Lab to Market Leadership with Chris Reichhelm

Deep Tech Leaders
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

With over 25 years of experience in recruiting leadership teams and boards for advanced science and engineering companies, Chris Reichhelm, CEO of Deep Tech Leaders, offers an insider’s perspective on the pivotal decisions and strategies that shape the success of startups embarking on the lab-to-market journey.This podcast doesn’t just celebrate innovation for its own sake; instead, it highlights what it truly takes to build, scale, and sustain a successful deep tech company. Through conversations with entrepreneurs, investors, executives, and other key players, Chris will explore the management disciplines, cultures, and behaviours essential for commercialising and scaling deep tech innovations. Each episode will aim to unravel the complexities behind turning rich, research-intensive IP into commercially viable products across various sectors like computing, biotech, materials science, and more.'Lab to Market Leadership' is for those who are ready to learn from past mistakes and successes to better navigate the path from innovation to market. Whether you're an entrepreneur, an investor, or simply a deep tech enthusiast, this podcast offers valuable lessons and insights to enhance your understanding and approach to building groundbreaking companies that aim to solve the world's biggest problems and improve our way of life.  Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: www.deeptechleaders.comFollow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleadersPodcast Production by Beauxhaus

  1. Why Great Labs Need Breadth | Professor Hod Lipson on Robotics, AI and the 2030s

    Jun 9

    Why Great Labs Need Breadth | Professor Hod Lipson on Robotics, AI and the 2030s

    What if the real innovation engine in Deep Tech is not the spinout, but the lab itself? Professor Hod Lipson is one of the world’s leading robotics researchers – recently the subject of a major Financial Times feature on the future of robotics. He directs Columbia’s Creative Machines Lab, where breadth beats specialisation, portfolios matter more than grades, and academia’s greatest role is to explore what industry cannot yet touch. In this episode, Hod explains why he built a lab around possibility rather than narrow focus, why he believes robotics is the real frontier after AI, and why the 2030s could be the decade when physical intelligence begins to scale. For researchers, founders and Deep Tech leaders interested in how breakthrough labs are built – and how ideas become companies. Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    59 min
  2. The Hard Thing about Hard Tech – Greg Smithies on the TRL 4-5 Challenge

    May 12

    The Hard Thing about Hard Tech – Greg Smithies on the TRL 4-5 Challenge

    How do you move from novel idea to working prototype in hard tech? And how can you bend the rules of the game to give you a better chance of winning? Greg Smithies is a finance and operations leader who has worked with some of the world's most ambitious companies. He led finance and operations at Elon Musk's Neuralink and The Boring Company. He's also been an investor with Battery Ventures, BMW iVentures and Fifth Wall. He's helped raise over $2bn for startups, and over $950m for funds. This episode focusses on TRL 4-5 – the prototype stage where many Deep Tech companies stall. Greg shares how companies like Twelve (e-SAF / carbon transformation) signed a 14-year offtake agreement with British Airways parent company (IAG) while they were still at TRL 4. You'll learn: - Why storytelling starts earlier than most founders think - The three types of hard tech – and why each needs a different capital strategy - How Neuralink built teams before the company formally existed - Why off-the-shelf components can be a major advantage - The biggest hiring mistake – hiring industry insiders too early Greg outlines three types of hard tech: fundamental new science (Neuralink), re-engineered systems (Boring Company), and economies of scale (solar, batteries, electrolysers). Each faces a different lab-to-market journey. Essential listening for anyone navigating TRL 4-6 Chapter Notes: 00:00 Runway Experiments Milestones 01:13 Podcast Mission And Stages 03:12 Meet Greg Smithies 05:22 Operator Vs Investor Tradeoffs 08:06 Storytelling And North Star 11:52 Prototype Stage Communication 13:08 Vision First Neuralink Example 15:22 Building Diverse Technical Teams 18:19 Elon Speed And Timelines 22:51 Three Deep Tech Company Types 27:47 Capital Tools For Each Bucket 33:26 Selling Offtakes Early 36:25 Investor Evidence Vs Story 38:05 Defining Best Bets 38:55 Milestones for Next Round 41:23 Runway Experiments Tradeoffs 42:45 Showmanship and Tangibility 45:29 Hard Tech CEO Duality 49:35 TRL1 vs TRL2 Shift 55:14 TRL as Iterative Loop 57:00 Finding the Real Buyer 01:01:24 Who Should Sell It 01:03:39 When to Replace the CEO 01:06:38 Avoiding Industry Insider Trap 01:10:02 Closing Thoughts Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    1h 11m
  3. Taking Over From a Founder CEO: Ian Temperton on Scaling Plastic Energy

