Convince them why they should:-)
We can't get any money from the traditional biotech establishment without patents. And we can't get patents until we have some money because most of our patentable ideas will require more expensive lab equipment than we have right now. So for now, we try and make some money by bootstrapping and selling incense, then we get the patents, then we get the real money, then we start the interesting research like curing AIDS which offers a multi-billion dollar payoff.
My company is selling a a genetic test for HIV immunity. With funding, we could expand into other genetic tests very quickly and get FDA approval for as much as we can. FDA approval is not required to sell a "home-brew" genetic test but you can charge a lot more money if you're FDA approved because then insurance will pay for it.It won't take much to dramatically undercut all the existing genetic tests on the market, they're all really overpriced.
For now, I'm enjoying the process of bootstrapping and approaching biotech with the Web 2.0 "make it yourself" ethos.
Seedcamp told me they don't do biotech. Techstars sticks to Web 2.0 function companies. CRV doesn't do biotech. HCP does biotech and has a summer program targeted to college students for it. We didn't get in and they didn't tell us why, though it was still a really nice rejection and they invited us to a barbecue at their office.
YC might fund biotech if they liked you enough but they aren't a good fit for me. The biotech incubator geographically close to me is dumb and I won't give them any control of my company. They're one of those state-subsidized institutions that repeatedly lose money. This is why Pittsburgh sucks for entrepreneurs, because despite the brilliant biotech minds coming out of our universities, there is not nearly enough investment money available.
I should probably email Tandem and ask if they do biotech. Anyone know any seed stage funding firms/incubators that would consider biotech?
Why is this? There are plenty of good Universities in the area - what is Pennsylvania doing to hamper startup companies? Are people just drawn away to other areas like DC?
Now, people who invest generally have money. People who have money generally have a choice of where to live, and are aware of what it's like to live in a real city. Thus, they do not touch Pittsburgh with a ten foot pole.
The weather's pretty bad though. I was surprised to read a few years ago that Pgh was one of the least sunny towns in the country. Then I realized why as a kid I associated sun with being on vacation: when we were on vacation, we were in other places, and everywhere else was sunny by comparison.