I've just started a bootstrapped biotech company in the last ~4 months, and it's definitely possible, but does depend on your niche. I'm lucky because I can live with my parents and convert my room into a lab, but normally you have to rent a lab to even get things shipped to you. I also previously had intentionally developed the skills to do work on an actual "DIY" capex budget, which most folks coming out of academia don't have.
Intense domain knowledge + knowledge of programming + affordable automation is really a fantastic combination to have with biotech. When the software isn't advanced enough, you can do tricks with hardware. When the hardware isn't advanced enough, you can do tricks with biology. When the biology isn't advanced enough, you can do tricks with software.
It really does depend on connections, though. All of my early customers are folks I've known in the community for years, so I can get paid while working out all the kinks in the system.
Intense domain knowledge + knowledge of programming + affordable automation is really a fantastic combination to have with biotech. When the software isn't advanced enough, you can do tricks with hardware. When the hardware isn't advanced enough, you can do tricks with biology. When the biology isn't advanced enough, you can do tricks with software.
It really does depend on connections, though. All of my early customers are folks I've known in the community for years, so I can get paid while working out all the kinks in the system.