Synthetic Biology Complexity

Peter shares a story about his attempt to explore synthetic biology as a potential new venture after selling RXBar.

"I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't just a CPG entrepreneur, that I could go do this in other industries. So I went to explore different industries and started and stopped a lot of times. Synthetic biology, for example, is fascinating. It sounds like science fiction - biotech is incredible. If we can actually control biology, this would be an amazing thing.

So I started studying it. This is where I think Elon's not a good influence. I was like, 'Oh, he can learn anything.' Then very quickly I realized, 'I can't learn this stuff.' Biology - these people spend their whole careers learning this. I'm not that smart, I can't learn new things. I'm never gonna start a business where I have to pick up the phone to fix a problem if I don't have the competency to fix the problem or understand it. That was a bit of self-awareness, a humbling moment."