You’ve heard of raising a VC Fund, you’ve heard of raising money for your startup, but have you heard of raising money to pay scientists and chemical engineers to play around in a lab…oh and it’s not for philanthropy.
Today we have a pretty fascinating episode with Jeff Ernhardt from Mattiq discussing how they are identifying new materials science formulas, proving them on the bench, and then partnering with industrial producers to manufacture these at scale in order to make an impact at scale.
This episode is particularly interesting for academics interested in a different set of incentives that pure academia cannot offer.
If you’re building a sustainable chemicals company or thinking about it, you should also find the insights about partnering with an industrial producer of particular interest.
Personally my biggest takeaways were from his comments on…
Experimenting in a linear fashion versus how they are now doing it simultaneously [~27:00]
Why they chose to partner with industrials rather than go the IP route [~39:30]
The areas he’s bullish on in the coming years [~52:30]
And my personal favorite, his comments on hiring PhDs and “Finding an Icon” that will bring their followers with them [~57:30]
There is a LOT of value in today’s episode. In order to repay us for all the back breaking labor we have put into this show (literally, I have back pain from how much time I spend in my chair) please subscribe if you’ve not already.
Already a subscriber? Sorry for being so forceful…👼 but… have you shared the show recently (nope, I’ll never run out of asks 🙈) - Imagine how if your friend get’s one valuable nuget out of the show that saves them months of exploration, you’ll be the goat to them. We can’t guarantee you they will invite you to their wedding, but they will at least like you more…
Show Notes:
In this episode, Silas Mahner (@silasmahner) & Somil Aggarwal (@somil_agg) speak with Jeff Erhardt from Mattiq.
Jeff had a ton of insights and we are glad to share them with you today.
Enjoy the Episode! 🌎
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Topics:
2:21 Intro & Career
6:55 What is Industrial AI
16:08 Driving Adoption in Industrial Space
20:11 Advice to Early Career Folks
25:37 What Mattiq Does
35:52 The misalignment of academia
39:09 Their Business Model
42:15 Fundraising for Mattiq
45:15 Industrial Decarb Challenges
50:10 Partnering
53:12 Startup Ideas
57:35 Hiring PhDs
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Most Recent Episode: #122 Offset Skepticism, Regulation Driving Demand, Sustainable Supply Chains, Content GTM Strategy, Climate Business Opportunities, & More w/ Saif Hameed (Altruistiq)
Similar Topic: #113 Incubating Climate Risk / Insurance Solutions as Traditional Insurers Pull Back w/ Stephen Brittain (Insurtech Gateway)
Something Totally Different: #99 Capturing Methane to Power Data Centers in Remote Areas w/ Andreas Lehner (PowerBlocks)
Thank you for tuning in / reading the CleanTechies Podcast and Written content. We really genuinely appreciate all your support. ❤️
#123 - Driving Adoption in Hard-to-Abate Sectors, Why Not an IP Play, Fundraising for an R&D Shop, Partnering w/ Large Corporates, Hiring PhDs, & More w/ Jeff Erhardt (Mattiq)