23andMe - Anne Wojcicki

Crucible Moments is a podcast series about the inflection points that shaped some of the most important companies of our time.

Millions of customers have explored their genome with 23andMe. But when the company started in 2006, the idea of consumer DNA testing was heresy to the medical establishment. The FDA even ordered 23andMe to stop selling its health testing product. The company persevered to make allies out of adversaries, and became the only FDA-approved product on the market. Learn how 23andMe defined the DNA testing category, how it found product-market fit, and used its growing scale to enter the massive new field of drug discovery.

Episode Transcript

ANNE WOJCICKI / 23andme

“I think that the biggest lesson from the crucible moment was, you know, like, the world does change. And the way it changes is not, like, the regulators see an aha moment and they change. It’s like,

https://arc-us.s3.amazonaws.com/audio/Episodes/23andMe/CM+7+23andMe+Lessons.mp3

YouTube pitch deck presented to Sequoia Capital in 2005

Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim working on YouTube in 2005.

www.youtube.com domain registered in 2005 for $43.99

Jawed Karim in the first YouTube video, “Me at the Zoo”

Behind the episode

THE PEOPLE

Anne Wojcicki

Anne Wojcicki is the founder and CEO of 23andMe. She also cofounded the Breakthrough Prize, where she sits on the board. Previously she spent a decade investing in biotech companies.

Richard Scheller

Richard Scheller sits on the board of 23andMe, and founded the company’s research and therapeutic development team. Prior to joining 23andMe, he was an executive at Genentech and Roche.