If you’re a small business trying to bring a new product or concept to market in the deep tech arena, you are probably reeling as you try to figure out your COGS, your suppliers, your ability to deliver within a decent margin, your very survivability.
We get it. We’ve been there, done that … whether over tariff policy, conflicts, sanctions, or pandemics, we’ve experienced the whiplash you’re going through now.
There are a couple of issues to think about, beyond where your goods and materials come from. Consider, for instance, who are your customers? Where are they located? Is your product geared solely or primarily to a US-based marketplace? And, if so … why? serious question. There are 8 billion people in the world, living in increasingly improved circumstances. What does it take to bring your product to them? And, how do you manufacture your product closer to them, or even by them?
We understand this can be a scary place to be. Pivoting is uncomfortable, yet you must develop that muscle if you want to survive and thrive in your industry. Fortunately, there are experienced trainers who can help you with the workout.
Consider these facts:
While the U.S. has led in science and technology investment for the past five years, significant cuts to government grants and institutional funding—as high as 50% in some areas—will impact the 30% of science and technology investment made by academia and government, on which industry often relies. Industry will attempt to fill some of that gap but won’t be able to do it all. And, while tremendous energy and investment go into product development, marketing, and sales in healthy times, in periods of upheaval such as we are currently experiencing, innovation dips while survival becomes paramount.
Large companies that might typically be buyers of your innovative product may find themselves making a higher-than-usual investment in known goods that may become more costly once tariffs hit. CapEx for materials not part of that mix will be placed on hold. This challenges the traditional kanban approach or other methods aimed at minimizing production to avoid excess inventory, which may affect investments in new equipment or higher-risk development initiatives.
While the U.S. is the leading investor in science and technology, the next nine countries (China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, France, UK, India, and Canada) collectively invest exponentially more significant sums. U.S. investment from 2021-2025 ranged from $720B to $900B (planned before funding cuts). The next nine countries, however, invested from $1.3T to nearly $1.6T.
*Sources are referenced at the end of the article.
In addition, Europe and Canada are aggressively courting U.S. researchers, increasing funding, creating new grants, and ultimately investing in the equipment necessary to support those researchers. The “brain drain” will create another impact on your customer base, but other nations will pick up the slack.
So, expand your horizons. The U.S. will be back, someday, with more reasonable fiscal management. And then you can always re-shore because someone is likely to figure out how to make that palatable rather than punitive. By then, you will have built up solid resources and practices that enable you to succeed anywhere in the world, under any conditions.
Yeah, it’s a mess today. The good news is, opportunities exist. And you don't have to do it alone.
Contact us for a complimentary 20 minute consultation.
About the Author:
Kevin Fahey, Ph.D, leads the Market Operandi team in bringing their technical and executive management expertise to deep tech B2B startups and innovation teams at larger organizations, enabling them to scale rapidly while mitigating risks. He and his team also help companies penetrate new markets and optimize for multi-market growth.
Over the past decade, Kevin has used his diverse experience to create MO's proprietary and vetted startup acceleration systems and framework, successfully guiding dozens of startups from their first institutional round of funding to and through their growth rounds.
As CEO of MO, Kevin has steered multiple obscure startups to become award-winning success stories.
Kevin holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
*Sources
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00992-6
https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-development/research-funding-gaps-widen-US/103/web/2025/03
https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2025/april/20250408_funding-sitrep
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/10/innovation-technology-wipo-countries-ranking/