# Episode 186 - Derek Small - Founder, Managing Director Luson Bioventures

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-biohub-by-avetix-7252289/episode-186-derek-small-founder-managing-director-luson-bioventures
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-biohub-by-avetix-7252289/episode-186-derek-small-founder-managing-director-luson-bioventures.md
Podcast: [The BioHub - by Avetix](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-biohub-by-avetix-7252289)
Published: 2026-06-06T15:50:43+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/max-brennan4/episodes/Episode-186---Derek-Small---Founder--Managing-Director-Luson-Bioventures-e3kcb1s
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/f0076084/podcast/play/121039356/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-5%2F425555102-44100-2-f34d47d754cab.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-biohub-by-avetix-7252289/episodes/episode-186-derek-small-founder-managing-director-luson-bioventures
Duration seconds: 2118

## Resource

In this episode of The BioHub Podcast , Max sits down with Derek Small, Founder and Managing Director of Luson Bioventures. Over the past two decades, Derek has built a reputation as one of biotech's leading venture creators, founding and leading multiple companies across neuroscience and CNS drug development. Through Luson, he has helped launch, finance, and scale businesses from inception, raising more than $1 billion in capital along the way. In this conversation, we discuss the differences between venture creation and traditional venture capital, why neuroscience remains one of the most exciting areas in biotech, and what it takes to build successful companies through changing market cycles. We also explore capital efficiency, company building in today's environment, and the lessons Derek has learned from founding and leading biotech companies over the last twenty years.

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## Transcript

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