Welcome back to “Innovators & Insights,” an interview series hosted by Chris Strohsahl, President & CEO of Drummond Scientific, where leading minds in the life sciences industry share the latest industry trends, groundbreaking innovations, and pivotal stories from their professional journeys. In this edition, Chris spoke with Charla Triplett, Director of Venture Acceleration at University Lab Partners, to explore how medtech ecosystems are built, the evolving landscape of diagnostics, and the path from scientific discovery to real-world impact.
Chris Strohsahl: Given your diverse background in academia, startups, and venture, what drew you to this intersection of science and entrepreneurship?
Charla Triplett: My career has always sat at the boundary of science and application. I began as a basic scientist, but quickly moved into engineering and gravitated toward roles that bridged academia and industry within the world of biomedical engineering.
About eight years ago, I began supporting startups. I was working with founders in Portland, and in 2019, I organized a demo day to showcase promising healthcare innovators from Oregon to investors in the Bay Area. That experience set the stage for my work in venture.
CS: What brought you from Oregon to University Lab Partners (ULP)?
CT: Orange County, and Irvine in particular, is such a medtech hub. Almost every major device or diagnostics company has a presence here, and that kind of industry density is hard to ignore. Being at the heart of the industry makes a huge difference. Plus, the sunshine is a great bonus.
CS: How would you describe ULP’s mission?
CT: Our work focuses on regional economic development––being the catalyst that pulls all the pieces together. Part of that is our incubation space. We have over 18,000 square feet of lab facilities, which is incredibly hard to find as a small startup, as well as a broader support system. We help founders tap into commercialization resources, connecting them with capital and helping them build relationships with strategics who might become partners, early investors, or even acquirers.
It’s all about making sure the ecosystem here has what it needs to thrive.
CS: Tell us about the accelerator programs you run.
CT: Our I-CREATE accelerator program works closely with early-stage founders to tackle a key question that emerged from the pandemic: how can we scout for promising technologies early so that when the next public health emergency comes, we already know which innovations can be scaled? We work with early-stage founders to help them think through how their technology might fit into a future emergency response and be applied more broadly so the company can grow, raise funding, and survive outside a crisis. It’s a 12-week program focused on the fundamentals: what it takes to build a company, translate science into a product, and reach customers. It’s especially valuable for first-time entrepreneurs who are still getting a full picture of the path from idea to market.
The founder that really succeeds in our accelerator program is the one that’s going to dive in, do the work, and take advantage of all that’s being offered. We also run the REALIZE program, which was funded by the Economic Development Administration to help support entrepreneurship throughout Southern California. That program typically works with companies that are a little further along in the life cycle, helping them build the foundations of a successful, well-rounded company. It focuses on building customer and capital readiness, and helping companies really understand who their customers are.
CS: Where are you seeing your entrepreneurs coming from?
CT: I think it’s really a mix of everything. Where the I-CREATE program sees more academic spinouts, many of the founders in our REALIZE cohort started by identifying an unmet need. They might have spent a few years tinkering with an idea while still working their day job, and eventually made the leap into running their company full-time.
Overall, the strongest companies tend to be those that start by tackling a real, clearly defined need. Many startups tend to start with a cool idea, then try to shove it into an application, and that’s where they really struggle.
CS: We hear it all the time. The technology can be great, but if you’re not solving a genuine problem, you just won’t find the market.
CT: The other aspect of this is that people look at lateral flow diagnostics and say, “These have been around forever.” And that’s true. But the real question now is: how do we drive the cost down? Are there new manufacturing methods or technologies that can help create lower-cost products, or simplify them so they can be used in the field or at home without any specialized training? That’s a big part of what we’re exploring.
Prior to the pandemic, when home testing became essential, most people had probably never used a lateral flow test at home unless they’d taken a pregnancy test. When we think about the future of this industry, it’s not just about solving the scientific problem—it’s about solving it at the right price point and for the right customer. That’s where a lot of the innovation needs to happen.
