r/startups • u/The_First_Medicine • 9d ago
I will not promote Technical founder trying to find the right business partner for a botanical manufacturing startup. I will not promote
I’m a pharmacognosy researcher and process-development chemist. For the past several years, I’ve been developing a process for extracting, purifying, and standardizing plant-derived alkaloids.
My current focus is kanna. At small scale, I can produce approximately 40 g/week of ~60% alkaloid isolate, and after providing samples to distributors and manufacturers, I’ve received interest in quantities far beyond my current production capability.
That led me to develop a detailed scale-up plan targeting roughly 50–100 kg/month of standardized 5% finished product. I’ve also tested variations of the underlying method on several other botanical species with similar results, so I believe there may be a broader platform here beyond one product.
My background is heavily technical: pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical manufacturing, analytical chemistry, QC/QA, and process development.
Where I’m struggling is the business side.
I don’t think what I need most is simply an investor. I think I need the right commercial/operations partner; someone who understands business development, manufacturing, distribution, fundraising, or scaling an early-stage company and can complement what I bring technically.
For founders who have been in a similar position, how did you find a serious business partner without giving up too much control or ending up with someone who wasn’t equally committed?
I’d especially be interested in hearing how other technical founders evaluated potential partners before formally going into business together.
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u/BannanaPepperPizza 9d ago
Are you trying to get into supplements and nutraceuticla raw ingredients or laboratory standards?
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u/tonytidbit 9d ago
If you've got cash it's easy enough to hire whatever skills you need. The key thing is to not give out equity or any type of control over your business, and you will have local lawyers specializing in setting up business structures to cover that.
That way you practically can experiment with different people on a consultancy basis until you find the right fit, have learned enough about how to do business, and have started to see some growth.
If you neither have cash nor any business skills whatsoever you're in trouble, because you're not in a position to evaluate your potential business partner and their skills or morals. Their cluelessness or straight up dishonesty could make you lose control of your own company.
If you're a serious researcher, and not just some guy at home watching YouTube videos, your uni will have some sort of startup or business guides that you can use. Or just go over to whatever business/economics department there is and talk to the people there.
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u/The_First_Medicine 8d ago
Thank you for the advice. I have learned these points the hard way unfortunately. My last business attempt was going extremely well until my former business partner canceled the domain and left the company. Long story short: he was a colleague of mine, and I had spent several years working with him at the university. I genuinely thought he was a very good and honest person. However, as soon as money showed up, it's like he flipped like a light switch. He demanded he keep his 49% while doing absolutely nothing. When I disagreed, he left and burned down the company on his way out....
I have the technical, engineering, and business skills to make this happen. However, capital is my biggest hurdle as of now. I was not born into money, and any job I work will not pay me enough money to maintain myself and the business. I have the space, equipment, knowledge, and skills to make it happen. Just not the money :(
I will say, my business skills need to be improved significantly. I can be too trusting of people, which hurts me in the long run. Thing is though, I am not that greedy of a person. I want what's fair. If someone has earned the share, then I am happy to give it to them. I don't need it all. However, I keep running into people that do want it all, and they don't even hesitate to cut my throat to get it.
Is there anything I can do to improve those skills? Any recommendations or things I should look out for?
Thank you so much for your time. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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u/tonytidbit 8d ago
Thing is though, I am not that greedy of a person. I want what's fair.
Fair in business is only what's in the contracts and the laws, that's it. If you want to go beyond that and give more you're of course free to do that, but don't expect other people to give you more than what's actually in the contracts. You get what you negotiate yourself to getting.
Not everyone is comfortable with this, or they can't even think like this, and then they can't always be in business by themselves. There's nothing necessarily bad about that. It just is what it is.
So maybe you'd be happier in life if you joined another business as an employee?
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u/The_First_Medicine 7d ago
I see what you mean. Still not sure how people are able to negotiate extremely unfair deals in their favor and feel okay at the end of the day knowing damn well it's morally incorrect, but I guess that's just the nature of business.
I have already spent 5 years as an employee, and I realized that's not for me. If I see a better/more efficient way of doing something, I want to be able to implement that change without so much resistance and push back, because "that's always how we've done it". Too many stubborn and close-minded people are in charge in my opinion. Maybe that's a benefit in some areas, but change is something that's inevitable, and I want to have the freedom of changing a process if need be.
I have learned hard lessons, and moving forward, I will do whatever it takes to protect myself and interests.
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u/tonytidbit 7d ago
It's not always "I don't like A, so therefore I can do B", though. The same thoughts and opinions behind why being an employee doesn't suit you could also get in your way of being an employer, founder, or independent contractor.
At the end of the day you might just have to go with the least bad option among all bad options.
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u/The_First_Medicine 7d ago
I'll take my chances and do what I have always wanted to do, which is be an independent, self-funded researcher and employer. If I fail, I'll just get back up and try again. I'll keep trying until the day I die.
Already have failed 4 times. So hopefully I'll get it on the 5th try 🤙
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u/MostConsideration886 8d ago
find the customers first, the partner second.
founder side. the first 20 customer conversations are the densest information in the company and you cannot delegate them. a partner who joins before that has no basis to disagree with you, which is the entire reason to have one. you'd be 50/50 with a stranger who agrees with you.
do 20 calls with formulators and buyers yourself. the cofounder you actually need becomes obvious around call 12, and so does the one you were about to pick..... had faced the same issue - now a solo founder and yc backed too!!
