Strategies for Science Outreach Programs

The ultimate guide to 0-to-1 sales with Jen Abel Jen and her team at JJELLYFISH have worked hands-on with over 300 early-stage startups, teaching them how to do sales, early customer discovery, and to set up a repeatable sales motion. In our conversation, Jen explains 🔸 What to do at step of the enterprise sales process 🔸 What three channels work best for outreach 🔸 What to say (and not say) on your first call, and subsequent calls 🔸 How to craft outreach messages 🔸 Where to find the good leads 🔸 How to maintain momentum with prospects 🔸 Strategies for navigating procurement 🔸 How to avoid common pitfalls in the sales process 🔸 Why founder-led sales is so crucial early on Listen now 👇 - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/g6hnrm2v - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gxMKpiDs - Apple: https://lnkd.in/ghYK8RhJ Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for supporting the podcast: 🏆 Brave — A smarter way to search: https://brave.com/lenny 🏆 Vanta — Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny 🏆 Paragon — Ship every SaaS integration your customers want: https://lnkd.in/geirC2qS Some key takeaways: 1. As a founder, you are the best person to sell your product in the early stages. No one knows your vision and product as deeply as you do. Use that knowledge to connect with potential customers. Salespeople can’t replicate the passion, vision, and insights you can offer. 2. The typical enterprise sales process includes: a. Initial outreach and qualification b. Discovery call c. Demo/proposal d. Co-authoring scope of work e. Procurement f. Signature and closing 3. When crafting outreach messages, focus on: a. Relevance to the prospect’s role b. Presenting a counterintuitive or novel insight c. Focusing on the problem, not the solution d. Keeping it concise (3 to 4 sentences maximum) 4. When reaching out to potential leads, don’t just tell them your product is “better”—show them why it’s fundamentally different. Share a shocking insight or counterintuitive observation that’ll make them stop and think. If they read your message and think, “That’s interesting,” you’re already halfway there. 5. In the early stages, founder-led sales should focus on learning about customer pain points, not just closing deals. Treat sales conversations as research opportunities to gather insights, validate problems, and refine your product based on real feedback. Look for “budding insights”—those subtle hints of deeper needs—that can guide product or pitch adjustments. 6. You may think cold emailing and LinkedIn DMs are your only routes to outreach, but cold calling is surprisingly effective. In fact, the response rates can be much higher than with email in some cases. So don’t shy away from picking up the phone—especially when you can deliver that personal touch that makes people want to engage.

I reviewed 50+ MPH resumes this week. Almost all had certificates. Only a handful had real epidemiology projects. I sat with that for a moment. Because the pattern is clear: We are helping students collect credentials… but not teaching them how to think like epidemiologists. And employers see it instantly. After mentoring hundreds of MPH and PhD students, here’s the truth I wish someone had told me early in my career: Epidemiology rewards analytical thinkers, not certificate collectors. If you want to stand out, here is the roadmap: 1. Start with a real health question: Not “What software should I learn?” But “Which population health problem can I analyze today?” Examples: → County-level mortality trends → Disparities in your state’s chronic disease data → Injury or overdose time-series → BRFSS risk factors in your region Your skills grow when they’re anchored to real questions. 2. Begin with open, free, public health data: You don’t need access to hospitals or EHRs. Use: → CDC WONDER → NIH, WHO, and state dashboards → BRFSS, NHANES, National Vital Statistics → Environmental, mobility, or policy datasets Insight > access > certificates. 3. Build a portfolio that shows real epidemiologic reasoning: Examples that stand out: → County-level cluster detection → Social determinants + outcome mapping → Time-series analysis of injury or overdose deaths → Vaccination disparities by demographics These demonstrate the two traits hiring managers look for: clarity and rigor. 4. Level up: help local organizations: Most small health groups need analytics support: → Community clinics → Nonprofits → Health departments → Research labs They get value. You get experience. Your portfolio becomes credible overnight. 5. Document your full workflow: This is where most learners fall short: → Clear notes → Reproducible R/Python code → GitHub/OSF → One-page interpretation summary This shows how you think - not just what you built. 6. Deliver insights quickly. Improve later: Epidemiology is a decision science. Speed matters. → A simple map beats a perfect model delivered late → A basic trend line beats a stalled analysis → A quick dashboard beats analysis paralysis Impact happens when you ship consistently. 🔑 My 1-2-3 Framework for Applied Epidemiology 1. Understand the population + outcome 2. Choose the simplest valid method 3. Make everything transparent and reproducible This is how high-impact epidemiologists work. 💡 Turn Every Project Into Three Career Assets 1. GitHub repository 2. A one-page public health brief 3. A short LinkedIn post sharing your insight This builds a real professional identity - not just a list of certificates. If you want my template for documenting epidemiology projects, comment “Ready.” Like + repost to help future epidemiologists focus on impact, not credentials. #Epidemiology #PublicHealth #MPH #DataAnalysis #CareerAdvice

