To be a successful tech CEO, you need to be domain aware and savvy, understanding both the technology and the market to effectively lead your company.

The best hard tech founders possess a clear vision of the future and understand how to compress timelines to prove commercial viability.

In the early stages of building products, it's crucial to iterate not just on the product itself but also on understanding the market, as both aspects are equally important.

In hard tech, companies often need to be frugal and agile, testing products quickly to see if they resonate with the market, rather than over-investing in development before validating the idea. If you're a scientist or engineer considering commercializing your work, get out of your comfort zone and engage with potential customers to validate your product idea.

To succeed, you need to demonstrate that you can effectively sell your product and convince customers, rather than just focusing on product development.

Unlike software companies, hard tech founders often have a concrete vision of the future that they need to prove before running out of resources.

As a technical founder, you need to balance building new features with fixing bugs and addressing technical debt, especially as you approach product-market fit.

A successful strategy for hard tech founders is to present timelines that show how they can achieve results faster and cheaper than traditional companies.

In the early stages, I learned that having a solid marketing strategy and understanding customer needs is as crucial as the technical aspects of product development.