PBM Consulting Ltd

29/09/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧……

Customer validation is not pitching your startup!!

It’s finding out whether your startup has something the market needs.

Getting potential customers to evaluate whether what you’re developing will meet their needs is a vital part of getting closer to product-market fit, that point where your startup takes off!

Customer validation helps identify issues that will affect how many customers take up your offer and how fast they take it up, it helps you spot problems with your concept that you can iron out before launching.

It creates a focus on what the customer needs which can be used to drive decision-making to get the best version of your offer to market and minimises costs and resources used to develop features the customer doesn’t value.

However, many founders make this fundamental mistake and miss that the key to customer validation is asking questions about what problems customers have, what alternative solutions they currently use (and their drawbacks), and how large a problem it is.

Customer validation should be an ongoing information-gathering exercise that maximises attention on what the customer needs (and will pay for!).

Make sure you don’t make this mistake, watch the video!

https://zurl.co/QGK9W

💢 One vital commercial skill to grow your technology startupYou ca...

22/09/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞

A typical investment firm receives between three and four thousand pitches every year. On average, they fund 𝘀𝗶𝘅 of these.

Investors say the best deals are done when they “get out of the office” and identify visionary startups on the crest of a mega-trend who’s vision of the future matches their own.

Forget about sending your pitch deck cold to an investor, utilise the way 90% of investment deals are done:

1️⃣ Warm introductions from people they trust
2️⃣ Referrals from startups they have already funded who recommend them
3️⃣ Proactive marketing of an innovation’s potential to change the world for the better

Save months, if not years, of your time and effort to secure investment for your by mastering the skill needed to - creating a compelling story of your innovation’s purpose that wins customers and attracts investors.

Stay tuned for more insights to market your science and technology company in the right way. Click on that 🔔 icon on my profile!

12/08/2026

𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙄𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙖 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢

𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑷 𝑭𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑰𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮.

At least for a moment.

If you've spent months approaching investors and keep hearing:

“𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣”

sending your pitch deck to another 100 investors probably isn't going to solve the problem.

Because you may have a fundraising problem that isn't actually a fundraising problem.

You have a traction problem.

Investors aren't the market.

𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚.

And investors aren't simply funding clever technology.

They're looking for evidence of a credible path:

𝙏𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮 → 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 → 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚 → 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝

So ask yourself:

♦️ Can you clearly explain the expensive problem you solve?
♦️ Have customers committed time, money or resources?
♦️ Are pilots converting into contracts?
♦️ Can you demonstrate demand beyond one friendly early adopter?
♦️ Do customers refer you to others?
♦️ Do you have evidence that somebody will actually pay?

If the answers aren't strong enough, your next meeting probably shouldn't be with another investor.

𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧.

That's why I sometimes make the deliberately provocative statement:

𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡.

For capital-intensive science and deep-tech businesses, investment is often essential.

But the mindset matters.

Don't build your company around what you think investors want.

𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

I've explored this in my latest article on the Traction Gap and why so many promising science and technology startups stall between their first pilots and meaningful market traction.

👉 Read the full article: https://zurl.co/YB78M

30/03/2026

🚀 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳 𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑺𝑪𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑭𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹𝑺

Today I’m running Secrets of the Unicorns — a live session on how successful science startups move from breakthrough ideas to real customers and investor traction.

We’ll cover:

♦️ Why many science startups stall before traction
♦️ The early commercial milestones that unlock funding
♦️ Practical ways to position complex technologies for real markets

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

Last chance to join:
👉 👉 https://zurl.co/nVl2u

25/03/2026

Over the last few years, I’ve worked with many science founders trying to commercialise breakthrough research.

The pattern is remarkably consistent.

The science is impressive.
The technology is often world-class.

But the founders struggle with questions like:

♦️ Who exactly should our first customers be?
♦️ How do we explain this technology clearly?
♦️ What traction do investors really want to see?

These challenges are completely normal.

