Robert A SwansonDr. Herbert W. BoyerJohn DoerrArthur D. LevinsonLevinson joined Genentech in 1980 as a research scientist and became vice president, Research Technology in 1989; vice president, Research in 1990; senior vice president, Research in 1992; and senior vice president, Research and Development in 1993.In 1995, Levinson became Genentech’s chief executive officer, and in 1999 he was named chairman.http://www.gene.com/gene/about/corporate/history/index.htmlGenentech was founded more than 35 years ago, in 1976, by the late venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson and the biochemist Dr. Herbert W. Boyer. In the early 1970s, Boyer and geneticist Stanley Cohen pioneered a new scientific field called recombinant DNA technology. Upon learning about this development, Swanson placed a call to Boyer and requested a meeting. Boyer agreed to give the young entrepreneur 10 minutes of his time. Swanson's enthusiasm for the technology and his faith in its commercial potential were contagious, and the meeting extended from 10 minutes to three hours; by its conclusion, Genentech was born. Though Swanson and Boyer faced skepticism from both the academic and business communities, they forged ahead with their idea.
Linda AveyAnne WojcickiSergeyBrinArt LevinsonLinda Avey (born 1961) is an American biotech analyst, biologist, and the co-founder of 23andMe.Avey spent 20 years in sales and business development in biopharmaceuticals. Avey helped develop research programs for Affymetrix and Perlegen Sciences.[1]In 2006, she co-founded 23andMe with Anne Wojcicki.[2] In September 2009, Avey left 23andMe to start research on Alzheimer's; her father-in-law had recently died of the disease[3]Anne E. Wojcicki (pronounced /woʊˈdʒɪtski/ woh-jit-skee; born July 28, 1973)[1] is an American biotech analyst, biologist, and the co-founder of 23andMe.Wojcicki is the daughter of educator Esther Wojcicki and Stanley Wojcicki, a Polish American physics professor at Stanford University. She attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California, where she was one of three students voted Most Likely to Succeed in the 1991 yearbook.[2] She went on to graduate from Yale University with a B.S. in biology in 1996.[3]After graduating, Wojcicki worked 10 years overseeing healthcare investments, focusing on biotechnology companies. In 2006, she left the investing world to co-found 23andMe with Linda Avey.[4]Wojcicki married Google co-founder Sergey Brin in May 2007. They have a son, Benji, born in December 2008.Total $52.6MSeries A, 5/07 1GenentechGoogleMohr Davidow VenturesNew Enterprise Associates$9MSeries B, 6/09 2GoogleSergey Brin$12.6MSeries C, 11/10 3Johnson & Johnson Development CorporationNew Enterprise AssociatesGoogle Ventures$22MSeries C, 1/11 4Johnson & Johnson Development$9M