Piers Corfield, co-founder and CEO of Dashboard on: How to raise money in Industrial Tech; How to Successfully Partner with Large Organisations and Still Keep Your IP.

Industrial IoT is a trillion-dollar market. And yet, there is very little VC investment going into it in the UK. I sat down with Piers Corfield to learn more about his journey building Dashboard; the struggles he had raising money and what he learned, and how he partnered with Worley, one of the largest energy infrastructure players. Good listen if you are interested in anything industrial tech or IoT.
Show Notes:
  • [0:43] - Why did you start Dashboard and what problem is it trying to solve?
  • [5:06] - How did you refine your initial value proposition and find your focus?
  • [6:54] - There are big companies with deep pockets in the energy space - why can’t they solve this problem on their own?
  • [10:05] - Is there a VC arm inside most of these large energy companies and who are the right people to build relationships with?
  • [13:02] - What does the funding look like for industrial tech and how was that process for you?
  • [19:50] - How do you raise money in industrial tech? What advice would you give to other industrial tech entrepreneurs?
  • [23:36] - How did you partner with big companies and still maintain non-exclusivity?
  • [27:49] - What stage of TRL are you and how did the big companies react to your technology?
  • [30:56] - What’s the next step after this?
  • [33:38] - How did you find the right people for the team in the initial stages?
  • [36:35] - How did you build the culture at Dashboard?
  • [38:33] - What were some of the biggest mistakes you made in your entrepreneurial journey and what did you learn from that?

Links:

Book recommendations:  
Make, Think, Imagine: The Future of Civilizations by Lord Brown

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