had my father when he was with us when he until he passed away. So,

it's my family. It's it's my spouse and it's my kids and and I think that's important. I think it's it's easy to get caught up on the

career and the science and like all this other stuff. Um but really like it's it's it's those that are around you um that are the ones that that that that breathe life and joy into what you do.

So, I love that.

Beautiful.

Family is everything.

All right. Well, thanks again so much, Luis, for coming on to share your story with us, teaching us all about entrepreneurship, but also your words were just so inspirational and supportive and encouraging. And I think that that's exactly the kind of atmosphere that we should all try our best to cultivate in the world,

right? So, thank you. Thank you again so so much and we look forward to following up with you in the future.

Thank you so much. It was such a joy to work with both of you. Um continued incredible success with this platform and this podcast. Uh you're doing great work. Uh keep it up and again thank you so much for the privilege for joining with you for this conversation. I've really had a great time.

Thank you. Thank you. And so once again, listen listeners, you can reach Luis on LinkedIn and on X, and we'll be sure to include those links in the show notes so you can find them. And on that note, we'd like to thank our listeners for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please, please, please leave us a review on your favorite podcasting app. Reviews help us by increasing visibility for the show. And as always, you can reach out to us at lovescienceodcast@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. And Until next time. Bye everybody.