For years, deep tech struggled with commercialization. That era is closing. New wave of founders are selling earlier and moving faster proving that revenue (not just tech) is the new frontier.
Execution is the moat. Continue to see the gap between R&D and revenue in deep tech collapse. The founders winning are builders and operators from day one. Deep tech used to live in the lab. Now it lives in the market.
Hard tech team ability to raise non-dilutive capital is a proxy for storytelling, bureaucratic navigation, regulatory literacy, and technical clarity. It’s not just free money. It’s signal.
man, the Rust Belt is cooking the last few years. Reindustrialization is accelerating. Hard Tech needs room to run. Cheap land, favorable regulation, untapped grit - the real arbitrage in VC is the heartland. Love the coasts, but something special brewing in the middle 🇺🇸
You can’t A/B test your way through a broken supply chain.
You can’t pivot when your capex is bolted to the floor.
You can’t MVP your way through aerospace regulations.
You can’t raise a seed to outrun physics.
You can’t scale a factory by hiring a growth hacker.