30 Venture Lessons to Build and Back Great Deep Tech Companies
From 50+ Global Deep Tech VCs, CVCs, and Experts.
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Dear Friends,
Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of creating Deep Tech Catalyst alongside 50+ Deep Tech investors and experts from around the globe.
(This Friday marks episode number 60 of these conversations—something I’m truly excited about!)
So, I decided to curate a condensed list of the most valuable insights I’ve learned about building and supporting early-stage Deep Tech startups.
These insights are designed for two audiences:
Founders, navigating the unique challenges of Deep Tech: balancing bold innovation with market realities, team dynamics, and scalability.
Investors, seeking actionable strategies to support early-stage startups and maximize their portfolio’s potential.
Deep Tech is unique—it’s about solving meaningful problems with technologies that often feel years ahead of their time.
Some of these insights will challenge conventional wisdom. Others will confirm what you already suspected. But all come from real-world experience—mine, and that of the brilliant minds pushing the boundaries every day.
For this first edition, I’ve distilled 30 lessons into 3 themes:
Market
Team:
Technology & Scalability
The goal is not only to provide practical tips but also to inspire and spark smart questions to ask along the venture journey.
The first half of this piece is open to everyone. But if you find yourself nodding along, if these lessons resonate, and if you want the full breakdown—including the nuances that make the difference—you’ll want to read all the way through.
Let’s dive in.
Best,
Nicola
1. A big market is not enough; you need a market that’s ready.
A massive TAM means nothing if the market isn’t primed for adoption.
A market may be huge, but if customers aren’t ready to buy, you’ll burn through cash too quickly. It’s essential to assess whether the industry is primed for immediate demand or if customer education will be required first. Track industry signals and stay close to your customers to time your entry strategically.
2. Even if the market is ready, you might not be.
Can you scale fast enough to capitalize on the opportunity before competitors or incumbents do?
Many Deep Tech failures aren’t due to bad technology but poor internal timing. Ensure your company is structurally and operationally prepared before scaling aggressively. Additionally, sectors like energy and space often require enabling infrastructure before startups can grow effectively. Identify the inflection point for scaling—and be ready to act.
3. The problem matters more than the solution.
Investors fund startups that solve urgent, painful problems—not just elegant technologies.
Too often, founders fall in love with their solution without validating whether the problem is big enough. Before you build, talk to people who experience that problem daily and see if they are willing to pay to solve it.
4. Be specific.
Claiming your TAM is "trillions" without specifying who will buy, when, and why immediately undermines credibility.
Investors don’t just want big numbers—they want a clear, logical path to revenue. Break your market into real addressable segments and clarify where your first revenue will come from. Think of your market as a ladder—why is this your first step, and when will it happen?
5. Your real market is smaller than you think, and it’s fine.
Your market isn’t the entire industry—it’s the people actively searching for a solution today.
Who is ready to pay now? Count customers from the bottom up: start with early adopters, pilot customers, and expansion potential. Validate your assumptions. Investors prefer a small but high-intent market over an inflated, vague one.
6. Market validation comes before fundraising.
Investors want real signs of demand, not just massive market estimates.
If no one is willing to pay, even a trillion-dollar market won’t save you. Show value with LOIs, pilot contracts, or strategic partnerships before raising capital.
7. How you frame the market changes everything.
Investors don’t just evaluate the market size—they evaluate how you position your startup within it.
If you can frame your startup as an emerging leader in a high-growth market, you’ll command more attention. Use data, industry trends, and historical analogies to make your case compelling.
8. Never assume investors will understand your market.
A market is a story you need to communicate effectively.
Your strategy must be structured, and your narrative must be compelling. If investors don’t grasp your market, it means one of two things: either you haven’t articulated it well enough, or you haven’t understood it deeply enough. Simplify complexity.
9. If your market doesn’t have an urgent problem, you’re in trouble.
The best markets have a pain point so severe that customers are actively looking for a solution.
If you have to convince customers that they have a problem, you likely don’t have a business. Find markets where the problem is obvious, painful, and needs solving now.
10. If your market is regulated, you need to understand bureaucracy before you build.
Regulated markets (e.g. MedTech, Energy, Defense) have high barriers but massive rewards if you navigate them correctly.
Many founders avoid regulated markets because of their complexity. But those who master compliance and regulatory pathways build deep competitive moats and face less competition.
11. A great team beats a great technology.
Investors prioritize a strong team over a groundbreaking technology because execution determines success.
Even if your technology isn’t perfect, a great team can refine it, bring it to market, and iterate based on customer needs. But even the best technology won’t survive if the team lacks the ability to fundraise, scale, or execute a business plan. Build your company around world-class execution, not just an R&D lab.