vector research partners ( aka V4RP )
Building a Deep Tech Company? Most Startup Advice Doesn’t Apply — Read This Instead
Learn from V4RP- loved founder Celine Halioua’s no-BS approach to milestone-driven planning, fundraising, and multi-product strategy.
“Timing Isn’t Everything. It’s the Only Thing.”
“I tried to raise a Series B in Q4 2022. It failed spectacularly,” Celine Halioua says, blunt as ever. As the solo founder of Loyal—an animal health company developing the first drugs to help dogs live longer—she had the science, the vision, and a pitch deck that could make angels drool. But timing, as always, played a bigger role than she expected.
“The market turned. Then SVB happened. Nobody wanted to tell their LPs, ‘Yeah, we lost a ton of money on a dog drug.’ I ended up raising from angels and family offices instead. Six months, $10M. Terrible,” she says.
Fast forward a year: Loyal’s first longevity drug earned the FDA’s first-ever nod that a drug can extend lifespan across species. One page changed everything. “We got terms on day one of our next Series B,” Halioua recalls. “Two raises, polar opposites.”
This isn’t just about luck. It’s the reality of deep tech: progress isn’t measured in users or revenue—it’s binary milestones that unlock or destroy value.
The Playbook Paradox
Deep tech doesn’t look like SaaS. Loyal straddles biotech, veterinary medicine, and consumer marketing. “If you get dogs, you probably don’t get biotech. If you get biotech, you probably don’t get dog owners. Pharma sells to payers; we sell to vets but ultimately the dog owner decides,” she says.
No wonder traditional startup advice often backfires here. Copy-pasting a SaaS playbook in deep tech is a fast track to failure.
Celine’s fix: Lean on unexpected inspiration.
“I borrowed a ton from companies like Boom. Everything at Loyal is milestone-driven. Hiring, capital allocation, fundraising—all triggered by milestones. For each, we build three scenarios. Reality collapses one, we follow it. Before, it was just vision + science. Now, I understand the levers that move the business.”
She also builds boards differently: constellations of specialists instead of unicorns. One expert handles FDA regulation, another marketing, another deep tech ops. “When we get an FDA update, I call the regulatory expert first,” she says.
The Delay Domino
Delays are inevitable in deep tech. “We had a six-month surprise study mid-last year. Humbling,” she says.
Solution: Open new decision doors.
Celine borrows from Bezos’ “one-way/two-way door” framework but adds a twist: slow two-way doors. Some decisions are reversible but costly. Regulatory submissions? Lock-in for six months. Push too fast, and you pay.
She also scenario-plans for delays: funding, capital allocation, regulatory outcomes. “We map every possibility and figure out which risks are worth redundancy,” she says.
Fundraising the Deep Tech Way
Software startups: ARR charts = derisk. Deep tech: milestones = derisk.
“Five years in, a year from market is fast for a drug. Investors care about FDA approval probability, not ARR,” she says.
Solution: Give investors new mental models. Translate milestones into probability of success. Show drivers, risks, and what success looks like.
“Now our fundraising formula: educate investors on what matters, show where we are, map paths to approval. Here's failure, here's success, here's the discount. Vision alone doesn’t cut it.”
When VC leads fail, she goes creative: family offices, angels, high-net-worth individuals. “There’s a ton of money out there if you grind and build the network before you need it,” she says.
The Binary Bind
No pivoting after launch. The drug either works or it doesn’t.
Solution: Portfolio approach. Redundancy in products and studies.
LOY-002, Loyal’s chewable for senior dogs, started second but became a lifesaver if LOY-001 failed. Even granular studies like STAY (1,000-dog lifespan study) are designed for clean, interpretable outcomes.
“Focus is key, but leave room for discovery. Some bets fail (looking at you, X-Thousand Dogs), but others become foundational—like biobanking samples early, which became critical for FDA packages.”
Founder Survival: Emotion vs Reality
Deep tech founders need optimism to try the impossible and pessimism to navigate constant setbacks.
Solution: Be emotionally attached to the mission, not the method.
“Day 0, my goal was FDA-approved lifespan extension. Gene therapy was my early approach. Wrong. Big dog short lifespan? Right. Ego-free pivots are survival.”
Hiring Without Falling in the Hammer-Nail Trap
Specialized PhDs often see the world only through their domain.
Solution: Hire for thinking process, not domain.
“Neuroscientists on our team aren’t doing neuro. They think rigorously and can adapt. In interviews, I watch the questions they ask and how they update their priors. Depth matters.”
Translating Tech for Humans
Investors and boards need digestible info without sugarcoating.
Solution: Radical transparency + formulaic updates.
“Board meetings: here’s what we said, here’s where we are, here’s the delta, here’s why. No one should have to remember anything—frameworks are the mantra.”
The Deep Tech Advantage
Hard, long timelines create moats: patents, incentives, talent, and time itself.
“FDA review timelines are the same for us as a $70B company. No shortcut. That’s our edge.”
For deep tech founders, these constraints aren’t just obstacles—they’re competitive advantages.
Five years in, the milestone marathon continues. But if you’re building something deeply technical, the lessons from Celine Halioua and Loyal are worth more than any generic SaaS playbook.
