Can you Make Milk Without the Cow? An Interview with Perfect Day

A bagel with cream cheese may not seem like a catalyst to change the world, but that’s exactly what it was for Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi. The two are co-founders of Perfect Day, a company that makes the proteins you find in milk in a lab using a method called fermentation. As grad students, Ryan and Perumal found themselves gravitating towards the same scientific problem - is it possible to make a nearly identical replacement for dairy without the cow? For the pair, the answer is a resounding yes. Today, Perfect Day is a unicorn with former Disney chief Bob Iger on its board. From their first meeting in Ireland, to a pivotal presentation to an influential VC (where they wore white lab coats to look "the part"), Ryan and Perumal take us on their memorable food entrepreneurial journey.