Dr. Bahija Jallal's lifelong pursuit of scientific understanding originated from a childhood tragedy. The death of her father due to a medical error fueled her persistent "why" questions, transforming a desire for answers into a mission to develop better medicines for patients.

A successful cold pitch isn't an essay about your brand's story. It should be short enough to maintain interest, compellingly frame the value you offer the recipient (not the other way around), and end with a clear, actionable request like sending samples.

Overwhelmed by an "ocean of good ideas" from brilliant scientists, non-technical founder Cyriac Roeding couldn't distinguish a good idea from a truly outstanding one. His breakthrough came from a simple, direct question to his mentor, Dr. Sam Gambhir: "Which one has the highest potential of all of them?"

The work of founding scientist Dr. Sam Gambhir was deeply personal; he lost his son, himself, and his wife to cancer. This profound loss serves as the company's driving force and enduring mission, transforming the scientific endeavor into a legacy. This demonstrates how personal conviction can fuel progress against intractable problems.

Before LinkedIn was saturated with bots, the founders achieved an 8-10% response rate by being direct and vulnerable. They dropped the YC name for credibility but framed their ask as "we're two guys who need help," appealing to prospects' desire to be part of building something new.

A founder's outreach message must mature over time. Initially, it relies on personal credibility ("I'm an HBS grad"). As the company gets wins, it shifts to social proof ("we work with NASA"). Only after many conversations can it be refined into a concise, demand-driven value proposition that resonates with the target market.

Early outreach often fails by pitching an unproven value proposition. Instead, founders should use "Founder Magic"—leveraging their unique background, story, or mission to make themselves so interesting that prospects agree to a meeting out of sheer curiosity. The outreach should be product-agnostic and focus on being compelling as a person.

To find a Chief Scientific Officer with a rare combination of skills, EARLI's CEO used LinkedIn search. He combined terms like "gene therapy," "venture," and "FDA experience" to narrow the global candidate pool to about 25 people, proving precise digital sourcing can outperform traditional networking for highly specialized roles.

Colossal CEO Ben Lamb, a software entrepreneur with no biology background, approached top geneticist George Church seeking world-changing problems. His ability to build teams and secure capital, unconstrained by scientific dogma, was key to launching the ambitious de-extinction venture.