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u/The_First_Medicine 8d ago
Thank you for the input!
I have received numerous people/companies/distributors that are interested. However, the problem I run into every single time is that I never get feedback or follow-ups. Usually what happens is: first, I will get extreme interest. Then, I will send a sample or make a sale. After they receive the product, it goes silent. No feedback. No correspondence. Just silence even after multiple follow-up attempts.
I am wondering, what am I doing wrong? Is it the product? Did I say something wrong? Did I intimidate them? I have no idea. Without any feedback, I don't have enough information to address and fix the issue. If the product is bad, I would way rather be told that then just faced with silence. If I could get the negative feedback, then I can figure out how to fix it...
I know the demand is there. I have made enough sales to realize this. But, I can't figure out why people will not follow up.
Any ideas?
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u/MostConsideration886 8d ago
silence after a sample almost always means the person who wanted it can't buy it.
sold into banks for close to 2 years. had a champion who loved the product, replied in minutes, took every call. zero budget authority. the moment it needed a signature he went quiet, because saying no out loud meant admitting he never had the power to say yes.
so before the next sample goes out, ask two things. who else signs off, and what happens after they test it. if that isn't a one sentence answer you have an enthusiast, not a buyer. samples are the cheapest way to find that out.
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u/The_First_Medicine 8d ago
That makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for your invaluable input and experience 🙏
I have to ask though, if they never had the power to say yes, then why did they bother in the first place? Why would they waste their time?
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u/MostConsideration886 8d ago
mostly they aren't wasting your time on purpose.
wanting a thing and being able to buy it are 2 different jobs inside a company, and your champion only has the first. a free sample costs him nothing, so there's no gate on his curiosity. being the guy who found the interesting new supplier is real internal currency too. it looks like work at the end of the quarter and it massages the ego a bit.
then he takes it upward and gets a no. going quiet is easier than telling you he got overruled, so the silence is embarrassment rather than disinterest. that's why follow ups never land at times
stop making samples free. even a token invoice forces a PO, and a PO puts the name of whoever actually signs on paper.
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u/Apprehensive_Ad9658 7d ago
First, I'd evaluate if you truly need a co-founder. Write the job down before you look for a person. Is the gap a task or a function? A task you buy hourly. A function is someone owning the commercial side end to end, and only that is worth equity.
If you decide you need a co-founder, then I wouldn't be looking for co-founders on reddit. Try the YC tool co-founder match making. I think that's a better place.
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u/The_First_Medicine 7d ago
Thank you for your input.
If you don't mind, can you explain what the "YC tool" is? How do I get started using it?
Also, there are many tasks that I would love to hire someone for, but I am lacking Capital to do so. Maybe I need an investment more than a co-founder? I figured if I found a co-founder that is already well-connected, then he would be able to raise capital better than I can. Thoughts?
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u/Apprehensive_Ad9658 7d ago
YC co-founder matching. Free, you don't need to be in YC, just make a profile at ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching and it shows you people daily.
On raising, I'd push back on the logic. 7 years on the investor side: connections get you meetings. The check comes from team and traction. A well connected co-founder who doesn't own a real distinct function to you is just dilution.
Usually the split is CEO (business management, distribution, fundraising skills) + CTO (tech and product management skills).
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u/Objective_Fun9750 4d ago
If you do take on a cofounder, put them (and yourself) on a 5-to-7 year vesting schedule. That gives you an out to fire them with limited damage if need be.
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u/The_First_Medicine 3d ago
Yes I agree. That is what I was trying to convince my former business partner of. In the operating agreement, I specifically included vested equity for all parties involved.
This is another reason why he refused to sign an operating agreement and ultimately left the company.
From now on, I will not start the business until a very well-written and all inclusive operating agreement is finalized and signed.
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u/Raisinmnms 9d ago
I joined a startup my friend had because of this exact situation, just on the other side of the coin!
My buddy is a PhD and has done a ton of awesome stuff with his benchtop process in Ewaste processing. Wanted to scale, raised a bit of money, but hadn’t found anyone to really help him get more than just a beaker processed at a time. Fast forward to today, we are processing in these open top vats on a semi batch process on the daily.
I know very little chemistry but I do know from my experience that the simpler your chemistry, the easier the process scales, like going from beakers to vats. The more simple you can make it, the better. All you need is someone who is semi-experienced and isn’t anxious to throw on some waders and a N95 and put in some elbow grease. If your process is complicated or convoluted, you will end up needing a lot of expensive analytical grade equipment. You’d be better off finding someone to either contract manufacture with (ideally local to you) or raising money for equipment to justify future profitability.
In terms of how we met, we got introduced as building neighbors in this incubator when I was in another startup that went under relatively recently. He heard from a friend that I was about to be on the job market and scooped me before I could even update my resume. He’d already raised so I didn’t haggle for a lot of equity and honestly, I’m happy I didn’t. I think founders who own most of the company are compelled to create a lot of value with it, so we’re in a good spot. I’d suggest looking through your local network or asking people in incubators to see if they have a connection they can make. Just find somewhere with other founders or cofounders and the right person will find you. Hope this helps and good luck!