Meet Natalie Dayan Birwadkar | Research Scientist, entrepreneur, storyteller, immigrant, writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalie Dayan Birwadkar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie Dayan, what’s the end goal, career-wise?
In the last interview I did with VoyageLA, I kinda touched upon who I was/am, what have I accomplished so far, and why I do what I do.

I felt like more than for me, it was important for people who were going through similar challenges as me, to know that they weren’t alone, and that it was never too late to go all in, and chase your dreams.

However, that sort of stuff, talking about my accomplishments is not something I feel too comfortable talking about, especially since most of the times I never remember them, what I have accomplished because my mind is always busy thinking about what I need to accomplish next, so I guess this is what I’ll talk about here, especially since I just documented this in my diary yesterday.

I have done too many jobs that I didn’t really enjoy, or felt like I could be myself at because ultimately, A. Getting jobs isn’t easy B. I need money to keep myself afloat in a new country. Infact, I had to stop working on my startup post graduation- Masters in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, which I hoped I could continue post my 9-5 job because my 9-5, and 5-9 was spent looking for a job.

Life has been harsh, but it was during this process not only did I get closer to knowing what I didn’t want, and myself, but also to friends and family. Getting back to my end goal, it is to live in alignment with my purpose in life, “To make a difference in lives of others” while having the financial freedom to plan my day in a way that I can everyday spend some time on my health-working out, eating right, journaling, with friends and family at least twice every week, and just doing what makes me happy, for there is life beyond work.

The way I see this accomplishing professionally is using my degree Masters in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine from USC, business acumen, to either work at a research lab, biotech firm or a venture capital firm to help them specifically vet the science before investing in biotech/healtech startups (I got the opportunity to think from the VC mindset while I got on a call with VC’s to raise money, in the process not only did I have the chance to connect/receive replies from Alex Pall from Chainsmokers, bill Hackman, Vinod Khosla, connected with more VC’s, worked as a venture scout, and as an analyst for a bit at a VC firm due to which I got to interact with so many amazing founders, helping them became the goal).

That being said, I’m passionate about biotech/healthcare, business, startups investing, and want to work in this space until I can eventually work on starting something of my own, a startup, venture capital firm, and in the meanwhile have a Ted talk I could give to speak about my failures, write, maybe a book or screenplay. maybe act, model, who knows do anything to unleash my creativity on weekends, free time, get a tattoo, bungee jump, skydive, embarrass myself on the dance floor, and just do anything, and everything to stay away from my phone, prevent getting stuck in my head without being boxed in.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
One thing I am extremely proud of myself is going through the hardest things in life, and not giving up, no matter how many odds were against me. Any person in the right sense of mind would have given up until now, especially after going through what I did, but the optimist in me didn’t let me give up, given how I had so much at stake, and a bit of a hope that someway it shall work out.

To give a bit of a context, I already had a job lined up for me at USC, was supposed to be doing that post graduating from USC, and then working on my startup after work.

Unfortunately, just 2 weeks before graduation I got to know that the funding cut off and that they didn’t need people any more in their lab. All my dreams were suddenly crushed, I just didn’t know what to do except for look for jobs and apply everywhere and anywhere I could.

To make things worse, I had another deadline June 5th to pay a deposit to USC because I had also been accepted into the masters in entrepreneurship and innovation program here, was getting a scholarship, but had a big of a student loan already for my 1st masters degree so couldn’t really get another one, so when reaching to labs, professors and applying to jobs at LinkedIn wasn’t working out, I decided to look at every possible startup I could, find what I felt like was missing from my past research, knowledge and experience, and then ultimately find their email and reach out there or on LinkedIn offering them solution and what I could bring to the table, be it as a consultant, product development team, sales and marketing, or just as a researcher.

I had worked on a project on personalizing mental health, so reached out to startups in mental health, biotech, healthcare and edtech, luckily a lot of founders responded and got on a zoom call with me, so did that alongside get on a zoom call with investors- angel, VC’s and then thinking from their perspective and seeing how me and my co-founders were on different path, decided to take a break, and work on our own thing, getting jobs and making money.