Want to pitch someone on LinkedIn? Read this before you hit “send.” Every week, I get messages that go something like this: “Hi, I’m [Name]. I’ve built this incredible thing. It’s doing amazing work. Here’s why it matters. Can you help me/share it/connect me?” It’s not that I don’t care. I do. But these messages usually miss the mark and here’s why: They center the sender. Not the receiver. Here’s the truth: When you approach someone for the first time, you (and your project, product, or platform) are not the hero of the story. THEY are. If you want someone to care, start by showing that you care about what they do, what they stand for, what they’re building. Read their posts. Watch their interviews. Figure out what they’re trying to solve. Then ask yourself: how does what I’m doing help them win? Make your message less “I need,” and more “Here’s what I see in your work and how I can add value.” Additional tips: 💬 Keep it short. Long-winded intros are overwhelming. You’re not writing your bio, you’re opening a door! Three concise paragraphs is plenty (even less if you can). 🎯 Be specific. Instead of saying, “Let’s collaborate,” say: “I’d love to explore how we could align my youth platform with your mission to build stronger leadership pipelines.” People respond better when they know exactly what you’re asking. What’s your call to action? 🧠 Show you’ve done your homework. A thoughtful compliment goes a long way. “Your post on LinkedIn really made me think.” “I noticed you’ve been working on Y and I’m building something that could support that.” It shows you care enough to listen first. 🤝 Give before you ask. Share a helpful resource. Offer a useful intro. Tell them about an opportunity they might benefit from. Relationships are built on generosity. 📆 Respect their time. Instead of jumping into a call request, consider asking: “Would it be okay if I shared a 1-pager for you to skim in your own time?” People are more open when they don’t feel pressured. Please don’t immediately ask for a call. 💡 Think of it as planting, not picking. Your goal isn’t to “get” something, it’s to begin something. Not all outreach will lead to a project right away, but if done well, it can spark long-term relationships, ideas, and even unexpected opportunities. ✨ Bonus hack: I often ask my clients to count how many times they say “I” vs. “you” when they write to, present to or speak to their stakeholders. If the “I”s win, revise. It’s not listener-centric enough. Connection starts with empathy, not ego. Lead with curiosity. Offer service. That’s how collaborations are born. If these tips are helpful, check out Storytelling and Leadership for more. #Storytelling #AuthenticConnections #LinkedInTips #Leadership #PurposefulWork

In my early career, I thought networking was all about building as many connections as possible. But I quickly learned that effective networking isn't about the quantity of your connections—it's about the quality. Throughout my career, the connections that have truly made a difference weren’t the ones where I just asked for help—they were the ones where I made it easy for others to want to help me. If you want to make others genuinely want to help you, it’s crucial to move beyond simply asking for favors. Instead, focus on creating value and building relationships where both parties benefit. So, how can you do the same? Here are four tactical tips to help you network effectively: ✅ Do Your Homework Before reaching out, research the person or company you’re interested in. Understand their work, challenges, and how you can add value. For instance, instead of asking a connection for job leads, do your own research first. Identify specific roles and companies you’re targeting, and then ask if they can help with an introduction. This approach shows initiative and respect for their time. ✅ Be Specific in Your Ask Whether you’re asking for an introduction, advice, or a referral, be clear and concise about what you need. For example, instead of asking, “Do you know anyone hiring?” say, “I noticed [Company Name] is looking for a [Role]. Would you be open to introducing me to [Person]? I’m happy to send you my resume and a brief write-up you can pass along, too.” This shows that you’ve taken the initiative and makes it easier for your contact to say yes. ✅ Offer Mutual Value When requesting a meeting or advice, frame it as a two-way conversation. Instead of saying, “Can I pick your brain?” try something like, “I’d love to exchange ideas on [specific topic] and share some strategies that have worked for me.” This not only makes your request more compelling but also positions you as someone who brings value to the table. ✅ Follow Up with Gratitude After someone has helped you, don’t just say thank you and disappear. Keep them in the loop on how their help made an impact. Whether you got the job, secured the meeting, or just had a great conversation, let them know. This closes the loop and makes them more inclined to help you in the future. Your network is one of your greatest assets—nurture it well, and it will be there for you when you need it most. What’s one networking tip that’s helped you build stronger connections? *** 📧 Want more tips like these? Join Career Bites - free weekly bite-sized tips to supercharge your career in 3 minutes or less: lorraineklee.com/subscribe 📖 You can also get behind-the-scenes stories, updates, and special gifts for my upcoming book Unforgettable Presence: lorraineklee.com/book

