The world's largest companies, from the Dutch East India Company in the 1640s to Apple in 2024, were driven by globally distributable products. Living technology doesn't have one yet – not even obesity drugs will come close.

The DNA sequencing leader raised only $36 million in venture capital and just $96 million at its IPO. Illumina achieved its first operating profit eight years after being founded and has been cash flow positive since 2006.

It's fun to dream big, especially when it leads to big funding rounds. Yet, few companies translate startup success into a sustainable business. We interviewed entrepreneurs throughout living tech to understand why the gap exists.

The darling of synthetic biology has sworn off manufacturing and scale-up assets, opting to build a horizontal technology platform serving all biotech sectors. The lack of vertical integration could hurt the business in the long run.

The synthetic biology pioneer has been chronically mismanaged in the decade since pivoting away from biofuels. Despite severely overpromising and underdelivering, the management team has faced almost no consequences.

A 2016 partnership between Ginkgo Bioworks and Amyris pooled together over 70 development-stage ingredients across flavor and fragrance verticals. By the end of 2022, only eight had been commercialized. What happened?

The genetic testing company announced the transition of its longtime CEO. It hopes to pivot and turn a corner, but investors shouldn't get their hopes up.