Field notes

The hardest part of frontier tech isn’t the tech

Pieces on positioning, narrative and go-to-market. Written for founders, not marketers.

01
Inertia is your biggest competitor Deep tech founders pitch against rivals. Buyers decide against doing nothing. Why the thing they already have beats better, and how to make the case for switching to a prime, a procurement team or an investor.
Go-to-market 02
AmCham defence lunch, on the eve of Land Forces Primes, startups, the US Embassy and the people who fund them, in one room in Perth the day before Land Forces. Who spoke, what Anduril, Austal, Alcoa and Greenroom said, and where your category showed up. PDF included.
Event debrief 03
European market brief for Australian defence industry The two minute version of the AIDN and Austrade brief in Sydney. Who spoke, what Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, the UK and NATO said they are buying, and where your category showed up. PDF included.
Event debrief 04
A directory of Australian defence acronyms A searchable directory of the 142 acronyms, agencies and programmes you will meet in an Australian defence tender, contract or prime conversation. Project numbers, IP and technical data rights, certification, sustainment and the state funding bodies, all checked against primary sources.
Reference 05
Seven mistakes founders make at defence trade shows Land Forces, Avalon, Indo Pacific, AUSA. The show changes, the mistakes don't. Most companies arrive with a pitch built for investors and commercial customers, then spend three days watching people nod politely and move on.
Events 06
You can’t patent your way out of being forgettable Patents protect novel inventions. Brands protect perception of value. Why the strongest deep tech companies stop treating IP alone as their moat, and what to ask your last three buyers to find out which one you actually have.
Positioning 07
Navigating the Australian deep tech commercialisation landscape The lab-to-market map: an interactive blueprint of the Australian deep tech commercialisation ecosystem, from grants and capital to research partners and first customers. Tick what describes your company and your route lights up in order.
Interactive tool 08
Nobody buys technology they don’t understand Deep-tech founders spend years removing technical risk, then meet a different one: narrative risk. Why the market rejects the work of understanding you, not your science, and how to fix it.
Positioning 09
The shopping list Defence just published what it wants to buy. The 2026 Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy names six technologies for the next decade; here is what that means for your positioning, with the sceptic's case from the room where it launched.
Analysis 10
The six deadly sins of a founder pitch Six patterns that separate exceptional pitches from painfully cringeworthy ones. These sins are fixable.
Pitch 11
Navigating the Australian defence procurement landscape An interactive blueprint of the Australian defence capability, acquisition and innovation ecosystem. Tick what describes your company and your way through it lights up, node by node.
Interactive tool 12
The traction problem Thiel never named No traction is the symptom every founder names and nobody can diagnose. Thiel blamed distribution. In deep tech there is a third failure sitting upstream of both.
Diagnosis 13
The cost of being misunderstood Misunderstanding is not a soft problem. It has a measurable cost, in fundraising timelines, sales cycles, talent and momentum. Here is how to put a number on it.
Narrative 14
The commercial translation gap The gap between what you've built and what the market wants to buy. What it is, why it exists, and why it is the most expensive problem most founders are not solving.
Positioning

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