Podcasts Education Self-Improvement Conversations with Tyler Noubar Afeyan on the Permission to Leap

Noubar Afeyan on the Permission to Leap

Published: Jan. 13, 2021, 1 p.m.

\u201cThe world of innovation is very much one of toggling between survival and then thriving,\u201d says Noubar Afeyan. Co-founder of Moderna and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, the biomedical innovator, philanthropist, and entrepreneur credits his successes to his \u201cparanoid optimism\u201d shaped by his experiences as an Armenian-American. Exceptional achievements like the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine, he believes, aren\u2019t usually unpredictable but rather the result of systematic processes that include embracing unreasonable propositions and even unreasonable people.

He joined Tyler to discuss which aspect of entrepreneurship is hardest to teach, his predictions on the future of gene editing and CRISPR technology, why the pharmaceutical field can\u2019t be winner takes all, why \u201cbasic research\u201d is a poor term, the secret to Boston\u2019s culture of innovation, the potential of plant biotech, why Montreal is (still) a special place to him, how his classical pianist mother influenced his musical tastes, his discussion-based approach to ethical dilemmas, how thinking future-backward shapes his approach to business and philanthropy, the blessing and curse of Lebanese optimism, the importance of creating a culture where people can say things that are wrong, what we can all learn by being an American by choice, and more.

Read a\xa0full transcript\xa0enhanced with helpful links, or watch the\xa0full video.

Recorded January 6th, 2021

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