Logic vs Belief in Deep-Tech


Deep-tech startups are building transformative technologies and care deeply about what they do - yet their ideas often get trapped behind layers of complex communication.

A long vacation gave me time to dig into the root causes - and how we can do better.

Here are a few short, easy reads from that reflection.


The belief before logic manifesto

What belief keeps deep-tech professionals from communicating effectively?

How clinging to logic is costing you

A false belief is draining your time, energy, and money.

Playing offence vs defense in your pitch

Are you kicking the ball forward - toward belief, or back toward doubt?

Think in moments, not slides

How to approach your pitch design for impact - not conformity.

Creativity in Deep-Tech

I explore this question in my short, partly visual emails, crafted through my lens as a creative director in deep-tech. Join me for insights on effective communication, marketing, design, psychology, and the philosophy of value.

Read more from Creativity in Deep-Tech

There's a way to improve your startup by orders of magnitude in 10 seconds.Here’s what you do:Go to your email signature and add this to your title: CVO, Chief Visionary Officer. (You can keep your CEO title or replace it — I don’t mind.)Boom! You just made your startup more effective and drastically increased your chances of building a great product.By assuming the CVO title, you made something explicit that most startups leave vague: that there is a single source of intent in the system....

Most deep-tech pitches are weak due to confusion about the relationship between facts and narrative.At best, people aren’t sure what a narrative is. At worst, they think facts and narrative are opposites — that narrative is something you use when your facts are lacking. A simple scenarioImagine you meet someone and they treat you kindly. You note it as a fact. You might conclude: “This person is a good person.” Then later, that same person treats you poorly. Another fact. Now you have two...

No one knows what investors are looking for Not even the investors themselves.If they did, the whole process would look very different. Investors would just ask for the specific information, compare the answers, and make decisions quickly. But the investment process in deep-tech is long, iterative, and deeply human.That’s not to say investors aren’t qualified. Seasoned investors absolutely know how to invest to achieve the outcomes they desire - but they can’t give you a formula.Knowing how...