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.

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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.

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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

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What happens when quantum computing startups can’t wait 15 years for fault tolerance?

Richard Murray, co-founder and CEO of Orca Computing, reveals how his team chose commercial usefulness over technical idealism - and why that decision drives everything from recruitment to product development.

Operating from a University of Oxford spinout with limited resources compared to Google or IBM, Orca faced a choice: follow the same path but years behind and millions of pounds short, or constrain themselves differently. They chose constraints. Starting with just £1.5 million forced creative decisions - building quantum computers with one light source instead of dozens - that ultimately benefited customers through more practical, deployable systems.

Richard describes the ‘two religions’ of quantum computing: those pursuing billion-pound fault-tolerant systems versus those focused on immediate commercial value. His team deliberately chose the latter, applying quantum to generative AI with measurable results: reduced GPU requirements, lower energy consumption, and potentially more creative AI models capable of generating results beyond training data.

The conversation explores operational realities most quantum companies avoid discussing: the talent gap when no industry exists to recruit from, the cultural shock when physicists encounter commercial constraints, and why ‘comfortable with ambiguity’ matters more than technical brilliance. Richard argues that customers don’t know what they want from quantum - and neither do most vendors - making the shift from vague promises to specific value propositions the defining challenge of the next phase.

His most provocative insight: Goldman Sachs apparently defines ‘quantum advantage’ not as an academic milestone but as when a company invests straight off their balance sheet because they can define the business return. That’s the real test.

Essential listening for Deep Tech founders, investors, and anyone navigating the trade-offs between breakthrough innovation and commercial survival.

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What if early-stage Deep Tech investing could be completely reimagined? Keong Chan, Managing Director of Out The Back Ventures, has spent five years building one of the most unique investment approaches in the industry - operating from Perth, Australia, whilst building relationships with leading universities and national laboratories across four continents.

Rather than waiting for deals to come to them, Out The Back Ventures proactively identifies breakthrough research and helps incorporate it into companies from the earliest stages. This conversation explores their syndicated investment model, the hidden innovation opportunities in nuclear technology, and why the future of computing will require fundamental shifts beyond silicon CMOS.

Keong reveals how naive questioning, startup-level energy, and genuine relationship building can unlock opportunities that traditional VCs miss, from Oak Ridge National Lab to Oxford University.

Essential listening for Deep Tech investors, university technology transfer officers, and anyone interested in how breakthrough research becomes world-changing companies.

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What can we learn from the collapse of two billion-dollar Deep Tech unicorns? James Arnold held senior strategy and operations roles at both Lilium and Arrival - European companies that raised over a billion dollars each, employed thousands of engineers, and still ended in insolvency.

This conversation reveals the hidden pitfalls that destroy Deep Tech companies: why rapid team growth kills startup agility, how too much capital corrupts decision-making, and why applying software ‘blitzscaling’ to hardware development creates catastrophic risks. James provides insider insights into what actually went wrong at companies that had everything going for them - brilliant technology, massive funding, and world-class talent.

Essential listening for Deep Tech founders, investors, and anyone who wants to understand why breakthrough technology and vast resources aren’t enough to guarantee success in the lab-to-market journey.

Key Topics Covered:

- Why blitzscaling from software doesn’t work for Deep Tech hardware companies

- The hidden dangers of rapid team growth in complex engineering projects

- How vertical integration multiplies complexity and resource requirements

- The critical difference between proving you’re ‘not crazy’ vs building for investors

- Why scale models in aerospace don’t teach you about real engineering problems

- How too much capital can affect decision-making and resource allocation

- The importance of focus when developing multiple breakthrough technologies

- Finding revenue streams before your moonshot product is ready

- Leadership challenges in maintaining stakeholder confidence during long development cycles.

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Why do so few university spinouts make it from lab to market? Dave Grimm, Partner at Albion Ventures, has spent a decade answering this question through a groundbreaking partnership with University College London that's transformed how academic innovations become successful companies.

This conversation reveals the blueprint for successful university spinouts: embedding VCs within academic ecosystems, prioritising pace over perfection, and creating standardised processes that work for founders and institutions alike. Dave shares insights from successful spinouts like Phasecraft and Oriole Networks, plus his vision for solving the UK's Deep Tech scale-up challenge through government procurement and ‘unretiring’ successful entrepreneurs.

Essential listening for anyone involved in university technology transfer, Deep Tech investing, or scaling academic innovations into market-changing companies.

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What does it take to build million-qubit quantum computers - machines that could fundamentally change how we solve the world's most complex problems?

Dr Sebastian Weidt, co-founder and CEO of Universal Quantum, shares the extraordinary journey from asking an audacious research question in 2017 to building one of the world's leading quantum computing companies. This conversation reveals the unique challenges of scaling breakthrough technology that operates on entirely different principles from conventional computing.

Seb explores why moving from academia to commerce became essential for quantum progress, how to engage customers for technology that doesn't yet exist, and the importance of building supportive culture during long-term, high-risk R&D. With quantum computing potentially 5-10 years away from delivering transformative applications, this episode offers key insights on managing expectations and maintaining momentum during the ultimate Deep Tech journey.

Essential listening for Deep Tech Leaders, quantum computing enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by how impossible engineering challenges become a commercial reality.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel.

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Podcast Production: Beauxhaus