Deep tech founders face a series of challenges when translating their scientific innovation into commercial success. One major challenge at the heart of this journey is explaining the technology or business to non-technical audiences.
There are crucial balances to be struck between simplifying your innovations and not losing the magic that sets you apart; explaining enough that it makes sense, without giving up protected IP.
But when these audiences include prospective investors, potential customers and influential media, it is crucial that founders get it right.
Start with the problem
The best way to communicate why your startup is important is to start with the problem you’re solving. Tell your story, and describe how you realised this problem needed to be fixed.
If you can, make it tangible and explain what’s slow, expensive, unreliable or dangerous about how things work today. Make your audience care before they understand.
Get rid of the jargon
One piece of jargon can be enough for someone to switch off and stop listening. Before a meeting, always take a step back and consider how much you expect your audience to know already, and how much they need to know.
For example, if you’re speaking to a prospective customer, they will care far more about what your technology will do for their business than the clever back-end innovations that enable it to work.
If you need to explain technicalities, try to contextualise them with easier-to-understand analogies. Even if they’re not perfect, comparisons will help your audience process the technical details you add.
Put simply: if your audience won’t understand it, don’t say it.
Tell me what’s new, not what’s better
It is a fact of life that all founders think their startup is better than the competition. Unfortunately, if everyone says they are better, faster or cheaper, the statement loses all meaning - even if it’s true for your startup.
Rather than claiming your startup can be X% better/faster/cheaper than its competitors, explain how it’s different. Uniqueness is a selling point in a way that incremental improvement can never be. If the uniqueness is buried in IP that you can’t disclose, focus on what your innovations enable that couldn’t otherwise be done. What are you doing that was previously impossible?
Focus on the impact
Just as you start with the problem, make sure you end with the solution. And not just how, but why. Your non-technical audiences may not understand everything that is going on under the hood, but nor should they need to. People connect with stories, so paint them a picture of how your technology is going to make a difference. Who is going to benefit, and what is going to be different thanks to your work? That’s what people will remember.
At Commplicated, we are elevating deep tech communications and branding. If you want to hear more about how we might be able to help your deep tech startup reach the next level, please get in touch - info@commplicated.com
