How Aclid Built Trust in a High-Stakes Market: A Framework for Selling to Risk-Averse Customers

When your product handles dangerous pathogens like anthrax, trust isn’t just a marketing buzzword—it’s the foundation of your entire business. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Aclid founder Kevin Flyangolts revealed how they built credibility in synthetic biology’s most sensitive sector.

The Trust Paradox

The challenge was stark: “It was crazy to me to believe that you can order DNA from anthrax, from controlled agents really just online,” Kevin explains. “And a lot of the process to do that was really manual.” This reality created both an opportunity and a credibility challenge. How do you convince manufacturers to trust a startup with their most sensitive security processes?

Starting with Deep Customer Discovery

Instead of rushing to build, Aclid invested heavily in understanding their market. “We spent probably the first three months talking to 40 to 60 different manufacturers and just learning, figuring out what it is that they do day to day. Where are the biggest pain points? Is it in the screening? Is it in the vetting of the customer? Is it somewhere totally else?”

This intensive discovery process served two purposes. First, it helped identify the most pressing problems to solve. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it demonstrated Aclid’s commitment to understanding the industry’s complexities.

Leveraging Complementary Expertise

A crucial early decision was partnering with established domain experts. “Harris is pretty established researcher,” Kevin notes of his co-founder. “He has a big name in the industry, he’s a very established researcher. So definitely a lot of intros, warm connections from him helped build some of that trust.”

This combination of technical and academic credibility proved essential. While Kevin brought operational expertise, Harris provided the deep scientific knowledge and industry connections that helped open doors.

The Cybersecurity Content Playbook

Rather than traditional marketing, Aclid adopted a technical content strategy inspired by cybersecurity companies. “I personally really like what the cybersecurity space has done in marketing, where they offer you technical resources on SoC two compliance, ISO compliance, on x vulnerability or y exploit, and those technical resource end up helping you build trust with that company.”

This approach positions Aclid as a thought leader while creating natural paths to customer conversations. Instead of pushing sales messages, they focus on building resources that help manufacturers navigate complex compliance requirements.

Starting with Acute Pain Points

Aclid found early success by targeting companies where the pain was most acute. “When you’re an early stage company, you are dealing with a lot of problems,” Kevin explains. “If you’re starting a company that requires facilities, 50 people, just to get started, just to build your first product and sell it to a customer, there’s just that much more. And dealing with compliance burdens along that way makes it that much harder.”

This focus on acute pain points made the value proposition clear and helped overcome the natural skepticism that comes with being a startup in a sensitive industry.

Shaping the Regulatory Landscape

Perhaps most importantly, Aclid positioned themselves as active participants in shaping industry standards. “We’re working with both policymakers and industry, academia as well as politicians directly to make sure that our voice is heard and the right technical implementation is made,” Kevin notes.

This proactive engagement with policy helps ensure that upcoming requirements are both effective and implementable while building relationships with key stakeholders. It’s a strategic approach that positions Aclid not just as a vendor, but as a partner in creating industry standards.

For B2B founders entering high-stakes markets, Aclid’s journey offers valuable lessons. Build trust through deep domain expertise, focus on acute pain points where your value proposition is clearest, and position yourself as a thought leader through technical content. Most importantly, don’t just follow industry standards—help shape them.