Tim is that kid who always wanted to be an Astronaut.
After earning a PhD in aerospace engineering, he worked at dot com agencies, corporates and startups worldwide, then spent nearly a decade helping to build the Australian space ecosystem while running startup accelerator programs.
Today, Tim coaches startups as our Cicada Innovations, Expert in Residence, at the National Space Industry Hub (NSIH). Tim helps lead industry growth associations, like the Space Industry Association of Australia, and consults widely to the space Industry and research organisations, like SmartSat CRC and also volunteers as part of the Waratah Seed NSW Rideshare Mission.
Read on as Tim shares his key takeaways for commercialising your deep tech startup.
For a deep tech startup with a complex solution, what are the most effective early market traction strategies you've seen work, beyond just securing pilots? How do you help founders identify and reach those initial, critical customers?
Reducing the complexity! Identifying the smallest set of features you can test with a partner and/or customer to see if you can hit problem-solution fit.
I advocate strongly for proof-of-concept tests (POCs) before pilots. Founders who de-risk through simplification, identifying early adopters with a single, critical problem, can then attempt to solve it with the smallest number of features. This approach enables them to gain early learnings, which they can build upon to achieve investable traction.
Given the longer development cycles and higher capital needs of deep tech, what are the non-negotiable elements a deep tech startup must demonstrate to be truly 'investment ready' for specialised deep tech VCs or strategic investors, compared to general tech startups?
All startups need an ‘X’ factor - a fundamental, defensible advantage.
This is usually some kind of social, market, or tech hack to break free of capital, resource, and/or talent constraints, demonstrating their ability to create value at scale. Even more patient, specialised deep tech VCs need that ‘X’ factor to be comfortable investing.
Deep tech often thrives on collaboration. How do you guide startups in identifying, approaching, and securing meaningful partnerships that genuinely accelerate their commercialisation?
With coaching and warm intros! We teach our startups deliberate, focused interview and listening techniques to learn fast and build lasting relationships with larger, later-stage, complementary ecosystem players worldwide. Partnerships represent a fantastic source of spare resources, experienced mentors and market intelligence. Think big brother and sister organisations that ideally are aligned with the vision and values of your startup.
Beyond general startup challenges, what are the most common deep tech-specific hurdles you've encountered, and what are the most effective strategies for overcoming them?
Scaling up manufacturing to meet larger orders and reduce unit costs is a major hurdle once startups pass the problem–solution fit. It’s a tough mix of technical, financial, talent, and market challenges.
The good news: if you've chosen early adopters with well-defined, narrow problems, they can serve as strong proxies for larger future markets. I'd love to be able to do more on this; It's a whole-of-ecosystem conversation we need to have in Australia.
How do you help Fast Start participants best leverage Cicada's unique ecosystem, including expert-in-residence knowledge, rapid prototyping facilities, and the broader deep tech community, to address their bespoke goals?
We encourage participants to ask for help, show up and engage! Cicada programs are ideal for founders who take time to build relationships, come to events, do the training and take on a 'learner' mindset, do their best. Cicada has recently put a lot of effort into updating all its lab and design-for-manufacture facilities, and has an amazing mentor network. It's a great time to lean in.
If you are interested in learn more, head here to see what programs we offer at the NSIH.
Deep tech can be hard to explain. What are your key strategies for helping founders articulate their complex technology and its unique value proposition in a way that resonates with diverse stakeholders, from early adopters to investors?
I would say do the work to step away from the solution and consider the beneficial impacts. 'Value proposition' is a $20 phrase that means 'the benefits you provide'. If you can articulate these crisply, the deep tech features find their place much more naturally when you get to the 'what we do' part of your pitch.
How do you ensure a startup's goals are both ambitious and achievable within 6 months?
We use the Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework to ensure experiments and effort are directed towards achieving specific, measurable key results. The Cicada team and mentors also regularly check in to assess velocity.
How do you guide them to pivot or adapt their strategy quickly when faced with new insights or challenges?
With compassion and enthusiasm, you can reframe 'insights and challenges' as risks revealed, that you can now mitigate and often leverage. Two shibboleths come to mind: "The barrier is the way" and "The path of true love never did run straight"!
What is something about you or your career that we can find out on LinkedIn?
I got to interview the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, for BBC2 back in 1991, that was a blast!
The National Space Industry Hub:
The National Space Industry Hub is dedicated to empowering Australia’s innovators to better the world through space. The Hub provides essential support, mentorship, and a collaborative network that encourages startups working across deep tech to explore space applications. We believe this will not only propel the industry forward but also align with a broader mission of utilising space technology to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems and unlock new opportunities.
Find out more about our programs here.