For early-stage deep tech founders, establishing credibility can be incredibly difficult, particularly when the business is pre-product, pre-revenue and pre-customer. The technology may be sound, but convincing others that vision is more than theoretical can feel like you’re relying on an act of faith.
The good news is that credibility isn’t binary, and it isn’t necessarily limited to revenue or customers. Investors, journalists and potential customers are looking for signals that reduce their risk, and signpost success. Effective early-stage communications is the art of surfacing those signals before the market fully catches up.
A solution to a problem
You don’t need customers to explain what problem you’re solving. Early-stage deep tech communications will necessarily focus on articulating what the solution is, and how the technology works. Crucially, this must include why it matters.
Focus less on features or innovation, and more on consequences and impact. For example, what becomes possible if this technology succeeds, and how is it different from other solutions on the market?
Clarity is crucial here - as a founder, you must be wholly focused on the mission, and crystal clear about the technology. Even without customers, third-party endorsements and advocacy will have an outsized impact on credibility, so it’s crucial that others are able to easily repeat your core value proposition.
Tell me about yourself
In the absence of customers, a good indicator of credibility is the team (and particularly the founders and leadership team). Have a clear explanation of who you are, and why you’re the right people to solve this problem: prior research, industry experience, spin-outs, patents and papers are all more powerful than a list of previous roles.
Consistency matters: your biographies, pitch deck, website and interviews should all reinforce the same story for why this is the team to pull it off.
Build external credibility
Explaining why your technology is the best solution will only ever get you so far; having someone else explain it is always better. Any kind of borrowed credibility is crucial at the early stage, so founders should think about how they can align their new business with established brands.
This can be through early investors and initial pilot conversations, but it can also be through innovation awards, accelerator programmes, research grants, or university partnerships. Founders should look to speak at specialist events and conferences, and engage with the market, including journalists, analysts and investors, even if they’re not actively raising.
Building a group of influential voices who know your business and understand the vision makes a huge difference. Any contact with established corporates, awards or events, grants a level of credibility, even without an explicit endorsement or commercial relationship. Over time, being visible in the right conversations creates familiarity, which is a powerful precursor to trust and credibility.
Quality over quantity
Be selective and strategic with developing these early signals of credibility. Quality will beat quantity every time, as you are looking to show that knowledgeable outsiders have assessed your business and decided that you belong in the conversation.
Early-stage deep tech businesses don’t immediately need customers to be credible. A coherent story, evidence of your expertise, and external validation will open enough doors for your technology to do the talking.
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