Karthee Madasamy is the founder of VC firm MFV Partners and the founding managing partner of Harper Court Ventures, both of which focus on early-stage deep tech startups.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, he explains what early-stage founders get wrong about TAM, why technical validation isn’t enough, and how to de-risk your company when the market barely exists.
We also talk about:
- What MFV looks for when evaluating scientific founders
- The importance of “market inevitability” and strategic timing
- Common missteps deep tech founders make on the road to Series A
If you’re building ambitious technology in a complex, slow-moving market, this episode will help you speak investors’ language — and build a company they can believe in.
RUNTIME 41:03
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(2:24) Karthee describes his engineer–product manager–VC career path. (4:37) How does MFV Partners define deep tech? (6:35) Areas of interest include robotics, physical AI, and next-gen computing—“especially quantum.” (8:39) “We are doing anywhere from pre-seed to seed, up to all the way to Series A.” (12:17) About a third of the founders he works with are transitioning from academic or research roles. (14:01) Inside MFV’s due diligence process. (16:20) The three questions Karthee uses to frame his first meeting with a founder. (17:47) Tactics for engineers and academics who want to validate their idea but lack customer experience. (19:27) “There's no fallback. You have to basically go deep on one thing.” (23:43) “A deep tech founder, in addition to all the other risks, they're taking technical risks.” (25:51) What does traction look like at an early-stage deep tech startup? (28:38) Be prepared to answer this question during your first meeting with Karthee. (30:32) “In deep tech, oftentimes, there is not a place you can just go to get a TAM.” (37:40) Why MFV accepts cold pitches. (39:24) The one question Karthee would ask the CEO if he were interviewing for a job at an early-stage startup.
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Thanks for listening!
– Walter.
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