Joshua Yang

FORGING HIS OWN PATH. Even as a boy, Joshua Yang was captivated by the idea of controlling his own destiny. This belief, deeply influenced by his love for the Pokémon television series, where characters like Ash Ketchum ventured out to forge their own paths, has been a guiding force throughout his varied and fascinating founder journey. “I’ve only thought of myself a founder relatively recently,” he says, “but as a kid, I remember that concept of being the master of my own ship was really powerful to me.”

Today, Joshua is the co-founder and CEO of Glyphic Biotechnologies, a startup revolutionizing proteomics with a next-generation protein sequencing platform. Glyphic’s technology aims to provide researchers with detailed information about the proteins in our bodies, which are crucial for understanding and treating diseases. “By identifying and analyzing proteins, scientists can gain deeper insights into biological processes and develop more effective diagnostics and therapies,” Joshua explains.

Joshua describes his path to entrepreneurship as a mix of “well-rationalized decisions and moments that have felt more like taking a random walk and seeing where I end up.” After graduating from the University of California San Diego, he pursued a Master of Translational Medicine at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley. It was during this time that he spun out his first startup, NephroSant, which raised over $22 million to commercialize a low-cost, non-invasive diagnostic assay for kidney injury.

Throughout his founder journey, Joshua has embraced opportunities in education and entrepreneurship. This drive even led him to take leave from a fully-funded MD-PhD program at Johns Hopkins University to pursue biotech entrepreneurship. He later graduated with an MBA from Stanford University, where he was the Henry Ford II Scholar, a Siebel Scholar, and an Arjay Miller Scholar. “It’s a school, of course, but I believed that the connections I would build there were going to be even more important.”

THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP. In his final year at Stanford, Joshua’s journey took a significant turn after he attended a virtual co-founder speed dating event that paired business students with scientists looking to commercialize their inventions. It was here that Joshua met Daniel, his Glyphic co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer. “Daniel is also a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, which helped us bond quickly,” Joshua shares. Daniel was developing a technology for protein sequencing, a breakthrough that could do for proteins what DNA sequencing has done for genomics.

The synergy between Joshua’s business acumen and Daniel’s scientific expertise was evident from the start. “His was the best technology in the field,” Joshua recalls. “It was easy to say, ‘I want to work with you.’ The reverse was also true: “Daniel looked at all the people there on the business side and saw that I had a deep technical background and could understand the technology. It was very much a perfect fit.”

Despite his impressive career trajectory, Joshua emphasizes the lack of queer role models in the biotech space. “There are very few publicly out executive CEOs or high-level executives in biotech,” he notes. “I had to forge my own path, but I’ve been fortunate to find great mentors along the way.”

Joshua advises aspiring entrepreneurs to keep an open mind when networking. “Some of the best mentors have come from impromptu, accidental connections,” he says. He recalls meeting one crucial mentor, who went on to support him both personally and through investment, through the Johns Hopkins LGBTQ network. “When I met him, I had not thought of starting Glyphic. That relationship became incredibly fruitful, but investment was not the primary outcome. I would say mentorship has been more valuable than any specific capital infusion.”

As Joshua continues to lead Glyphic Biotechnologies, Joshua remains committed to his vision of controlling his destiny and creating impactful solutions in healthcare. “The journey is never linear, but every twist and turn brings new opportunities and lessons. Embrace the unexpected and keep pushing forward.”