Build connections when you don’t need them, so they’re there when you do. Networking is a long‑term investment. You never know what can happen tomorrow, whether it’s a new opportunity, an unexpected challenge, or a career pivot. By cultivating relationships early, you turn strangers into allies and potential into possibility. My pro‑tip? Develop your personal value proposition. 
- List your top 3–5 strengths and concrete examples of how you’ve helped others 
- Turn each into an “I help…” statement (for example, “I help marketing teams drive engagement through data‑driven storytelling”) 
- Use these statements to guide every outreach, ensuring you’re always offering value, not just asking for favors Then start from what you know. 1. Choose 5–10 people from your alumni network, former classmates, or close colleagues 2. Send a genuine note, share an article they might find helpful, congratulate them on a recent win, or simply ask how you can support them 3. No agenda. Just curiosity and a willingness to help Next, venture into the unknown. 1. Identify people at companies you admire or in roles you aspire to 2. Do your homework: reference a recent project, article, or speaking engagement 3. Reach out with a clear, value‑first message: “I enjoyed your piece on X; as someone looking to Y, I’d love to learn how you approached Z.” And keep the momentum going. 
- Schedule quarterly reminders to check in, share insights, celebrate milestones, or ask a thoughtful question 
- Track key dates (promotions, product launches, anniversaries) so your messages feel timely Your network matters. When you need advice, an introduction, or anything really, you’ll already have authentic connections. And at the end of the day, already built connections where you can leverage the relationships > dry unknowns ‘Hey, I need help’ messages. #StephSynergy

What if the most powerful “learning upgrade” for children today is not another app, but the return to real-world wonder? We are currently attending an outdoor church camp with our kids, surrounded by nature instead of notifications, and something beautiful is happening in between the simple moments. No screens. No algorithms. Just curiosity waking up again. A stick becomes a tool. A stream becomes a laboratory. A question becomes an adventure. And suddenly you can see it in their eyes again. That quiet spark of discovery that no device can replicate. One child asked why water flows faster downhill. Another tried to build a tiny dam with stones. Someone else simply sat and watched light move through leaves as if it was the first time seeing it. And I realized something important. Learning does not start with information. It starts with attention. When children are given space to explore instead of consume, something fundamental shifts. They stop waiting for answers and start building them. Science in its purest form is not about complexity. It is about curiosity in motion. And here in this simple outdoor setting, that principle becomes visible again. A spilled cup of water is no longer a mistake. It becomes a question. A hypothesis. A second attempt. This is where something deeper is formed quietly. Not just knowledge, but mindset. The ability to try again without hesitation. To observe without judgment. To stay curious even when things do not work the first time. In healthcare and leadership, we often talk about innovation, resilience, and adaptability. But here I am watching it form in its simplest version. In children who are not afraid to experiment with the world. Maybe this is what we sometimes forget in a hyper-digital age. That development is not only about acceleration. It is also about grounding. And sometimes the most advanced learning environment is not the most complex system, but the simplest moment shared outdoors. When curiosity returns, learning becomes effortless again. And when learning becomes effortless, everything else begins to grow from there. #ChildDevelopment #Learning #Education #Curiosity #OutdoorLearning #FamilyTime #HolisticDevelopment #FutureSkills #Mindset #Healthcare #Health

Just got off a call with a founder who's sent 1,000+ cold emails with ZERO responses... Let me ask you something... Have you ever crafted what you thought was the perfect outreach message, only to be met with complete silence? One of my clients (a SaaS founder) just shared their frustrating experience that might sound familiar... They spent weeks perfecting their message, researching prospects, and personalizing every email. The result? Radio silence. Zero responses. Zero meetings. Zero opportunities. And here's what really hurts... Their competitor, with an inferior product, was landing meetings left and right with the same prospects. After analyzing thousands of outreach campaigns, I’ve discovered that trust isn't built through volume - it's built through three specific elements that buyers actually care about. Here are the 3 trust drivers that actually get decision-makers to reply: 1) Social Proof That Matters Stop leading with generic logos. I've found buyers instantly engage when you share specific results from companies in their exact industry. They need to see themselves in your success stories. ✅ POWER MOVE:  Reference a similar company's specific metrics improvement (e.g., "We helped Company X increase their conversion rate by 47% in 60 days") 2) Thought Leadership Signals Your prospects are drowning in "experts." I've tested this extensively - buyers respond when you demonstrate deep industry knowledge through specific insights about their business challenges. ✅POWER MOVE: Share a unique observation about their market position or recent company changes that others missed. 3) Micro-Deliverables This is the game-changer most miss. I've seen response rates triple when founders offer immediate value before asking for anything in return. ✅POWER MOVE: Provide a quick competitive analysis or specific growth opportunity they can implement today, regardless of whether they reply. The data is clear: 89% of cold outreach fails because it focuses on what YOU want instead of what THEY need. These aren't just theories - I've watched these exact strategies transform response rates from 2% to 20%+ across hundreds of campaigns. Here's the real question: How many of these trust drivers are you actually incorporating in your outreach right now? #ColdOutreach #B2BSales #TrustBasedSelling #OutboundMarketing #SalesStrategy

