An OG Biohacker Turned VC

Who I am, how I got here, and why I’m excited for the summer with Obvious

Beijun is tricky to pronounce. It’s like Beijing but Beijun, or Asian but B-Asian. Beyond the name, here’s my background in a nutshell:

1. Born in China.
2. Grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia.
3. Went to Princeton for undergrad and studied chemical engineering.
4. Got into Harvard Business School during my senior year of undergrad.
5. Did a bit of grad school and worked in China for two years including food processing equipment project management, education start-ups, and venture capital.
6. Just finished my first year at HBS, and here I am working at Obvious Ventures.

Beijun, The Object of Experimentation

Foodtech and supplementation are what I’m most passionate about, priding myself on being a female biohacker before biohacking really hit the mainstream, constantly running various n=1 experiments on myself. Here are some biohacking projects that I have done over the course of the past three years:

1. Subsisting one full week on Soylent 2.0, resulting in me having to give away the majority of my 144 bottle order because I couldn’t stand it anymore.
2. Running around Boston in the dead of winter in minimal clothing testing if cold thermogenesis and related hormetic stressors actually work. They do. I also got the flu for the month of January.
3. Testing every dietary protocol under the sun from the ketogenic diet to 80–10–10 raw vegan to even the potato diet where you only eat boiled potatoes (so the resistant starch can restore the human gut microbiome). I’ve had varying degrees of success, and gained a few insights into the adaptability of the human metabolism.
4. Fasting (intermittently) in the form of not eating dinner and generally skipping meals whenever convenient. I could get into the details about why dinner is a better meal to skip than breakfast for cortisol manipulation and blood sugar control, but I digress…

Currently I’m looking into theobromine, bromelain, and nicotine supplementation versus the more experimental chemicals that other biohackers are interested in. I love the idea of cognitive enhancement but am wary of black label chemicals on the market at the moment.

I reached out to Obvious because the #worldpositive investment mission resonated with me. It helped (and I was deeply impressed) that a VC firm invested in many of the areas I am passionate about: Olly (vitamin supplementation), Beyond Meat (synthetic meat products), Miyoko's Kitchen (artisanal vegan cheeses), and Urban Remedy (organic juices) to name but a few. These aren’t traditional areas of focus for venture capital, and I love it.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to do deep dives into two rather controversial and fringe topics this summer: a) cognitive enhancement supplementation in the form of nootropics and curated supplementation, and b) cryotocurrencies and the Blockchain and how these will impact the future of fintech.

Excited and curious about what I will dig up!