I was doing everything I could to get a job and make money, sending emails, getting on zoom calls, reaching to research labs and applying to jobs on LinkedIn. However, nothing was working out, and my financial situation was getting worse. I had to defer my admission at USC to 2024 Fall.

My parents wanted to come home, for it was 3rd week of July and I hadn’t found anything yet, but it was that hope in me that kept me going, seeing that they broke their fixed deposits/lifetime savings to give me the money needed for rent and food, at least until I figured out ways to make money for rent and food.

I had an internship at a biotech startup as an investment analyst, so that was going on too alongside my search for full time positions, I remember every month checking my bank account to see if I had rent money but then some or other how it worked out.

Throughout this time from graduating in 2023, until now a lot happened, and I did a lot of things aside from what I already did to get a job that I felt passion towards, and could make money from. I came up with a lot of innovative ideas, the best one being thinking of using my biotech knowledge, experience as an entrepreneur, business acumen and storytelling skills to get a job in venture capital firms, wrote emails, got on zoom calls with VC’s, took Venture capital classes at USC, build connections with VC’s which landed me job as venture scout at vc firms and then ultimately that led me to meet founders, network and now get my job in Venture capital.

Now, the goal is to switch to a vc firm that works on investing in biotech startups, maybe work as a consultant for a few firms, the goal is to be working on building a startup of my own, vc firm to invest in biotech startups, and just do everything that inspires me without worrying about money.

I guess what I want people to know is that, and I guess my brand is more about being the Indian Jewish- diverse, resilient, risk-taker who is so delusional that she can’t see anything but the sight beyond the dark clouds that nobody only she can see

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Below is a bit of an itinerary I made to show my friends around in LA:

1. To relax, chill and spend time catching up with my friends I’d give them a tour of my campus- USC, take them to USC village, have a nice little brunch at greenleaf, post which we’d buy a matcha from Cafe Dulce and then sit on one of the couches and bask ourselves in the heat, LA has the perfect sunny weather to die for

2. Post this you’d find ourselves taking a metro and have a bit of a serene time strolling the beach at Santa Monica, grab a cookies and cream ice cream from this amazing place called scoops at the pier, probably even go to Venice beach after and take lots of pictures there

3. Around 8 pm we”d go the grove, get a bit of shopping done, sit in the train, take lots of pictures, and for dinner go to marmalade’s cafe= my absolute fav, love their impossible burger, and for dessert we’d have the fresh strawberry cheesecake at the cheesecake factory

4. Now LA is known for its nightlife which goes on until 2 am, so we’d we stupid to not experience that, Around 11 pm you’d find us club hopping from going to the victorian to Bar Lis and maybe even Hyde, get some drinks and just let loose until its 2 am and the people at the club are ready to kick us out.

I love LA, its very chill, people work hard, network harder but also party and enjoy like there’s no tomorrow. I love the carefree environment here, everyone comes here with an ambition and dream, for that’s exactly why it is known as the city of dreams, you get what you put into it, and if you happen to meet the right people at the right time, your life can very much turn around for the good. I am just hoping that I find those sort of people for myself so that I too, like everyone says, can get the breakthrough moment I have been hustling for years for

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Below are a few people who absolutely deserve credit for helping me get to where I am today:

My parents- Dayan, Judith, my brother- Zephan, compromised on everything- a good life to get me to where I am at, my mentor Audrey Jacobs, my second mom’s in LA- Lisa, Sherri, my cousins- Doron, Oren, sister in law- Jennifer, my best friend mukta- always picked up my call no matter what, my aunt- Diana, my friends in LA, my professors, the teachers who let me sit in their class, and all those who knowingly and unknowingly helped me, The ones who doubted me too, wouldn’t have done it without them

Website: https://linktr.ee/nataliedayanbirwadkar

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nataliedayanb/

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/natalie-dayan

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKPqqTa1qlIx4mKYIyOj3QA