David Craig, a biotechnology founder and industry operator, has released "The New Rules of Biotech: A Founder's Guide to Building Great Companies" in hardcover and audiobook formats, expanding access to his practical guide for navigating the modern biotech landscape. The hardcover edition ($29.99) and audiobook on Google Play join the previously available paperback ($21.99) and Kindle ($11.99) editions on Amazon. The book targets founders, investors, board members, and operators, offering insights tailored to the current environment where capital is scarce, FDA expectations have evolved, and the Inflation Reduction Act has reshaped drug economics.
Craig argues that the strategies that worked in 2021 are no longer viable. Today, investors demand capital efficiency and a clear path to value, rather than funding ambitious slide decks. The book provides practical guidance on choosing between platform and asset-focused companies, selecting affordable modalities, raising seed rounds based on milestones, and leveraging non-dilutive capital strategically. It covers the entire company-building process, from IND-enabling work and CMC to clinical decisions, term sheets, board dynamics, business development, and exit strategies like acquisitions and IPOs.
Each chapter includes separate takeaways for operators and investors, making the book useful for both sides of the negotiating table. The audiobook format allows users to consume the material on the go. Craig's motivation for writing the book stems from his personal experience founding a company to address a rare genetic muscle disease, RYR-1 related congenital muscular dystrophy, which informs his perspective that biotech company building carries responsibilities beyond financial returns.
"Founders and operators take in ideas in different ways," Craig said. "The hardcover is there for the people who want a durable copy on the desk, the paperback and Kindle for everyone else, and the audiobook on Google Play for those who prefer to listen on the move. The message is the same across all of them: build for the market that exists now, not the one that existed in 2021." The book is published by D. Craig Consulting LLC and is available at the following links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, and Audiobook on Google Play.
