In a life sciences startup, everything feels urgent. The next fundraising, the data, and preparing for IND, and clinical trial. Communication can feel like a “nice to have” that can wait, but here’s the reality:

Strategic communication is one of the most overlooked levers for multiplying your company’s value.

The Cost of Entry, Not the Edge

A single clinical trial can easily cost $1 million. Top-tier law firms charge $500–$1,000 an hour. But these are non-negotiable costs. But something everyone has to do.

Meanwhile, most startups spend little effort on communication. They patch together pitch decks, spin up a website on Wix, and drop a few LinkedIn posts around conferences. Not because they don’t care, but because they assume it won’t move the needle so much.

Not really.

What Investors and Partners Really See

Put yourself in the shoes of someone evaluating your company. An investor, a pharma partner, a BD exec. They want to know:

Are you making it easier for others to advocate on your behalf?

Investment and partnership are company decisions. Your champions need to do the internal selling. That’s why it matters that you give your supporters ammunition to sell you. People aren’t just evaluating the science, but also who and how the effort is led. The way you communicate signals your business acumen and strategic maturity. It can tip the scale when someone is deciding who to back.

The quality of your communication reflects the quality of your thinking. A strong narrative signals leadership and trustworthiness. If you care about how you show up, it shows. And when the science is still uncertain, how you communicate becomes a proxy for your overall maturity.

A Small Investment. A Large Signal.

Even more importantly, it shows that you’re strategic and intentional. That you understand the importance of how your company is perceived. In the eyes of an investor or partner, that makes you a better bet.

It’s Also a Culture Choice

How you communicate externally is often a reflection of how you operate internally. Sloppy decks and inconsistent messaging don’t just confuse outsiders, but often mirror misalignment inside the company.

Life science innovation is ultimately about the patients and caregivers, and your story needs to show the likelihood that you can win the trust of the general public. But telling a complicated story to a broad audience isn’t easy. This makes it even more critical that you come across as a credible leader capable of telling how your science is advancing toward real-world impact. In this scenario, your communication doesn’t just inform. it signals how you lead.

If your leadership suggests communication is not a priority, and you’re leaning on board members and partners to fill in the gaps, it can raise questions about alignment and readiness. But it also opens up an opportunity to show that you’re the kind of leader who understands the power of story and embraces ownership. Trust is built through clarity, preparation, and presence, and leadership like that is contagious. When you lead with intention and signal purpose, you build a team that cares deeply about seeing their treatments reach the right people.

That’s not just smart. It’s a worthy culture choice.

Communication Multiplies Valuation

Most founders know how much a clinical trial costs. Fewer realize how much a clear, credible narrative can do to multiply that investment. We’ve seen companies raise more and faster, partner conversations accelerate, hiring pipelines improve, and reputations change.

Valuation isn’t just about data. It’s about how you lead.

The smartest founders we work with don’t wait until everything is figured out. They start building their narrative alongside their science. They recognize that communication isn’t decoration, it’s infrastructure.

And because so few early-stage companies do this well, those who do stand out even more. If you want your next fundraising round, partnership, or product launch to go smoother, don’t wait for your story to magically coalesce. Invest in it now.

The key is to spend smarter. The companies that pull ahead aren’t always the ones with the biggest budget. They’re the ones who connect the dots early: aligning their story with their science, and laying the groundwork for repeatable traction.

The best place to begin? Build the structure before the sprint. That means clarifying your value, aligning internal teams, and identifying where your communication infrastructure is helping and holding you back.

It starts with an honest assessment. The right assessment doesn’t just tell you where you stand — it gives you the language to move forward. It helps surface gaps, sharpen priorities, and align your story to the business outcomes that matter.

It’s one of the few decisions you can make today that gets more valuable over time.