If you ask (and answer) this 1 question before starting cold outreach, you'll be on track to see 2x results from your outbound in 2025. 📌 The question is simple: Does this matter to THEM? Too often, outbound efforts are built around what we want: to book a meeting, to hit quota, to close the deal. But here’s the reality: no one cares about your goals unless they align with theirs. This is where my #EarnTheRight approach comes in. Before you send an email, pick up the phone, or craft a LinkedIn message, stop and ask yourself: “Am I talking about what matters most to my prospect?” Taking the time to create email copy and phone talk tracks that align with their priorities is critical. This is not about prospect-specific personalization. This is about RELEVANCE. ➡️ Here’s why: Relevance drives response. When you speak to the challenges and goals that matter the most to your prospect, you’re no longer interrupting them—you’re engaging them. Want to stand out in 2025? Believe me when I say the bar is low and stealing this strategy will help you 2x your results this year. Most outreach is about the seller: “We offer X,” “Our platform does Y.” Flip the script by focusing on the prospect’s world instead, and you instantly differentiate yourself. Trust builds faster when your messaging reflects that you’ve done the homework. In 2025, relevance isn’t just important—it’s essential. Buyers are busier than ever, and generic outreach is the quickest way to get ignored. When your outreach centers on what truly matters to your prospects, you earn the right to their time, their attention, and eventually, their business. 📌 How are you ensuring your team’s messaging speaks to what matters most to your prospects?

The days of "I noticed you like Guinness!" personalization are dead. Here's how top sales teams are identifying specific pain points their solution can uniquely solve. After building Apollo's AI research agent from zero to thousands of users, I've seen what separates good prospecting from great - and it's not what most people think. The Old Way: Generic Filters & Surface-Level Personalization - Start with basic filters: job titles, industry, company size - Download list, manually research each prospect - Find something generic to mention ("saw you went to Stanford!") - Send bland outreach with superficial personalization - Hope for 1-2% response rates while burning through your TAM The New Way: AI-Powered Pain Point Identification 1. Multi-source data enrichment: Configure multiple data sources in one place to maximize contact accuracy. For example, set up a waterfall enrichment that tries several email and phone providers in sequence to find valid contact information before your first touchpoint. This significantly increases your reach rate without wasting time on bounces. 2. AI qualification for genuine pain points: Create natural language prompts that identify prospects with problems you can solve. For a localization company, this means scanning websites for translation gaps. One prospect had a product supporting 30+ languages but maintained an English-only website – a perfect opportunity to start a value-driven conversation about expanding their web presence. 3. Signal stacking for personalized outreach: Combine multiple signals in priority order to craft messages that address specific pain points. Look for companies showing international expansion signals alongside their existing language limitations. One prospect was expanding overseas but only offered English language support – a clear opportunity to help them scale localization for customer acquisition in new markets. The result? Instead of "Hope this email finds you well," you can send: "We noticed you support 14+ languages in your product, but your website is only in English. Are you looking to expand your website to better service your international users?" The best part? You can do all of this inside Apollo.io - from initial prospect search to multi-source enrichment to AI custom research to signal stacking to AI messaging - in just a few clicks. Check out the demo to see how easily you can transform your outreach from generic to genuinely valuable.

Here’s a 5‑minute daily routine to share your research without stealing time from research: Block 5 minutes after you open your email or before you close your laptop. That tiny consistency beats one “perfect” post you never publish. 1. Pick ONE micro‑update What changed today? A figure fixed, a review received, a new idea from a paper. One sentence only. 2. Add the “so what?” in plain language Write one extra sentence: “This matters because…” as if you were explaining it to a smart friend outside your field. 3. Choose a simple format Turn it into either: – A 3–4 line LinkedIn post, or – A short comment under someone else’s post on a related topic. 4. Attach or link once a week Once per week, attach a PDF (or accepted version) of one paper or link to your preprint and repeat steps 1–3. That’s how you turn papers into content without extra work. 5. Stop after 5 minutes The goal is to build a habit, not a second job. Two to three posts a week are enough to grow your academic visibility over time. Try this for the next 7 days with your current project and notice what becomes easier to share. #science #scientist #research #sciencecommunication #dissemination #professor #phd #postdoc