Activation Energy Selma Duhovic

Dr. Tanya Ramond of Sapienne Consulting talks about deeptech ventures and commercialization strategies.

OUTLINE


(00:00) Introduction
(00:45) Career path
(03:50) Transitioning from academia to industry
(05:17) Transitioning from corporation to startups
(08:06) From PhD to MBA 
(13:15) Definition of deeptech
(14:56) Dual opportunities – ROI and impact
(16:57) Risks and uncertainties 
(19:26) Mitigating risks
(23:53) Quantifying returns and impact  
(26:00) Resources
(28:02) Colorado deeptech ecosystem
(31:55) Product-Market fit
(34:17) Traps founders fall into

Fred Rostami of GreenLIB talks about recovering and recycling materials from lithium batteries.

OUTLINE


(00:00) Introduction
(00:33) Fred’s career path
(01:21) GreenLIB’s elevator pitch
(01:55) Common and state-of-the-art battery materials recovery tech
(03:42) Technical and economic challenges associated with materials recovery
(04:43) Recovery vs. recycling
(05:16) Recovery/Recycling vs. extraction of new materials
(07:06) Innovations in improving efficacy and efficiency of materials recovery
(08:14) Factors that make innovation slow
(08:58) GreenLIB’s technology
(12:52) Regulatory environment
(14:29) Commercialization 
(17:26) GreenLIB’s team
(20:52) Entrepreneurial journey
(22:03) Challenges, uncertainties, risks
(23:58) Mistakes
(26:01) Fun aspects of being an entrepreneur

Jaehee Sweeney of BEI talks about battery technologies, including BEI's products.

OUTLINE


(00:00) Introduction
(00:26) Career path
(04:12) Energy storage
(07:38) Lithium-based batteries
(10:17) Lithium metal batteries
(11:39) Ideal battery
(12:32) BEI technology
(13:32) Distinctiveness and stage of BEI batteries
(15:59) Comparison with current solutions 
(16:04) Charging characteristics of BEI batteries 
(17:38) Safety characteristic
(18:55) Scalability of manufacturing
(19:05) Commercialization and adoption
(20:30) Prohibiting factors
(20:52) Battery value ecosystem
(22:53) Market opportunity
(23:24) Uncertainties and risks
(23:44) Risk mitigation
(24:25) Impact

Jeff Rosedale of BakerHostetler speaks about how deeptech entrepreneurs can navigating the IP landscape and integrate IP with business strategy.

OUTLINE


(00:00) Introduction
(00:25) Jeff’s professional background
(04:10) Dialogue between scientific advancements and legal frameworks
(07:22) How law firms are addressing evolving technologies
(09:05) Emerging trends
(11:13) Integrating IP and business strategy
(14:59) How startups can effectively maneuver IP landscape
(16:52) Valuing IP
(20:07) Examples of how valuation affects growth and outcome
(21:56) Collaboration and IP assignment
(25:23) Logistics of licensing IP 
(28:19) Factors that determine licensing fees
(30:08) Pitfalls during licensing and managing conflict
(32:05) Advice for entrepreneurs 

Bryce Meredig of Citrine Informatics talks about leadership and the business of science.

OUTLINE


(00:00) Introduction
(00:28) Career path
(02:06) Academia vs. business
(03:15) Deeptech startups vs others
(04:48) Integrating science and business
(06:08) How to overcome challenges with integration
(07:27) Scientific leadership
(10:00) Group and organizational dynamics
(11:20) Leadership qualities
(13:10) Interaction between scientists and non-scientists
(15:42) Managing conflict and fostering cohesion
(22:10) Effective communication 
(29:10) Mistakes
(33:05) Future

Pavle Jeremić of Aether Bio talks about protein engineering, lithium extraction, and advanced polymers.

OUTLINE


(00:00) Introduction
(00:29) Pavle’s professional background
(01:12) Motivation for founding Aether
(04:31) Aether’s technology and product lines
(06:45) Uniqueness of Aether’s technology
(13:08) Importance of Aether’s technology
(14:45) Monetization strategy
(16:22) Failed strategies
(19:41) Market segments
(21:14) Value of market opportunity 
(22:45) Capturing value
(24:41) Challenges and risks
(27:53) Long-term vision of Aether