That’s why I’m hosting a live session called Secrets of the Unicorns to share the practical commercialisation patterns I see working most often.

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚.

Register here:
👉 https://zurl.co/6GqOI

23/03/2026

𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬 𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑵𝑨𝑳𝑺 𝑰𝑵𝑽𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑰𝑵 𝑺𝑪𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑼𝑷𝑺

When investors evaluate early-stage science ventures, they often look for early signals such as:

♦️ Evidence that real customers care about the problem
♦️ Early validation (pilots, partnerships, LOIs)
♦️ A credible path to market adoption

You don’t need thousands of customers.

But you do need signs that the market is pulling the innovation forward.

In my upcoming session Secrets of the Unicorns, I’ll explain how founders generate these signals earlier than most.

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮:

👉 Register here: 👉 https://zurl.co/wamJT

17/03/2026

𝑾𝑯𝒀 𝑫𝑶 𝑺𝑶 𝑴𝑨𝑵𝒀 𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝑺𝑪𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑼𝑷𝑺 𝑺𝑻𝑹𝑼𝑮𝑮𝑳𝑬 𝑻𝑶 𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑰𝑹 𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑺𝑻 𝑪𝑼𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑺?

I see this pattern all the time.

Founders build remarkable technology…
But when they enter the market, they hit the same challenges:

♦️ Customers don’t fully understand the value
♦️ Pilots fail to convert into contracts
♦️ Investors ask for traction that doesn’t yet exist

Great science alone isn’t enough.

The startups that succeed follow a different commercial playbook.

I’ll be unpacking that playbook in a live session:

𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙨 - 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙮 30𝙩𝙝 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝, 3𝙥𝙢 𝘽𝙎𝙏

If you're building a science or deeptech startup and want to accelerate traction, join us here:
👉 https://zurl.co/PIDNY

25/02/2026

🚀 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝐬𝐭!

If you’re building a science or deeptech startup and still searching for your first real customers or investors, this is for you.

Too many brilliant founders stall at the same point:
🛑 Strong science
🛑 Weak traction
🛑 Unclear investor narrative

The Unicorn Builders Community exists to fix that.

Inside you’ll get:
✅ Bite-sized commercialisation training
✅ Live Q&A sessions
✅ Practical tools & templates
✅ Real support from someone who’s done this before

This is not theory.
This is about turning breakthroughs into revenue — and revenue into investment.

Doors open April 1st.

If you’re serious about accelerating traction:

🦄 Join the waitlist here: https://zurl.co/6fvQZ
OR
📅 Book a 15-min call to see if it’s right for you: https://zurl.co/woTOm

𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺. 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

17/02/2026

🧪 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐞: “𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

I’ve lost count of the number of startups with world-changing technology that never left the lab.

The real world doesn’t reward ideas. It rewards the people who turn ideas into value that customers will pay for.

That’s why commercial skills — market validation, positioning, early sales — are the edge every founder needs.

But where do you learn it?
Not in a textbook. Not in a half-day workshop. And not alone.

The Unicorn Builders Community will give you bite-sized, real-world training — plus live answers when you’re stuck.

🔑 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 👉 https://zurl.co/4WW5I

11/02/2026

𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 “𝐖𝐡𝐲”?

Take a leaf from the genius marketing book of companies like Apple and use your “Why” to attract interest from investors and customers.

With the average consumer exposed to over 10,000 ads daily and investors' inboxes flooded with lookalike pitch decks promising to be the “next big thing”, the old approaches to marketing your game-changing innovation don’t get the same results.

If you want to connect with your audience, don’t focus your marketing messages on 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 your innovation is or 𝗵𝗼𝘄 it works or is better than what’s currently out there. Build an engaged following of would-be customers and investors who care about 𝘄𝗵𝘆 your innovation exists - the problem in the world you are going to fix, once and for all.

I’ll show you why this works in another post, but for now, consider how you are currently marketing your innovation to potential investors and customers and see what you could do to become a magnet for those who care about the problem you are solving to attract customers and secure investment.