CS: To me, there’s no such thing as a revolutionary invention. There’s just an evolutionary step that has a revolutionary impact––and that can certainly apply to LFA.
CT: Early on, I’ve seen a lot of companies fail because they couldn’t find the right go-to-market strategy to get the fundraising they needed. One company, for instance, was working on LFAs for quantitative at-home testing. The technology was amazing, but they ultimately failed. I think that example really demonstrates the importance of figuring out what people really care about and need.
CS: We’re here to identify a problem and develop a solution. When innovators over-engineer and get too caught up in the technology, they run into trouble.
CT: Over-engineering is common among scientific and technical founders. They aim for the highest possible performance when, for many problems, that level isn’t actually required. The key is understanding what level of accuracy or performance is truly needed to show clinical benefit and solve the problem. Sometimes “good enough” really is good enough.
CS: Unfortunately, failure is very common. How do you let someone know when it’s time to walk away?
CT: It’s such a great question. One thing I’ve heard is that companies don’t really fail; founders decide to leave. They can’t raise the money they need, they hit too many walls, and eventually they have to move on. I’ve watched founders run through walls, pivot multiple times, and do everything they possibly can.
Part of my job is saying, “You’ve given it a great try, but here are some other paths you might consider.”
Sometimes it’s not even about the idea—it’s about fit. A founder might not be the right CEO to take the company to the next stage, and I’ll tell them that. Investors may want someone with different experience, and bringing in outside leadership might be what gives the company its best chance. Other times, I’ll say, “This is a saturated market. I’m not sure there’s room for this particular technology.” But it always comes back to their goals and what they want out of the journey. I don’t see any startup as a true failure. The lessons learned almost always carry forward, and for driven innovators, that experience usually propels them toward future success. They just… keep going.
CS: Part of being successful is optimizing what you can control, then making sure you’re right for the time.
CT: In healthcare, clinical validation and real-world adoption matter just as much as FDA approval. You have to ask whether there’s a clear need and whether clinicians or patients will actually use the product. One of the interesting things happening in diagnostics right now is the widespread shift toward patients managing and monitoring their own health decisions. People are focused on tracking and measuring things they care about and are willing to spend money on tools that help them do so.
CS: What trends are you most excited to see play out in the coming years?
CT: AI is going to play a huge role in diagnostics. That includes areas like theragnostics and precision medicine. Think about something as simple as getting your baseline levels checked at 30, then tracking how they change over time as you age. AI will be essential for interpreting that kind of longitudinal data. And where I’m especially excited is in autoimmune and other complex, systems-level diseases, where AI gives us the ability to combine multiple signals and actually understand what’s going on, opening the door for new diagnostics and more targeted therapies.
The other big trend is diagnostics moving out of the traditional clinical lab and into the home. We’re seeing technologies shrink, simplify, and become more accessible.
CS: What’s one thing a scientist or engineer needs to ask themselves before starting a company?
CT: I think the biggest thing is what I mentioned earlier: ask yourself what you really want out of this. Faculty founders, for example, often want to make an impact or advance new science, and that’s great—but it’s important to be honest about what outcomes you’re hoping for and what success looks like to you.
The second question is just as important: where do I need help? What don’t I know, and what don’t I know that I don’t know? That’s usually the biggest blind spot for people coming from basic science into the world of building a company. Being honest with yourself about what you’re best at, and then surrounding yourself with the right team, is crucial. No single person has every skill required to build a complex company. Success comes from knowing your strengths, acknowledging your gaps, and bringing in people who complement you and bring the expertise you don’t have.
CS: Finally, what’s one book you’ve read that had the biggest impact on the way you see the world?
CT: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I love how it examines the cultural paradigms embedded in our reality and challenges the reader to question certain fundamental assumptions. It makes you think critically about everything you take for granted, an important skill in the startup world.
