Skills

Julien Fredonie
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  • Entrepreneurship

Skills explores the people side of building deeptech startups. If Tech were the hard part, this podcast would not exist.

Episodes

  1. Oct 9

    S1E5: Neurodiversity in Deep Tech: from Inclusion to Performance

    What if neurodiversity isn't primarily an inclusion topic, but a performance advantage? In this episode of Skills, I sit down with Pippa Gawley, Founding Partner at Zero Carbon Capital, to discuss neurodiversity in deep tech, climate tech and venture capital. Pippa shares her personal journey of discovering her own ADHD, why she decided to speak publicly about neurodiversity, and what founders, investors and teams can learn from different cognitive styles. We explore: ✅ Why neurodiversity is overrepresented among founders and investors ✅ The strengths neurodiverse professionals can bring to teams ✅ ADHD, autism, dyslexia and entrepreneurial performance ✅ Burnout, masking and coping mechanisms ✅ Why many workplaces unintentionally exclude different thinkers ✅ How investors should assess neurodiverse founders ✅ Building psychologically safe but high-performing teams ✅ Practical ways startups can become more inclusive ✅ Why cognitive diversity drives better decision-making One idea stood out throughout the conversation: Neurodiversity isn't just about inclusion. It's about unlocking different ways of thinking that can create exceptional performance. Whether you're a founder, investor, manager, or operator, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on leadership, hiring, culture and team design.

    S1E5: Neurodiversity in Deep Tech: from Inclusion to Performance

  2. Oct 7

    S1E4 - The Hire That Changed the Company in a Week

    Deeptech companies are often built around breakthrough science. But great companies are built around great people. In Episode 4 of Skills, I sit down with Fabien Koutchekian, co-founder and CEO of Genomines, a plant biotechnology company developing a sustainable way to produce critical battery metals. Fabien shares what he has learned while building a highly international team across France and South Africa, scaling from an early-stage startup to a Series A company, and hiring some of the most important leaders in the organization. We discuss: ✅ Choosing the right co-founder ✅ Why coachability matters more than credentials ✅ Building trust in founding teams ✅ Hiring senior talent earlier than most startups ✅ What an experienced VP of People changes inside a company ✅ Managing multicultural teams ✅ The difference between startup ambition and startup reality ✅ How leadership changes between Seed and Series A ✅ Why CEOs should talk less and listen more One quote that stayed with me: “It's better to be alone than to have the wrong team.” If you're building a startup, a venture fund, or a deeptech company, this episode is a masterclass on the people side of scaling.

    S1E4 - The Hire That Changed the Company in a Week

  3. Oct 4

    S1E3 - Self-Awareness Is the Ultimate Leadership Edge

    What separates the best founders and venture capital firms from everyone else? According to leadership coach Chris Vogtherr, it isn't strategy, capital, or even technical expertise. It's self-awareness, alignment, communication, and trust. In this episode of Skills, Chris shares lessons from his journey from institutional asset management and VC fundraising into coaching founders and fund managers. We explore why fundraising is often a stress test of team psychology, how misalignment quietly destroys performance, and why communication skills frequently matter more than technical skills. We also discuss: The Five Ps of successful VC firmsCommon team dysfunctions inside venture fundsFounder burnout and the limits of hustle cultureWhy talented people leave otherwise promising teamsHow coaching really worksThe role of self-awareness in leadershipPractical ways founders and GPs can build healthier, stronger teamsIf you're building a venture fund, scaling a startup, or leading ambitious people, this conversation is packed with actionable insights.

    S1E3 - Self-Awareness Is the Ultimate Leadership Edge

  4. Jul 5

    S1E2 - Founder Chemistry and High-Performing Teams in Deep Tech

    How Marble’s startup studio turns climate problems into deep tech companies—and why founder chemistry, early hires, and culture decide whether you move the needle or fail. In this episode of Skills, the podcast about the people side of building deep tech ventures, Julien talks to Ben, co‑founder of Marble, a climate hard-tech startup studio. Marble builds multiple deep tech companies in parallel, starting from climate problems and technical “white spaces” in areas like geothermal, geologic hydrogen, construction robotics, and more. Ben explains when the work stops being about the idea and becomes all about people, starting with the first founder, and then the critical choice of a complementary co‑founder. A big part of the conversation is “founder chemistry”: how to spot it, why you can’t fully engineer it, and the signs that a promising team will struggle. Ben shares what he looks for in co‑founder alignment, how to recognize mutual respect and trust, and why the ability to have productive disagreements may be the single most important trait. Ben also breaks down what “founder material” really means: The episode then moves to assembling high-performing teams in deep tech. Ben also talks candidly about the emotional burden founders carry, why being a solo founder is so demanding and then shares his views on how culture is shaped in those ventures. Finally, scientists considering being founders will hear from Ben some concrete takeaways to support their journeys.

    S1E2 - Founder Chemistry and High-Performing Teams in Deep Tech

  5. Jun 16

    S1E1 - From MIT research to co-founding the largest fusion startup

    In this debut episode of ''Skills'', Julien sits with Dan Brunner, ex‑CTO and co‑founder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), about the people side of building a fusion company. CFS spun out of MIT, raised nearly 3B USD in venture capital, scaled to 1,000+ people and is now building SPARC, an experiment to demonstrate net fusion energy. Dan built and led the team that designed SPARC and helped create the organizational foundations for one of the world’s most advanced fusion efforts. In this conversation, Dan and Julien discuss: -Dan’s path from fusion research to leading a world‑class engineering organization -Moving from being an expert to leading experts -How CFS approached “good hiring” in deep tech -The challenge of integrating three cultures -Building culture intentionally -Communicating fusion to investors, customers and non‑experts -“Getting out of the lab” to engage with investors and customers and understanding where fusion makes sense Dan also reflects on: -How he taught himself to hire -Letting go of the desire to understand everything in depth, and shifting focus to enabling others -The emotional process of deciding to step away as a co‑founder and trusting the team to carry the mission forward Finally, he shares advice for the next generation of deep tech founders If you are a scientific founder, aspiring CTO or deep‑tech investor, this episode gives you practical perspectives on leadership, hiring and culture from inside one of the most ambitious deep tech companies of our time.

    S1E1 - From MIT research to co-founding the largest fusion startup
  • 5 Episodes

About

Skills explores the people side of building deeptech startups. If Tech were the hard part, this podcast would not exist.

Information

  • Creator
    Julien Fredonie
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Julien Fredonie
  • Show Website
    Skills