Founder note 01: score it before you email anyone
A short note from the desk. The fastest way to waste a warm intro is sending a use-case that is not trial-ready. Two minutes first.
The First Yes Desk
Editorial
This is the first of a short note we will keep writing for scientist-founders who want a plant, not a demo day.
The mistake
A warm intro lands. You send the deck the same afternoon. The plant engineer opens it on a phone, sees twelve use-cases, no quantity, no SDS, and files you under "later." Later does not come.
The intro was the scarce thing. The package was not ready.
The two-minute version
Before you ask anyone to spend reputation on you, take the score. Four things a plant checks: can they trial the material, is the use-case named, is the safety data real, is a founder in the seat.
If the number is low, that is the product working. Close the gaps. Then spend the intro.
What we will not do
We will not spray your name into a portal. We will not take a slice of the company on a form. We will not pretend a free sample is a customer.
When you are ready, we write one page and send it to one buyer after you accept.
Score it first. The email is easy after that.
Put it to work
See how close you are to a first paid pilot.
The score is free and takes two minutes. It scores you on the four things a buyer checks first.
Take the readiness scoreKeep reading