    Apr 29

    Taking Over From a Founder CEO: Ian Temperton on Scaling Plastic Energy

    Ian Temperton became CEO of Plastic Energy in 2021 after five years as Chief Investment Officer. He stepped in as the company moved from pilot to industrial scale – executing multi‑million euro projects with SABIC and TotalEnergies. This is what happens when the external CEO works. Ian spent five years learning the business before taking over. The shift came mid-deployment, when execution discipline and governance became critical. The team stayed. The focus changed: from raising capital to deploying it. The core challenge: delivering complex projects on petrochemical sites while scaling the organisation to match. The proof: nearly a decade of continuous operations in Spain. The lesson: separate innovation from deployment, and rebalance rigour as you scale. Essential listening for anyone moving from pilot to industrial scale in climate hardware. Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    54 min
  4. Graphene at Scale: How Paragraf Is Realising the Wonder Material’s Potential | Dr Simon Thomas

    Apr 21

    Graphene at Scale: How Paragraf Is Realising the Wonder Material’s Potential | Dr Simon Thomas

    Dr Simon Thomas never expected to be a founder. After 12 years inside TSMC, Samsung and LG, he was ready for a break from the pressure of the world’s biggest fabs. Then Professor Sir Colin Humphreys set him a challenge: could he make graphene at wafer scale – the same problem Samsung had spent $2.2 billion trying, and failing, to crack? Five weeks of experiments later, Simon saw the first promising result. A short time after that, Paragraf was born, and by December 2024 the company had switched on the world’s first graphene electronics foundry. In this episode of Lab to Market Leadership, Simon explains how a decade‑plus in Asian fabs gave him a process‑engineering lens no one else brought to graphene, how a chance train journey with Colin Humphreys became the turning point, and why copper‑free, transfer‑free graphene was essential to escape the industry’s 'trough of disillusionment.' He also talks candidly about the hardest part of scaling a Deep Tech company: people. From hiring the first team to recognising when someone’s journey with the company is over, and from open‑door collaboration to faster, tougher CEO calls, this is essential listening for technical founders learning to lead as CEOs. Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    1h 4m
  5. From Finnish Lab to US IPO: Dr. Jan Goetz on Building Europe's Quantum Leader IQM

    Apr 2

    From Finnish Lab to US IPO: Dr. Jan Goetz on Building Europe's Quantum Leader IQM

