Craig Rouskey

TRANSFORMING TRAGEDY INTO PURPOSE. Throughout his life, Craig Rouskey has never been afraid to seize an opportunity. This fearless approach to life stems from the profound losses he experienced growing up. These devastating experiences, from losing his best friend in high school to the death of his closest cousin, drove him into the medical sciences.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Craig co-founded Renegade Bio, a public benefit corporation bringing cutting-edge diagnostics to life. “We started Renegade Bio the day the pandemic was declared,” Craig shares. Leveraging technology he developed for another project, Craig and his team quickly moved to New York and began working with the United Nations. “Applying technology directly during a crisis was everything I’ve ever lived for,” he says. Renegade Bio grew rapidly, generating millions in revenue in its first two years and making a significant impact on the fight against COVID-19.

Craig’s path to entrepreneurship was far from linear. Growing up gay in the Midwest during the 1980s, particularly in a Catholic high school, presented numerous challenges. Despite the difficulties, he found solace in music, studying voice and various instruments, which provided an emotional outlet during those tumultuous years.

After high school, he pursued music and psychology but eventually shifted his focus to medical sciences following a serious illness. His studies in biology and immunology led him to St. Louis, where he worked as a scientist and became deeply involved in the LGBTQIA+ community, running an open mic night for queer singer-songwriters.

Craig’s entrepreneurial spirit truly ignited when he moved to San Francisco and became involved in the Occupy movement. “Occupy was where I found the strength to mobilize for myself,” he says. It was also in San Francisco that Craig met the Radical Faeries, a community that helped him fully embrace his identity. “For the first time, I was able to fully express myself,” Craig explains—a shift that later influenced the inclusive culture at Renegade Bio.

Before founding Renegade Bio, Craig had already ventured into entrepreneurship with mixed results. His first startup, BioNascent, which aimed to create recombinant human breast milk proteins, faced challenges due to regulatory concerns. However, he used the lessons learned to co-found Pando Nutrition, developing protein supplements for livestock and eventually pivoting to Renegade Bio during the pandemic.

EMBRACE THE CHANGE. Craig’s ability to pivot and adapt was crucial to Renegade Bio’s rapid growth. “It’s all about the team,” Craig emphasizes. “We went from two founders to 25 people in three weeks with no funding.” This period of intense growth was a steep learning curve for Craig, who admits he was initially naive about the business world. “I grew up a lot during that experience.”

Renegade Bio achieved its mission, but the company decided to wind down after a pivot into TelePrEP and at-home STI testing. “We made all this money during a crisis. We wanted to continue doing good with it, not just pocket the cash and run.” Despite the challenges of pivoting to new markets, Craig remains committed to using his experiences for a positive impact.

Craig’s journey has given him valuable insights for other LGBTQIA+ founders. “Businesses need to make money, but it’s not everything,” he advises. Craig emphasizes the importance of balancing the “triple bottom line” of people, planet, and profit. “If one of those is out of balance, your platform is out of balance.”

He also underscores the significance of community and authenticity in business. “The hardest lesson for me was that when people show you who they are, believe them.” Craig’s journey, marked by loss, resilience, and a relentless drive to help others is about turning tragedy into purpose, and challenges into opportunities to create a lasting, positive impact on the world.