Larry Bock

Lawrence A. Bock (September 21, 1959 – July 6, 2016) was an American entrepreneur who has aided in starting or financing 50 early-stage growth companies, with a combined market value of more than $70 billion.

Early life and education Bock was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Chappaqua to parents Ulrike Proctor and Richard Bock. Larry had one older sibling Steven who was deaf. He received a degree in biochemistry from Bowdoin College and an MBA from UCLA. After school, he worked for Genentech. Bock was a donor, co-founder, and the executive director of USA Science and Engineering Festival.

Career Bock was highlighted as a "keystone species" in the ecosystem of Silicon Valley in the book The Rainforest. A keystone species, in the innovation context, is someone who connects people who would benefit from working together, but who would not work together under normal circumstances because of trust, distance, and/or cultural barriers.

Bock was previously a CEO of Nanosys, where he helped to raise $55 million in funding. Bock was also a special limited partner with Lux Capital.

Bock founded multiple companies: Illumina, a biotechnology company for genetic products Nanosys, a nanotechnology company for optics and batteries Pharmacopeia biotechnology, a company investigating small molecule combinatorial chemistry Idun Pharmaceuticals, a company developing drugs targeting apoptosis Caliper Life Sciences, which aids in drug discovery. Neurocrine Biosciences, which develops treatments for neurological and endocrine-related diseases and disorders. Science Spark, a nonprofit group advocating for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education Brock stated in 2014, ''“As a society, we get what we celebrate. We celebrate athletes, pop stars and Hollywood actors and actresses, but we don’t celebrate science and engineering.”

Bock died from pancreatic cancer on July 6, 2016.