I don’t get networking.

People don't like to hire unknown people. So if there are people within the company who can vouch for you that puts you ahead. They could also tell you about openings before they are published. This is good for the company because their work culture will more likely match with the candidate if they share a network.

Maybe you can create a network of people who don't like to network? You could contact those people who you know and initially ask for advise in your situation.

Don’t have friends or the money to buy them.

Maybe you can find a way to keep in touch with the people you trust and with whom you would like to work?

but some stuff is just too expensive.

Can this be rented? If a billionaire finances you, how much does it cost to get that stuff?

I’m pretty sure I could do it eventually with a 1M endowment,

Make a list with all your requirements and the prices. Then you can talk to investors and not just specialists who try to match you to their own research interests.

we could cure almost any disease.

Ok, but how does it fit into your pitch?

Fairly certain I have the most realistic plan for biological immortality by using protein design to create new pathways in cell therapies

but there are plenty of obvious changes that would dramatically extend lifespans

How obvious? How much research is needed on top to make them work? How much would that cost?

we can’t do that in fully grown humans

So does it help for immortality for billionaires at all?