I recently went one-on-one with Joe Landolina, co-founder and CEO of Cresilon and inventor of TRAUMAGEL.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Joe: My story starts with an unusual childhood. My grandfather was a retired pharmaceutical executive who, in retirement, bought a vineyard and built a full chemistry lab across the street. From the time I could walk, he gave me a hands-on crash course in chemistry, learn by doing, no textbooks, just experiments. When my parents eventually stepped in and set limits on my more ambitious projects, I started digging through library books on plant-based chemistries used in traditional medicine. That curiosity never left me.
At 17, as an incoming freshman at NYU, I was still set on medical school. But I went back to my grandfather’s lab and stumbled onto something unexpected: a blend of two polymers, long-chain sugars derived from algae, that would adhere to skin instantly and not release until you wanted it to. That became TRAUMAGEL.
The challenges came fast. We ran Cresilon out of a dorm room for years. Then, an apartment where the living room was our office and the kitchen was our lab. Then, on Christmas Eve 2013, we found an old 1930s schoolhouse on Craigslist in Brooklyn and realized we couldn’t afford to outsource manufacturing. Instead of shutting down, we made the audacious call to become manufacturers ourselves, buying two clean rooms and becoming the only biotech manufacturer in all five boroughs of New York. That decision taught me more about resilience than anything else. The whole journey has taken 15 years. I’m approaching the point in my life where I’ve spent more of it building this mission than not.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea and know it was worth pursuing? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with and test business ideas?
Joe: The idea came from genuine curiosity, not from looking for a market gap. I wasn’t trying to disrupt trauma care; I was playing with chemistry in my grandfather’s lab. The discovery that these algae-derived polymers could create an instant mechanical barrier to bleeding surprised even me. But when I saw what it could do, stop a massive bleed nearly instantly, without the excruciating wound-packing that’s been the standard for centuries, I knew it mattered.
I entered NYU’s business plan competition not because I thought I’d win, but honestly just hoping to get free business classes to complement my engineering degree. I met my co-founder, Isaac, there, and together we won at the engineering school and placed second at the business school. That validation and the initial capital made it real.
My advice: don’t go looking for an idea. Go deep on something you’re genuinely curious about, and stay curious even when it feels impractical. And when you think you have something, test it in the real world as early as possible. Our most important early proof of concept was an experiment at a local butcher shop, an aquarium pump pushing blood through a piece of meat, and our product stopping it instantly. A friend posted a GIF of it on Tumblr, and it got 140 million impressions overnight. That wasn’t a marketing strategy; it was just an honest demonstration of what the product could do.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Joe: The first key was staying patient with validation. After the viral moment and the flood of investor interest (over 8,000 inquiries), it would have been easy to rush to market. We didn’t. We pioneered what we called a “limited commercial release,” soft-launching with just 12 EMS agencies and trauma hospitals so we could refine the product in real-world emergencies before scaling nationally. Within 48 hours of that launch, TRAUMAGEL saved its first life. That moment confirmed everything.
The second key was building vertically. Becoming our own manufacturer was born out of necessity, but it became one of our greatest strengths. Today, we operate 55,000 square feet of production space and sell across three continents precisely because we controlled our own quality and supply chain from the start.
The third key was leading with education, not just sales. In trauma care, you’re asking frontline paramedics and surgeons to change deeply ingrained behavior. We built trust by training people, proving impact one saved life at a time, and letting the clinical results speak. We now have adoption across more than 150 EMS and trauma systems in 25 states.
My advice: resist the pull to scale before you’re ready. Disciplined, evidence-based growth isn’t slow; it’s the only kind that holds up in high-stakes industries. If you build patiently, validate rigorously in the real world, and stay relentlessly focused on impact over speed, you can scale innovation in even the most demanding fields.
Adam: What are the most important trends in technology that leaders should be aware of and understand? What should they understand about them?
Joe: Physical manufacturing is one of the most important trends in technology right now. The industry is very AI-focused when it comes to macro trends, but in today’s geopolitical world, having access to physical product manufacturing is incredibly important. Whether this is with medical devices, pharma, or any other product that requires manufacturing. There are complicated supply chains to manufacturing a fiscal product. It’s difficult; there’s this trend of onshoring or reshoring that’s happening right now, given everything that’s going on in the world. Understanding how physical supply chains and physical manufacturing fit into the ability to scale a business is critical.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Joe: When it comes to sales and marketing, especially in the medical device space, it starts with understanding not just your customer but also the economic buyer, and ultimately, the patient at the end of the chain. Keeping the patient’s needs at the center of your approach is what should drive everything.
From there, the key is understanding how your product fits into the customer’s existing workflow. Even the most innovative product that solves a real and pressing problem will fail to gain traction if it creates friction or disruption in how people already work. If it doesn’t fit naturally into the workflow, it simply won’t get used, and if it doesn’t get used, it can’t help the patient. Making adoption as seamless as possible is just as important as the product itself.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Joe: The most effective leaders are hungry and willing to roll their sleeves up. They lead by example. No job is beneath a great leader. When we started Cresilon in an old Brooklyn schoolhouse, we were hands-on in all aspects of the job, including cleaning. It trickles down to building a strong organization around that leader.
A level of humility is also important. Leaders should feel comfortable telling their teams when they aren’t sure of something or have made a mistake, and what they’re going to do about it. Leadership doesn’t mean needing to be right 100% of the time; no one is right all the time.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Joe: My best advice is to prioritize diversity in every sense of the word. Young leaders often make the mistake of hiring people in their own image: if they’re a great public speaker, for example, they tend to recruit other great public speakers. The result is a lopsided, one-dimensional team that isn’t truly effective.
Instead, the goal should be to bring in dissenting voices and people from diverse backgrounds. This not only strengthens the team but also pushes the leader to grow by forcing them outside their own comfort zone.
A practical way to think about this is to know yourself first, then hire to fill your gaps. As an engineer, I’m analytical, fast-paced, and gut-driven, more of a chef than a baker, someone who doesn’t follow a recipe. So I intentionally surround myself with people who can write the recipe and follow it, balancing my instincts with structure and process. I encourage every leader on my team to apply that same thinking: identify what you bring to the table, and build a team that fills in what you don’t.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Joe: When it comes to the three best tips for entrepreneurs and executives, the first is to be truly passionate about the problem you’re solving. Any leadership role, especially entrepreneurship, comes with significant ups and downs, and without genuine passion, you won’t be able to navigate those lows.
The second tip is don’t reinvent the wheel. Focus your energy on your centers of excellence, the things you and your organization do better than anyone else, and delegate or outsource everything else. Your first instinct should always be to find someone who can do it better, and only bring something in-house once you’ve determined that no outside resource can match your capability.
My third tip is to resist the urge to make knee-jerk decisions. When something unexpected comes up, there’s a natural tendency to react immediately, but a rushed decision is rarely the best one. Take the time to slow down, think it through, and make the right decision rather than just the fast one.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Joe: The single best piece of advice I’ve ever received is this: if a deal is on the table and it’s not still there in the morning after you’ve slept on it, it’s not a deal worth taking.
Any deal or opportunity worth pursuing will still be there after you’ve taken the time to think it through. Always give yourself the space to make the right decision, not just the fast one.
