For a successful deep tech startup, the laboratory breakthrough is only the first step. To spin out an innovative digital systems into a scalable business, a founder has to navigate a complicated legal process. 

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen speaks with Capella Kerst, founder and CEO of geCKo Materials and the 2024 TechCrunch Startup Battlefield runner up. Kerst was a Stanford PhD student, working on bio-inspired adhesives — materials modeled after the microscopic hairs that allow geckos to stick to walls. She wasn’t looking to be a founder but when she had a major breakthrough that made it possible to create the material rapidly and reliably, she knew it was a viable product. 

But translating a lab discovery into a startup is less about the “eureka” moment and more about everything that comes after.

“I got up the courage to really address my advisor in a very like we need to have a serious conversation about me spinning out this firm and starting it,” Capella mentioned. And that conversation was the beginning of a long process of building geCKo materials. 

Here is a roadmap for founders spinning a product out of academia.  This also touches on aspects of startup.

Reach out to prior contributors. Connect with all the citizens who’s work lead up to the huge breakthrough. Kerst offered these contributors the options to join the enterprise, become advisors, or receive compensation.

Ensure you reach the requirements for the licensing process. Kerst started conversations with Stanford’s office of Software licensing early and she learned to spin it out, she’d need to complete her PhD. These early conversations also helped her prepare for the process to come. 

Form the organization and lawyer up. In this case, Stanford provided a list of lawyers Kerst had to utilize. “I spent time interviewing lawyers and finding out about case studies, what other individuals got, what did you push, what didn’t work, what got pushed back on. And so I just learned a ton, picked my lawyer, and then we went at Stanford.” noted Kerst, “I was like, I want a excellent deal, because I want this to be a large corporation, and I think it’ll benefit everybody.”

Transition fully into the founder role. Once the licensing agreement is finalized, it’s time to shift from PhD to CEO. 

Five years later, geCKo Materials is continuing to scale and develop latest ways to apply its adhesive tech which is being tested in applications ranging from robotics and manufacturing to automotive and even space. The company’s material is already in apply on the International Space Station, and Kerst says the long-term vision includes replacing traditional attachment methods like Velcro or suction systems.

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Isabelle Johannessen is our host. Build Mode is produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience Development is led by Morgan Little. And a special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

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