Deep-Tech Markets

Deep-tech markets are high-entropy: vocabulary is unstable, technical claims outpace verification, and the gap between demo and deployment remains stubbornly wide. Investors, executives, and board members need to make decisions about technologies they can’t evaluate directly.

I help organizations see clearly in domains where the technical complexity exceeds internal capability—not by becoming their engineer, but by translating what’s actually happening into terms that enable confident decisions.

What I Do Here

Technical due diligence. My physics training and 25+ years across semiconductors, MEMS, photonics, and RF/microwave let me go deep enough to evaluate claims and surface with something useful: this is real, this is roadmap, this is marketing. I’ve done this work for capital allocation decisions, M&A evaluation, and technology bets where getting it wrong is expensive.

Market mapping. When entering unfamiliar territory, I apply a structured approach: find the economic compass first (where does money flow?), then map customer needs, existing solutions, and the paths between them. The goal is a mental model you can navigate by, not a 200-page report that sits unread.

Entropy reduction. I developed the High Entropy Markets framework specifically for domains where nobody agrees on what anything means. Technical uncertainty, economic uncertainty, semantic uncertainty—these are the three dimensions I evaluate. Reducing confusion along any of them creates competitive advantage.

Where I help

You’re evaluating a deep-tech company and can’t assess the technical claims. I conduct due diligence that goes beyond the pitch deck—examining what’s actually built versus what’s promised, where the real technical risk lives, and whether the team can execute. You get an assessment you can defend to your board or investment committee.

You’re entering a new technology market and need to understand the landscape. I map the terrain: who the players are, where value accrues, what the real barriers to entry look like, and where the opportunities hide. You get a working model of the market, not just a list of competitors.

Your organization is making a technology bet and stakeholders want clarity. I translate technical reality into strategic terms—what this technology can and can’t do, what the timeline actually looks like, and what it means for your specific situation. You get the confidence to commit or the clarity to walk away.

Resources

My High Entropy Markets framework explains how to think about domains where technical, economic, and semantic uncertainty compound—and how to find footholds in the chaos.

Exploring the Unknown lays out a systematic approach to mapping unfamiliar markets using six functional areas as landmarks.

My background spans electronics, materials, photonics, and RF/microwave—domains where I’ve done the due diligence work and developed the pattern recognition that transfers across deep-tech markets.

Let’s talk about your technology evaluation challenge.