A sample tracking tool for biotech labs
A sample tracking tool for biotech labs that follows tissue samples and cell lines through cold-chain handoffs.
Problem it solvesLabs lose samples or break the cold chain all the time.
A cofounder pair launched a sample tracking tool for biotech labs. Using short cold emails, they got replies, demos, pilots, and paying clients, and reports break even at 14 months.
How they grewCold email to lab directors and ops managers; replied personally and kept follow-ups non-pitchy.
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how a 4 sentence cold email got our tiny biotech saas from 0 to 11 pharma clients in 14 months (long post, lessons at the bottom) using a throwaway since a few of my old coworkers lurk here. so about two years ago my cofounder and I launched a small software tool that tracks biological samples through freezers, shipments and handoffs. think package tracking, but for tissue samples and cell lines. the problem is super real. labs lose samples or break the cold chain all the time, and every lost sample can mean weeks of rework. we had a working product, zero clients and roughly 8 months of runway. what didn't work we started out doing it the "normal" way. linkedin ads, a webinar that literally nobody showed up to, and these long emails listing every single feature we had. I sent something like 300 of those in the first month. got 4 replies. two were unsubscribe requests and one guy asked if we were hiring lol what changed everything one night I was venting to my sister about it, she's a lab manager at a university. she just laughed and said "nobody in a lab reads vendor emails. but if you asked me about the time a courier left our samples on a loading dock over a holiday weekend, i'd write you a novel." that stuck with me. scientists don't care about software. they care about the disaster they're still angry about. so I rewrote everything. the new email was literally 4 sentences: Hi Dr. [Name], quick question from someone who builds sample tracking tools: what's the worst sample loss your lab has had in the last year? I'm not selling anything in this email. I'm collecting stories to understand where things actually break. even a one line reply would help a lot. that's it. no link, no attachment, no logo. results sent it to 180 lab directors and ops managers at mid size biotechs. 41 replied. some of them wrote 3 paragraphs. one guy sent me a photo of a thawed shipping box. I replied to every single one with an actual follow up question, no pitch. after the 2nd or 3rd back and forth, about half of them asked what we were building. that's when I told them. out of those 41 convos we got 17 demos, 6 pilots and 4 paying clients within 5 months. two of those clients referred us to their partners at bigger pharma companies. 14 months in we were at 11 clients and break even. lessons I'd pass on to anyone doing outbound in biotech or IT - ask about their pain, not your product. people love telling war stories - keep it short enough to read on a phone between experiments - actually mean the "not selling" part. if you switch to a pitch in your first reply you lose them - reply to everything personally. the follow up convo is where the trust actually gets built - your best prospects are usually angry about something specific. find the anger and you've found the budget happy to answer questions in the comments
- Replies
- 41
- lab directors and ops managers
- Demos
- 17
- from 41 convos
- Pilots
- 6
- from 41 convos
- Paying clients
- 11
- 14 months