    Dr Jan Goetz never planned to be a CEO. He wanted to be a professor. But when co-founder Professor Mikko Möttönen asked about starting a company, Jan followed his gut. Seven years later, IQM is Europe's largest quantum computing company, heading towards US public listing, and has just secured €50M from BlackRock. This is a rare, personal look at the founder CEO journey – not just the company wins, but the internal transitions, the moments of doubt, and how Jan learned to lead whilst staying true to himself. Jan reveals the journey: spinning out of VTT and Aalto University (April 2018), the four co-founders dividing roles (Mikko stayed in academia, Kuan became CTO, Juha became COO, Jan became CEO), the early decision to sell complete systems not chips, convincing governments to buy 5-qubit machines when engineers questioned it, using the SpaceX analogy to de-risk early sales, and how COVID rescue budgets opened doors. Finland's EU presidency rotation (July 2019) put IQM in front of Brussels decision-makers. COVID created quantum procurement budgets – Germany allocated €2B. Founders can't plan these things. What matters is being agile enough to see everything as an opportunity. Jan's advice: Know your strengths. His strength was storytelling – winning grants, pitching vision, being the ‘foreign minister’ of the company. He found others to cover weaknesses. Don't waste time trying to do everything you're not good at. The vulnerable moment: Lying in bed in Canada, Jan realised he wasn't coping well. He signed up for a marathon that day. Now he runs daily into the woods – no headphones, no phone, just him and his thoughts. On following your heart: People said he was crazy to choose Finland over Barcelona or US opportunities. But it felt right. Do you follow your plan or follow your heart? Jan followed his gut. Essential for scientific founders transitioning to CEO. Chapter notes: 0:00 Investor Pitch Dialogue 00:49 Podcast Mission Intro 01:23 Founder CEO Archetypes 03:04 Meet Jan Goetz 04:33 IQM Scale and IPO 06:52 From PhD to Finland 08:37 Choosing Aalto by Gut 10:07 Early Lab Leadership 12:07 Decision to Spin Out 12:51 Co-Founders and Vision 15:06 Incorporation and IP Talks 16:28 Full Stack Strategy Pivot 18:31 Why Jan Became CEO 20:35 Grant Writing vs Fundraising 23:52 What Investors Want in Deck 25:43 First Customers Governments 28:18 Timing EU and COVID Tailwinds 33:10 Evolving Founder CEO Role 37:11 Stepping Up as CEO 39:48 Fundraising Gets Tough 41:12 Co-CEO in Practice 43:53 Preparing for IPO Life 48:33 Public CEO Communication 52:53 Building a No-Hype Culture 56:05 Managing Global Subcultures 58:13 Hiring Senior Leaders 01:00:37 Avoiding Founder Burnout 01:04:50 Closing Reflections Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    1h 6m
  6. From NASA to Startups: How TRLs Became the Universal Language of Deep Tech | John C. Mankins

    Mar 18

    From NASA to Startups: How TRLs Became the Universal Language of Deep Tech | John C. Mankins

    Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) are the universal language of Deep Tech – used by NASA, the DoD, VCs, corporations and startups to measure innovation progress. But where did they come from?  Professor John Mankins co-invented TRLs and wrote the 1995 white paper that gave them to the world. In this Season 2 premiere, he reveals the origin story: from Apollo-era NASA research centres, through Stan Sadin's combination of 'technology readiness' and 'levels' in the mid-1970s, to John adding TRL 8–9 in the late 1980s, to publishing the framework on the early internet in 1995 ('nobody even knew what the internet was'), to a 1997 Government Accountability Office (GAO) briefing that led the Pentagon to adopt TRLs across DoD.  John explains why TRLs are a 'contact sport', not a calculation tool–you need constant negotiation between technology developers and end users to assess readiness meaningfully. The hardest transition isn't the famous TRL 4–6 'valley of death' – it's TRL 1–2, the spark of innovation itself. He introduces two complementary frameworks: R&D³ (degree of difficulty – how hard to reach the next level) and Technology Need Value (how strategically important the innovation is). Together with TRL, these formed the foundation for managing NASA's $800M+ exploration portfolio.  His advice for founders at TRL5: validate your market, test for scalability and double-check your foundations before scaling up. Essential listening for anyone navigating lab to market.  Learn more about Deep Tech Leaders at www.deeptechleaders.com Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    1h 22m
  7. Why 55% of Deep Tech Companies Fail: The Communication Problem No One Talks About | Hailey Eustace

    Jan 27

    Why 55% of Deep Tech Companies Fail: The Communication Problem No One Talks About | Hailey Eustace

