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What It Takes to Turn Academic Research into a Venture-Backed Startup l Build Mode

Deep tech founders face a unique challenge: turning breakthrough science into a scalable startup. From navigating academia and IP to fundraising, manufacturing, and product-market fit, the path from research lab to real-world impact is anything but straightforward. This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Capella Kerst, founder and CEO of @geCKoMaterials and…

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Deep tech founders face a unique challenge: turning breakthrough science into a scalable startup. From navigating academia and IP to fundraising, manufacturing, and product-market fit, the path from research lab to real-world impact is anything but straightforward.

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Capella Kerst, founder and CEO of @geCKoMaterials and 2024 Startups Battlefield runner up. geCKo Materials is building a bio-inspired adhesive with applications across robotics, manufacturing, and even space. In this episode, they explore how she turned a Stanford PhD breakthrough into a venture-backed deep tech company.

This conversation covers:
🧩How to turn academic research into a scalable startup
🧩The challenges of moving from Stanford PhD to founder and CEO
🧩What it takes to raise capital as a deep tech and hardware startup
🧩Why commercialization and manufacturing are the hardest parts of innovation
🧩How to identify real-world use cases and achieve product-market fit

Following recent episodes on building teams, this conversation focuses on the foundation behind every startup: transforming breakthrough technology into a viable business.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.
TechCrunch Disrupt: If you’re thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we’re back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type.

Chapters:
00:00 The Breakthrough Moment
01:45 From Startup Battlefield to Scale
02:42 What Gecko Materials Actually Does
05:18 Turning a PhD Into a Company
07:44 The Big Vision for Gecko Materials
09:19 From Wild Ideas to Real Use Cases
11:16 Spinning Out of Stanford
14:49 Raising Capital (and a 36-Hour Round)
17:54 Breakthroughs and Momentum
18:00 Building a World-Class Team
22:19 Owning the Founder Role
24:21 Finding Product-Market Fit in Deep Tech
26:54 Why More Research Doesn’t Become Startups
29:15 What’s Next for Gecko Materials

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

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Science & Technology

The Musk v. Altman case is in the jury’s hands. The trust verdict is still out. | Equity Podcast

The Musk v. Altman trial came to a close this week, and the final arguments kept circling back to one question: can we trust the people in charge of AI? All of this is playing out as SpaceX charges toward what could be one of the largest IPOs in American history, with a whole generation…

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May 15, 2026

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The Musk v. Altman trial came to a close this week, and the final arguments kept circling back to one question: can we trust the people in charge of AI? All of this is playing out as SpaceX charges toward what could be one of the largest IPOs in American history, with a whole generation of founders already spinning out of the Musk empire.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane break down the trial’s closing stretch and what the growing Elon Musk founder ecosystem looks like on the ground, and the other deals that caught our eye this week.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:16 Claude learns how to blackmail (Anthropic’s AI safety report)

03:20 Anduril’s $5B Series H

08:43 Mind Robotics and why investors can’t say no to RJ Scaringe

15:03 Vapi’s $50M Series B and the AI customer service moment

20:25 The Elon Musk founder machine: Tesla and SpaceX alumni

30:12 The startups stepping up to build data centers in space

32:50 The OpenAI trial wraps: Who trusts Sam Altman?

38:11 Outro

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CNET

First Look at Segway’s $5,299 Xaber 300 Electric Dirt Bike

Segway’s newest e-dirt bike, the Xaber 300, is now available in the U.S. and features a top speed of 60-mph, and a virtual clutch that gives you more control like you would on a gas powered dirt bike. Do you think the future of dirt bikes is electric? CNET Senior Video Producer Dillon Lopez is…

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2 days ago

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May 15, 2026

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Segway’s newest e-dirt bike, the Xaber 300, is now available in the U.S. and features a top speed of 60-mph, and a virtual clutch that gives you more control like you would on a gas powered dirt bike. Do you think the future of dirt bikes is electric? CNET Senior Video Producer Dillon Lopez is here to give you a first look at this $5,299 electric dirt bike. ⚡️🏍️ #segway #segwayxaber300 #electricdirtbike #edirtbike #dirtbike

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CNET

Please, Apple, Don’t Use Gemini This Way | One More Thing

Much of Android’s new AI features focus on ways to spend your money faster. Is this what we have to look forward to in the new Siri updates? CNET’s Bridget Carey looks at the Gemini Intelligence news and what Apple should (and shouldn’t) copy for iPhone users. Read more about it on CNET.com Apple Picks…

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2 days ago

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May 15, 2026

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Much of Android’s new AI features focus on ways to spend your money faster. Is this what we have to look forward to in the new Siri updates? CNET’s Bridget Carey looks at the Gemini Intelligence news and what Apple should (and shouldn’t) copy for iPhone users.

Read more about it on CNET.com
Apple Picks Google Gemini to Power Siri
Google I/O 2026: What Google’s AI Past Tells Us About Its Future

0:00 Does Google think everyone’s rich?
0:12 Gemini Intelligence announced in the Android Show IO Edition
0:36 Gemini is going to be in your iPhone
0:55 Will Gemini Intelligence live up to the hype?
1:17 Apple’s delayed promise of a more personal Siri
1:26 Buying concert tickets agentic AI in Android
1:57 Buying concert tickets with Apple Music
2:29 Android AI giving real-time ETAs in messages
2:46 Apple Calendar time-to-leave notifications
3:07 Using Gemini Intelligence to find late-night pizza
3:13 Using Siri to find late-night pizza
3:23 Gemini Intelligence being tested with food delivery and rideshare apps
3:31 All of Google’s Android agentic AI examples make spending money easier
3:49 Booking an Expedia tour with Gemini Intelligence on your Android device
4:19 Things I actually want from an AI assistant
4:26 New Android widget builder
4:45 Google really wants you to buy things and shop
4:59 Building an Android recipe widget
5:23 Rambler brings conversational awareness to speech-to-text on Android phones
5:34 Android Rambler in action
6:20 Android green screen recording for video creators
6:29 Android Screen Reactions
7:03 How will Gemini influence the new Siri?
7:17 New Android interface looks a lot like Liquid Glass
7:26 RCS messages between Android and iPhones are now encrypted

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#siri #google #gemini #ai #intelligence #androidai

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