Reliable ways to unlock business growth are oftentimes clouded by noise from assumptions and bias guised as gut instinct. A scientific approach can help cut through this uncertainty. By treating business growth like a research problem, defining issues precisely, testing ideas, and measuring results, leaders can avoid costly detours and build more resilient companies. This perspective is the framework that has guided Finith Jernigan, Ph.D., in his career transition from science to business.
Trained as a chemist at the University of North Carolina and later a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School, Jernigan began his career solving problems at the molecular level. He now uses this experience in his approach to investing, acquisitions, and business strategy.
“I really wanted to build companies, work on things where your skill set could have an impact on people’s everyday lives,” shares Jernigan. That vision led him into pharmaceutical R&D, where he co-founded Silicon Therapeutics in 2016, and later into leadership roles at PTC Therapeutics and Roivant Sciences. Today, as Founder & CEO of Finith Capital, Jernigan applies scientific rigor to evaluating, acquiring, and scaling cash-flowing businesses.
Defining Problems Clearly
There is a lot to be learned from the scientific method in driving performance and strategy, especially around clarity. “If you’re working on a project and it starts off with the problem that is not well defined, then you’re going to lead yourself down a blind alley,” he says. “I’ve spent years in the lab working on solutions to problems that were non-existent and didn’t get at the root of what was actually going on.” Instead of rushing into growth strategies or adopting trendy technologies, Jernigan insists on starting with precise problem definition. For leaders and early-stage founders, this means reducing complexity and writing problems down in plain language. “Once you do that,” Jernigan says, “you put everyone on the same page. Communication improves, and solutions come faster.”
Thinking Deeply and Measuring Accurately
Clarity is only the starting point. Jernigan emphasizes the importance of deep thinking and rigorous measurement, warning that business strategy too often relies on intuition alone, even when the data contradicts long-held beliefs. “We saw this with the financial crisis,” he says. “Everyone assumed real estate always goes up. But if you aren’t looking at the data, if you aren’t defining the problem and really thinking deeply, you can be blindsided.” Scientific training instills a habit of interrogating questions from multiple angles. Jernigan applies the same approach when evaluating companies for investment. Are teams asking the right questions? Are they using the right metrics? These are the checkpoints that prevent costly missteps and allow leaders to identify real opportunities for growth.
Accelerating Idea Velocity with AI
At Finith Capital, Jernigan is building infrastructure for deploying customized AI agents within ongoing businesses. His focus is not just on automation, but on creating tools that accelerate decision-making and reduce friction in communication. For him, artificial intelligence is a tool with the potential to transform how businesses frame problems, test solutions, and communicate insights. “With generative AI, it’s very easy to get something down on paper that looks good and captures what’s in your mind,” he says. “That dramatically improves communication. The faster ideas circulate, the better they improve. I call this idea velocity, and I think AI is going to have a huge impact there.”
Embracing Mistakes and Encouraging Innovation
As with scientific R&D, innovation requires tolerance for failure. “You have to be willing to go out on a limb and propose something that may be crazy, that everybody will probably shoot down immediately. Organizations need to create space for that, otherwise you build roadblocks to innovation.” This philosophy informs his investment strategy as well. Jernigan looks for leaders and teams willing to experiment, test, and learn quickly. Businesses that combine structured problem-solving with creative tolerance for mistakes are best positioned to thrive in periods of rapid technological change.
By combining scientific thinking with entrepreneurial drive, Jernigan has carved out a unique path from chemistry labs to boardrooms with an approach that offers a reminder to business leaders: growth comes not from following intuition alone, but from asking the right questions, defining problems clearly, and fostering the free circulation of ideas.
You can connect with Finith Jernigan, Ph.D on LinkedIn for more insights.
