we’re foodies now*
*accidentally
Niranjan and I decided to take a break from studying for finals to head to Chicago this past Wednesday for the Chicago Venture Summit: Future-of-Food. Although it wasn’t really in our wheelhouse, it still gave us amazing exposure to Chicago and Illinois’ venture and biotech ecosystems, and helped round out our goals for May.
First and foremost, mastery is on the table. We got the chance to speak to a few people who knew our plan better than us, which is honestly as surprising as you’d think. It was bound to happen eventually, but it serves as a blunt reminder to always stay sharper than you need to: you never know who is doing due diligence on your concept and team, and you’ll never get 15 minutes to look at notes if it turns out they know more than you.
Next, a three-pronged approach.
Proof of concept: work as hard as we can to build a continuous bioreactor operating at >10L that yields >50% of our theoretical maximum hydrogen yield. Build fast, optimize later.
Letters of intent: everything about our business model is well-cited, but we’re still looking for more public support. We need to work towards a tangible expression of our business’ value to other businesses.
Space to grow: our lab situation in Champaign is nothing to shake a stick at, but we’re beginning to fill our boots. Eventually, we will need more money and more equipment; we can solve tomorrow’s problems by looking for solutions today, hopefully in Chicago.
please let me know if you or your friends run a lab that we can live in for the next six months
-Henry Markarian
More articles coming next week, finals are taking a toll on us.