Dr. Tarul Kode: Building at the Intersection of Biotech, Philanthropy, and Patient Impact

In this Underdog Physician podcast episode, PharmD and healthcare executive Dr. Tarul Kode shares her career path from an accelerated pharmacy doctorate at the University of the Pacific to over 20 years in managed care and PBMs, including 15 years at MedImpact in clinical executive and account leadership roles. After completing a Harvard global healthcare leadership program, she pivoted into startups as chief of staff to a virtual primary care CEO, then navigated layoffs when the company failed to raise a Series A amid personal challenges. She built a consulting practice and expanded advisory work with Techstars and Remedy. Tarul describes her venture capital education, joining Loud Collective as a venture partner raising a $175M healthcare fund with partners including Persephoni Bio, while discussing funding fit, scalable growth, responsible AI, inclusion barriers, mentorship, parenting, and a service-driven legacy.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:02 Origin Story and Pharmacy Path

02:20 Managed Care and PBM Career

03:49 Leadership Coaching and Harvard

04:58 Leap Into Startups

05:51 Startup Culture Fit

06:56 Advising Clinicians in Startups

08:24 Setbacks and Resilience

09:36 Consulting and Advisory Launchpad

10:57 Calibrate Lessons and Integrity

11:47 Entering Venture Capital

12:34 Loud Collective Thesis

13:45 Board Work and Co-Founder Role

14:59 How VCs Evaluate Startups

17:22 Funding Fit and Diligence

18:22 AI and Responsible Scaling

19:14 Barriers as Woman of Color

22:51 2025 BLOC BLOC100 Most Impactful Women of Color and Allies in biopharma, healthcare, and life sciences.

24:29 Mentorship and Executive Presence

27:37 Mindset for Uncertainty

30:01 Work Life Balance as Single Parent

31:31 Legacy and Closing