From Customer Discovery to Sales: How to Turn Interest into Evidence (Pt 2)
What does it take to turn customer interest into evidence that a market is really there? "As long as there’s no skin in the game from the other person, their feedback and their opinion are just not trustworthy," Felix says. "Not because…"
Customer Discovery for Deep Tech: Stop Pitching, Start Learning (Pt1)
How do you find a market when you are still figuring out who actually needs your technology? For customer discovery expert Felix Günther, the answer starts with something deceptively simple: accepting that you do not know. Felix first stumbled into customer discovery while…
A Deep Tech Founder's Guide to Venture Capital
In this edition of Meet The Experts, we sit down with Michael Wehrheim, a finance veteran who has seen the fundraising process from every possible angle. Michael started his career in banking, earned a PhD in finance, and then spent years inside a venture capital firm during the...
Lessons in Business Development for Researchers and Founders (Part 2)
One of Matti Kawecki’s core lessons is that business development is not the same as sales. He describes business development as “sales R&D”: the process of scouting opportunities, testing hypotheses, and...
Lessons in Business Development for Researchers and Founders (Part 1)
When researchers decide to become founders, they often carry the belief that great technology will naturally lead to great business. But as Matti Kawecki, an engineer-turned-business developer, knows first-hand...
A Deep Tech Founder's Guide to Fundraising
One of the most fundamental challenges every startup faces is fundraising. Even the most brilliant technology won’t survive if the company runs out of cash before reaching profitability. The good news is that there’s no shortage of...
A Deep Tech Founder’s Guide to Better Decision-Making
Startups face a constant stream of decisions—some routine, some make-or-break. Yet, even the smartest teams can fall into common traps that cloud their judgement. What if it turns out that some of your most confident decisions are actually...
A Deep Tech Founder’s Guide to Understanding the Market Landscape
You’ve developed your technology and decided to turn your research into a business—but who are you going to sell to? This is one of the most important questions founders face from the very beginning: who are your customers, and what kind of market...
A Roadmap for Startups: Discovering Your Market (Part 2)
Guillene developed a structured methodology for market discovery she calls her "Frankenstein method." It is grounded in effectuation, an approach to entrepreneurship that accepts...
A Roadmap for Startups: From Researcher to Founder (Part 1)
One of the first myths Guillene dismantles is the idea that startups must avoid mistakes at all costs. Her own experience proved otherwise. She co-founded a startup that launched with…
How to Successfully Apply to a Deep Tech Startup Incubator
Throughout their journey, startups often apply to various support programs such as startup incubators to help validate their ideas, grow their network, and…