Deeptech/scientist founders are often pressured to appoint an experienced/commercial person as CEO of their new their venture – or they themselves think that they should be replaced.
Pearse Coyle of Deeptech Seed Fund considers this issue and presents the case – to Deeptech Founders in Paris, France – for the technical founder to hold on to the CEO job, at least until the next funding round.
00:00 Introductory chat
06:49 The presentation
Spoiler: Whilst the scientist may be inexperienced, at the seed stage the most important thing is to find and persuade a group of early adopters that you have achieved a significant breakthrough that is worthy of their money and cooperation. Only the entrepreneur scientist can do this properly.
21:10 Questions and Answers
21:15 How do I get good commercial advice?
26:22 Will investors take you seriously, as a researcher/scientist who has not worked in business?
29:34 What characteristics does the founding team need to have?
36:57 What are the 4 characteristics of a successful deeptech startup?
41:42 What are the red flags that will put an investor off a venture?
45:32 For an early-stage pre-product venture, who is the customer?
49:39 In what form can early-adopters support a venture?
56:22 If early-adopters pay you will it result in shared Intellectual Property?
57:44 What is the price – how much do you need to give to investors?
1:00:49 How much can you ask early-adopters for?
1:06:56 How much investment money can a seed stage venture raise?
1:09:53 Should you take money from multiple investors?
1:16:44 How soon will a VC be expecting to get their money back?
1:18:35 Wrap-up
This presentation was given at Deeptech Founders, Paris, France. The host was Guillaume Berteloot
Related content
Generic proposal aimed at turning interested company into paying early adopter http://bit.ly/earlyadopterproposal
Video presentation by Pearse Coyle about why you need paying early adopters https://bit.ly/deeptechearlyadopter
Pearse Coyle pc@deeptechseedfund.com
This post was originally posted on LinkedIn by Pearse Coyle. You can view the original post here and follow Pearse on LinkedIn here