Not so long ago, the dodo was a punchline.
The flightless Mauritian bird vanished in the 17th century. It was a symbol of extinction — a reminder that once something is gone, it’s gone forever.
But now a startup called Colossal Biosciences is aiming to do the unthinkable: bring it back.
What Colossal is doing looks like science fiction. Just like in the movie Jurassic Park, it’s using cutting-edge genetic engineering to reconstruct an extinct animal’s genome — not just the dodo, but also the Tasmanian tiger, the moa (a flightless 12-foot-tall bird), and the dire wolf.
And the reason it’s happening is because investors are willing to risk hundreds of millions of dollars on something that might fail — but could also succeed wildly and change the world.
That, in a nutshell, is the venture-capital market.
No “Normal” Investor Would Touch This
Reviving an extinct species isn’t a safe bet. There’s no guaranteed revenue model. No clear timeline. No playbook.
This isn’t a SaaS startup promising 20% annual growth. It’s a moonshot. Moonshots don’t get funded by banks, bond investors, or public markets. They get funded by venture capitalists — investors who understand that one big win can pay for dozens of failures.
Colossal has already raised over $100 million from bold investors. These investors see a platform that could potentially lead to biodiversity restoration, ecosystem repair, and advanced genetic tools that could help endangered species today.
In other words, bringing back the dodo isn’t the end goal. It’s the proof point.
This Is How World-Changing Ideas Happen
Colossal’s story isn’t unique, at least not in spirit.
Time and again, the biggest breakthroughs in history came from investors willing to say:
“This might not work. But if it does, it changes everything.”
Here are three world-changing initiatives that only happened because of venture capital:
1. SpaceX: Making Space Commercial
Before SpaceX, space travel was slow, expensive, and controlled by governments.
Elon Musk’s vision — reusable rockets, dramatically lower launch costs, private-sector spaceflight — sounded absurd. Venture investors backed it anyway.
Today, SpaceX dominates global launches, is reshaping satellite communications, and is laying the groundwork to head to Mars. It’s also, of course, gearing up for a $1.5 trillion IPO.
None of this would exist without early investors willing to fund repeated rocket explosions in exchange for a shot at something historic.
2. Moderna: Reinventing Medicine
For years, messenger RNA was considered too unstable, too experimental, too risky. That’s why traditional pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t touch it.
But venture capitalists jumped in. And their early bets enabled Moderna to build an entirely new type of medical platform, one that proved its worth during COVID.
Now that platform is being applied to cancer, rare diseases, and personalized medicine.
Sure, billions of dollars were risked. But trillions in value were unlocked.
3. Google: Organizing the World’s Information
In the late 1990s, search engines already existed. Why fund another one?
Simple. Because venture investors saw the potential for something different: an algorithm that could organize the internet better than anything before it.
In the end, Google didn’t just become a company. It became critical infrastructure for the modern era. And it all got started because venture investors were willing to back two young grad students with a radical idea and no business model.
The Common Thread
Colossal. SpaceX. Moderna. Google.
Different industries. Different eras. Same DNA. They all required:
- Massive upfront risk.
- Long time-horizons.
- And investors who believed that extraordinary outcomes would justify extraordinary bets.
That’s the venture capital market at its best.
And Now, Something’s Changed
For most of modern history, only institutions and ultra-wealthy insiders had access to moonshot opportunities like these.
Ordinary investors watched from the sidelines. They were forced to buy shares in these world-changing companies after the biggest gains were already gone.
Not anymore. Today, thanks to changes in regulation and the rise of private-market investing platforms, everyday investors can participate in early-stage ideas that could be world changing.
Ideas like rewriting biology, reinventing energy, building the future of space, AI, and medicine. And yes — potentially bringing extinct species back to life.
The Real Lesson of the Dodo
Colossal may succeed, or maybe it will fail.
That’s not the point. The point is that the venture-capital market exists to fund what often looks impossible — and the rewards, when it works, can be staggering.
For ordinary investors who are willing to think bigger, look earlier, and take calculated risks, the next extraordinary story might not just be something you read about in the news…
It could be something you’re part of.
Happy Investing
Best Regards,
Founder
Crowdability.com