    Why do 55% of Deep Tech companies fail within five years? Hailey Eustace, founder of Commplicated, argues the answer isn't bad technology - it's bad communication. Product-market fit failures? That's a listening and messaging problem. Can't raise capital? Your story isn't resonating. Struggling to win customers? Trust breakdown. Can't build the right culture? Your messages aren't landing. Hailey's unique background as an analyst at Texas's $500M Deep Tech fund before founding the UK's leading Deep Tech comms agency gives her rare insight into why brilliant founders lose millions because they can't explain what they're doing. She's also an active angel investor, Venture Scout at Ada Ventures, and mentor at Founders (Cambridge) and Deeptech Labs. She reveals the difference between American founders (20%+ budget to comms) and Europeans (resistant to investing), why 'explain it like I'm 5' fails for Deep Tech, and how to develop a core message that works for investors, customers, and your team simultaneously. Her starting point: Define your one thing for 2026. What single message do you want everyone to know? Build from there. This episode challenges the assumption that communications is fluffy. It's strategy. It's product. It's everything. And getting it right could be the difference between the 55% that fails and the 45% that survives. Essential for Deep Tech founders struggling to translate science into business success. Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    55 min
  8. Manufacturing the Future in Space: Semiconductors, Sovereignty, and Ridiculously Audacious Goals | Josh Western

    11/19/2025

    Manufacturing the Future in Space: Semiconductors, Sovereignty, and Ridiculously Audacious Goals | Josh Western

    What's the value of a ridiculously audacious goal if you never reach it? Josh Western, CEO of Space Forge, argues the question misses the point - because the innovations accelerated along the journey often matter more than the destination itself. Space Forge manufactures advanced semiconductor substrates in microgravity conditions, returns them via reusable satellites, then grows them terrestrially using a ‘sourdough starter’ approach. It's technically audacious, operationally complex, and solves a critical problem: producing higher-purity compound semiconductors for AI, EVs, 5G, and energy infrastructure without Earth's gravitational constraints. Josh reveals why Space Forge could be five different startups (in-space manufacturing, reentry vehicles, heat shields, landing software, crystal growth), but integration creates the real multiplier. He explains the regulatory nightmare of manufacturing in international waters, why payload economics now matter more than launch costs, and how recruiting for passion beats technical pedigree when no one has ‘10 years experience making semiconductors in space.’ His North Star: making space manufacturing so ubiquitous and boring that people don't realise the chip in their kettle came from orbit. Until then, every innovation along the journey - from sovereign supply chain contributions to regulatory frameworks - creates substantial value independent of the ultimate goal. Essential listening for Deep Tech founders navigating vertical integration, novel regulatory challenges, and the tension between moonshot ambitions and incremental Let us know what you think... Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: https://www.deeptechleaders.com Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleaders Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

    1h 4m
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About

With over 25 years of experience in recruiting leadership teams and boards for advanced science and engineering companies, Chris Reichhelm, CEO of Deep Tech Leaders, offers an insider’s perspective on the pivotal decisions and strategies that shape the success of startups embarking on the lab-to-market journey.This podcast doesn’t just celebrate innovation for its own sake; instead, it highlights what it truly takes to build, scale, and sustain a successful deep tech company. Through conversations with entrepreneurs, investors, executives, and other key players, Chris will explore the management disciplines, cultures, and behaviours essential for commercialising and scaling deep tech innovations. Each episode will aim to unravel the complexities behind turning rich, research-intensive IP into commercially viable products across various sectors like computing, biotech, materials science, and more.'Lab to Market Leadership' is for those who are ready to learn from past mistakes and successes to better navigate the path from innovation to market. Whether you're an entrepreneur, an investor, or simply a deep tech enthusiast, this podcast offers valuable lessons and insights to enhance your understanding and approach to building groundbreaking companies that aim to solve the world's biggest problems and improve our way of life.  Learn more about Lab to Market Leadership: www.deeptechleaders.comFollow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/deeptechleadersPodcast Production by Beauxhaus

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