Have You Met…Andy Rape

Q: Where did you grow up?

A:. I grew up in New Sewickley Township, just north of Pittsburgh.

Q: How did you hear about Innovation Works?

A: I don’t remember when I first heard about Innovation Works. I’ve been familiar with the Pittsburgh start-up ecosystem since my time as a graduate student at CMU and was aware of the value of Innovation Works.

Q: What drew you to work here?

A: I really like being surrounded by the passion and excitement of young companies, so I am very excited to be in a role where I get to interact with inspiring founders on a day-to-day basis. I look forward to being a valuable member of the start-up ecosystem who helps companies achieve their growth goals.

Q: Let’s say I’m an entrepreneur in Southwestern Pennsylvania, what can I ask for your help on?

A: You can ask me for advice and information on AlphaLab Health: what we look for in companies, how to optimize your application, what life is like once you are in the program. I’d also love to talk about the benefits of becoming a member of the AlphaLab Health family, where we offer a strong network of support, across various disciplines, to founders and companies at all stages.

Q: Reflecting on your experience in life sciences and project coordination, what is the number one piece of advice you would give a startup?

A: The most important piece of advice I would give to a startup is to network and find a reliable community of like-minded entrepreneurs to surround yourself with. I’ve found the members of the Pittsburgh community to be extremely receptive to helping others, so just make sure you reach out and network!

Q: What technology/industry are you most excited about and why?

A: I’m most excited about the intersection of artificial intelligence and medicine. The Pittsburgh ecosystem is well-positioned to leverage the increasingly prominent trend in biotechnology and health care to analyze and design new products and methods with machine learning. Pittsburgh has extremely deep knowledge and capabilities in artificial intelligence and the life sciences, and I look forward to the continued merging of these disciplines.

Q: Step back to Andy at age 18, what line of work had you envisioned for yourself? How closely aligned is your current work to that vision?

A: When I was eighteen, I knew I wanted to work adjacent to the biotechnology space, but hadn’t yet formalized exactly what role I wanted to play. At times, I wanted to be a doctor. At other times, I wanted to be a scientist at a large pharmaceutical company. As I’ve grown up and gained experience, I learned that I still loved being connected to the biosciences, but that I also lit-up around the idea of entrepreneurship. I’m extremely fortunate that the work I do now puts me in a position to have connections with both the bioscience community and the entrepreneurial community. I think eighteen year old Andy would be happy with this version!

Q: What issues that face our region are you most passionate about?

A: As Pittsburgh continues to gain a reputation as a hub of start up culture, I am passionate about preserving the qualities of Pittsburgh that make it such a great place to start a business to begin with. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone who just moved to Pittsburgh say, “Everyone here is so nice!”. This kindness and helpfulness is quintessential Pittsburgh and is one of the biggest draws to start a business here. As an entrepreneur in Pittsburgh, you are never alone, and this culture should be preserved.

Q: Tell us about your volunteer work.

A: I am a big supporter of Beverly’s Birthdays and Animal Friends! Throughout my time in Pittsburgh, I’ve made it a mission to find ways to support these organizations.

Q: What does an average Saturday look like for you?

A: An average Saturday for me likely consists of an early morning coffee then taking my son to the park for some time on the swing set! If there’s any time left after this — and if the Pittsburgh weather is cooperative — I like to go for bike rides around the North Hills; there is so much beautiful scenery to take in.

Q: When asked for a ‘fun fact’ about yourself, what’s your go-to?

A: My go to fun fact is that I grew up on a farm and spent my childhood baling hay.