Behind the Tech Interview Series. Felipe Lino

There are people making waves everyday in the field of technology. Our "Behind the Tech'' series is where we explore the stories of these amazing people. We aim to shed light on their challenges, victories, and invaluable lessons learned. Plus, this is a great way to encourage connections between technology creators and the community.

Join us as we discover the fascinating world behind the tech that shapes our world!

Felipe Lino is a scientist, specialized in industrial microbiology, fermentation technology, enzyme technology, high-throughput assays and microbial physiology. He holds a PhD in Biotechnology from the Technical University of Denmark. He is also an experienced industrial scientist, having developed novel enzyme technologies and applications at Novozymes, as a project manager of complex, global projects within Biotechnology and Bio-Ingredients at AB-InBev and as an entrepreneur, as the co-founder and CTO at Nosh.bio GmbH. He enjoys working on fast paced projects in multicultural environments. His hobbies are traveling and biking.

Nosh.bio leverages the natural microbial biodiversity and the century’s old fermentation technology to develop superior functional ingredients from microbial biomass for the food industry. They have also developed the first single ingredient meat analogue on the planet, as well as sustainable, clean label solutions for removing chemical additives from several food products.

1. Who is Felipe? Tell us a bit about your previous experience. What makes you successful in your job?

Felipe: I am a scientist, with more than 15 years of experience - both from academia and industry. I have always been fascinated by microbiology and biotechnology, and this is where most of my career has been focused. Before founding Nosh, I have worked as a researcher at Novozymes Latin America, focusing mostly on sustainable solutions for the biofuels industry, as an academic researcher (PhD + postdoc) at the Technical University of Denmark, and as the global R&D manager for Biotechnology and Bio-ingredients at AB-InBev. Since Feb 2022 I am officially the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Nosh.bio GmbH.

2. What professional accomplishment are you most proud of? Why?

Felipe: Definitely founding Nosh.bio. Starting a new business, with an unique tech platform and value proposition, and being able to scale the business at industrial level in 2 years is no small feat. Doing this in a highly regulated industry, like food, is even more challenging, but we still managed to do it.

3. What are some of your biggest tech challenges? How do they impact the business?

Felipe: For us, and for most of our competitors, is being able to scale fast while improving efficiency to drive costs down. Food industry is a numbers game: high volume, low margins. The competition, and your clients, will simply not wait for you to scale, so you need to move fast, and be able to absorb the consequences of mistakes, learn from them, and keep moving forward.

4. Do you have any examples of a technological change that you have implemented within an organization? What was the outcome?

Felipe: From the very beginning we have decided to implement a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) here at Nosh. This not only provided us with the transparency and control of all lab data generated, but also allowed the different groups to better collaborate and streamline the communication as well as onboarding new colleagues.

5. What was a major people management challenge? How did you solve it?

Felipe: We are currently implementing a new management structure, where each department leader is responsible for his/hers/theirs group. This new structure demands more initiative from the group leaders, and I now need to manage people managers, which is a different kind of challenge. It is important to implement such a structure, since we are growing quite fast, and making sure you give your people all the necessary support is paramount.

6. How do you measure your department’s success? What metrics do you have to make sure you are on the right path?

Felipe: We have defined yearly and monthly goals. The only metric I care about is achieving the defined goals. How each one of my team members achieved this, I couldn’t care less. 

Constant communication in order to be sure everybody is aligned on goals and strategy is quite important, and that’s where a significant amount of your time as a group leader ends up being allocated.

7. Are there any resources (book, podcast, etc) you’d recommend to a junior?

Felipe: Connecting with leaders and references from the industry is always the best way to learn and develop. Theory is important, but only takes one so far.

8. With technology constantly evolving, what trends are you most excited about, and how are you preparing for them?

Felipe: I’m excited to see new tools facilitating collaboration and communication between interdisciplinary groups. Tools that help us identify new untapped opportunities and solutions, by enhancing our creative process is something that really excites me.

Felipe shows us that passion and drive, even in complex and highly scientific fields, can get you very far. Managing a rapidly growing business in a highly competitive and highly regulated field isn’t easy, but Felipe’s story tells us that it’s not impossible - as long as you set proper goals and communicate efficiently among your team.

We hope you've enjoyed exploring the world of tech leadership as we come to an end of this awesome conversation with Felipe. 

Don't miss out on the insights – keep an eye on our blog for the next “Behind the Tech” interview!

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