It is easy to look at a company that has raised more than $60 million and assume the early days must have been equally clear.
They usually are not.
Before AgroSpheres became the company it is today, it was an undergraduate research project, a small initial grant, and a founder trying to decide whether to follow the conventional path toward medical school or take a chance on building something of his own.
For Payam, the turning point did not come from a large seed round, a major customer, or a polished company plan. It came from realizing where his attention was already going.
While studying for the MCAT and working on the research that would eventually become AgroSpheres, he noticed a sharp contrast. Preparing for medical school felt like something he was supposed to do. Working in the lab, exploring the research, and thinking through how to solve the problem felt different.
By his third and fourth years, he was so invested in the company that it became difficult to focus on school and medical school applications in the same way. The research was exciting. The possibility of turning it into something real was even more exciting.
The final push came during a medical school interview. One interviewer asked him a version of the question he was already asking himself: if he had something meaningful underway with the company, why not give it a real chance? Medical school was not going anywhere. He could defer, spend a year seeing where the company could go, and return if it was not the right path.
That is ultimately what he did. He deferred medical school and gave AgroSpheres a chance.
The First Small Check Can Matter More Than You Realize
AgroSpheres received an early NanoStart grant worth only a few thousand dollars. In the context of a company that would later raise tens of millions, that amount may sound small.
But at the time, it was meaningful validation.
For an early student founder, a small grant can do much more than add money to the bank. It can provide external proof that someone else sees potential in the work. It can help pay for an initial experiment, prototype, customer conversation, legal expense, or the next step needed to keep moving.
Most importantly, it can give you a reason to take yourself and the opportunity more seriously.
Student founders often overlook small grants, local competitions, university awards, and early non-dilutive funding because the prize amount does not seem large enough to change the company. But those early checks can compound.
They give you momentum. They give you a story. They give you validation to share with advisors, partners, future funders, and even yourself.
The first goal is not always to raise enough money to build the full company. Sometimes the goal is simply to earn enough validation to take the next step.
Build the Company and Validate the Market at the Same Time
One of the biggest advantages Payam had while working on AgroSpheres in school was being surrounded by the right people.
His research mentor and partner was not only a strong scientist. He was also entrepreneurial.
That mattered because university research can easily stay inside the lab. You can spend years improving the science without ever asking whether customers need the solution, whether the market exists, or whether there is a viable path to commercialization.
Payam's mentor pushed him to do both.
While advancing the research, he was also encouraged to talk to customers, explore the business opportunity, and validate the problem outside the lab. That combination helped transform an interesting scientific idea into the foundation of a company.
For student founders working on technical ideas, this is one of the most important lessons: do not wait until the technology is perfect to begin learning from the market.
Talk to potential customers early. Ask how they solve the problem today. Learn what is painful, expensive, inefficient, or risky about the current approach. Understand who would buy, who would use the product, and what would need to be true for them to switch.
You do not need to have all the answers at the beginning. But you do need to start asking the questions.
What Happens After Graduation?
Many student startups make progress while founders are still in school. The university provides structure, access to professors, research space, classmates, mentors, and a built-in community.
Graduation changes that.
For Payam, keeping AgroSpheres alive after school meant living simply and staying committed to the work. He worked at The Virginian and focused on a basic goal: pay rent, buy groceries, cover his bills, and keep building.
That stage is not glamorous, but it is often where real companies are made.
The question becomes less about whether the startup is an exciting student project and more about whether you are willing to keep going when there is no class credit, no competition deadline, and no clear next step.
Eventually, AgroSpheres raised a seed round. That was another major form of validation—evidence that investors believed the company had the potential to become something much larger.
But the seed round did not create the company. It helped accelerate work that had already survived the difficult period between undergraduate research and an investable venture.
Do Not Fall in Love With Being a Founder
Payam's advice for student founders is simple: love the problem you are solving.
Not just the title of founder. Not just the idea of raising money. Not just the excitement of building a startup.
Love the actual problem.
There will be moments when the company is not moving as quickly as you hoped. Grants will not come through. Investors will pass. Experiments will fail. Customers may not respond the way you expect. You may need to work another job while continuing to build at night and on weekends.
If you are only motivated by the idea of being an entrepreneur, those moments can make it easy to quit.
But if you genuinely care about the problem and believe it needs to be solved, you have a reason to keep going.
That does not mean every founder should refuse to stop or pivot. It means the work has to matter enough to you that you are willing to do the difficult, unglamorous parts of company building.
The Biggest Takeaway
AgroSpheres did not go from undergraduate research to $60M+ raised in one leap.
It began with curiosity, research, a founder willing to take a chance on the company, and a small early grant that helped validate the opportunity. It continued because Payam had entrepreneurial mentors around him, worked to understand the market alongside the science, and was willing to live simply after graduation so he could keep building.
For student founders, the lesson is not that every small grant will become a $60 million company.
The lesson is that early validation matters. A few thousand dollars, a supportive mentor, a customer conversation, or an initial research partnership can be enough to create momentum.
Apply for the small grants. Pursue the local competitions. Talk to customers before you think you are ready. Find professors and mentors who understand both the technical side and the business side. And make sure the problem is something you care enough about to keep solving long after graduation.
Because the opportunities that look small at the beginning can become the foundation for everything that comes next.