Lab to Market – Bootstrapped with Peter Collins

Lab to Market Leadership with Chris Reichhelm

In this episode of the Lab to Market Leadership podcast, host Chris Reichhelm talks to Peter Collins, the former CEO of Permasense, an Imperial College spin-out focused on industrial IoT solutions for the oil and gas industry. Peter shares his unique journey of bootstrapping Permasense from its early days in the lab to a successful $50 million exit to Emerson, all without external equity funding.

Chris and Peter discuss the complexities and challenges of transforming advanced science into a commercial product. They explore the initial state of Permasense, the critical role of BP in supporting the development of their technology, and the strategies Peter employed to secure early customers and build market credibility.

Listeners will gain valuable insights into the importance of balancing technical and commercial development, the power of customer feedback, and the significance of planning and parallelising tasks to ensure success. Peter also reflects on his experiences post-Permasense and shares advice for early-stage CEOs, emphasising the importance of humility and collaboration.

Join Chris and Peter for a dynamic conversation filled with practical strategies and lessons learned from the front lines of taking lab innovations to the market.

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Podcast Production: Beauxhaus

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1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Initial Situation of Permasense (00:02:00)

3. BP's involvement (00:03:00)

4. Establishing credibility with BP (00:05:00)

5. Peter's role and expectations (00:07:00)

6. Building Trust (00:09:00)

7. Early Sales Strategy (00:11:00)

8. Dynamics with BP (00:15:00)

9. Negotiations with BP (00:18:00)

10. Securing additional customers (00:23:00)

11. Marketing and trade journals (00:28:00)

12. Development and commercialisation journey (00:33:00)

13. Transition to insight delivery (00:37:00)

14. Global expansion (00:42:00)

15. Preparation for exit (00:47:00)

16. Advice for early-stage CEOs (00:51:00)

17. Role of the Chairman (00:54:00)

18. Reflection and Humility (00:56:00)

19. Conclusion (00:58:00)