Spot on. The biggest trap lab-stage founders fall into is assuming that a successful bench test equals a scalable process.
In industrial operations, we see this all the time—scaling chemistry isn't just about unit economics; it's about cycle times, bottleneck management, and yield consistency when moving from grams to kilograms. Testing operational feasibility and supply chain constraints early saves millions down the road. Fantastic guide!
Tony -- this is a great summary and really rings true from my time in industry R&D.
I think a lot of chemistry students would greatly benefit from consulting a chemical engineer, maybe even a student chemical engineer, when working through this kind of technoeconomic / business assessment. They are trained on this stuff -- chemists, by and large, aren't (though I really really wish we were -- at least one course in undergrad would be great).
Spot on. The biggest trap lab-stage founders fall into is assuming that a successful bench test equals a scalable process.
In industrial operations, we see this all the time—scaling chemistry isn't just about unit economics; it's about cycle times, bottleneck management, and yield consistency when moving from grams to kilograms. Testing operational feasibility and supply chain constraints early saves millions down the road. Fantastic guide!
Thank you! I hope some students out there find it useful too.
Tony -- this is a great summary and really rings true from my time in industry R&D.
I think a lot of chemistry students would greatly benefit from consulting a chemical engineer, maybe even a student chemical engineer, when working through this kind of technoeconomic / business assessment. They are trained on this stuff -- chemists, by and large, aren't (though I really really wish we were -- at least one course in undergrad would be great).