Most investors skip your market sizing slide. Not because the number is too small, but because a $5 billion figure pulled off Statista tells them nothing about how you get your first customer. And when you claim 1% of a huge market, you quietly undercut the entire deck you just spent ten slides building. So what does a market slide that actually sells the business look like?

Otto Pohl helps deep tech founders tell better company stories, with a focus on university spinouts. Former journalist, serial entrepreneur, head of communications for startups, and he has taught entrepreneurial communications at USC. In this episode he and Marina take apart the TAM SAM SOM habit and rebuild the market slide from the bottom up. You will hear why the same blood-analysis technology needs three completely different market pitches depending on whether you are talking to a medtech VC or to SoftBank, how a data center cooling startup found its one number by anchoring on PUE instead of the total market, why conquering Belgium can be a more convincing first move than claiming the world, and what changes in your market narrative between pre-seed and Series A. Plus the reason academic founders keep showing up to the beach in a tuxedo.

LINKS

Could use a strategic advisor on your communications and founder branding? Work with Marina at https://www.scalingnerds.com/

Marina Schmidt (host) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/

Otto Pohl (guest) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ottopohl

Otto Pohl's website & biweekly newsletter: https://www.ottopohl.com/

Otto's consulting, Core Communications: https://www.ottopohl.com/services

CHAPTERS

00:00 - What the market sizing slide is actually for

14:27 - Bottom-up market sizing: the numbers investors believe

41:02 - Picking your wedge: why a small first market wins

49:34 - Academic vs business communication: the tuxedo at the beach

54:15 - How market sizing changes from pre-seed to Series A

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

A practical guide to market sizing for startup pitch decks, built for deep tech and university spinout founders. Otto Pohl and Marina Schmidt cover TAM SAM SOM and its limits, bottom-up market sizing, how the market slide connects to your go-to-market strategy, choosing a beachhead market, and how investor expectations shift from pre-seed to Series A. Scaling Nerds is a startup podcast on communications, storytelling and PR for VC-backed founders raising their next round.

KEYWORDS

market sizing, tam sam som, pitch deck, market slide, bottom-up market sizing, go-to-market strategy, beachhead market, investor pitch, deep tech startup, university spinout, fundraising, startup marketing, startup storytelling, founder branding, startup podcast

The Future of Media, AI & Founder Visibility

Guest: Steven PerlbergLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/sperlberg/⁠ · Merantix Capital: ⁠https://www.merantix-capital.com⁠Head of Communications at Merantix Capital — Berlin-based VC investing in early-stage AI. Former reporter at WSJ, BuzzFeed News, and Business Insider covering media, tech, and politics. Happy to connect with journalists exploring life after reporting.

Host: Marina SchmidtLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠ · Website: ⁠https://www.scalingnerds.com⁠Communications advisor helping science and tech founders get seen, heard, and backed — on stages, podcasts, and in the press.

The media landscape is shifting fast — and as a founder, understanding that shift is no longer optional. Steven Perlberg, Head of Communications at Merantix Capital and former tech journalist at the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed News, and Business Insider, joins Marina to unpack what AI, fragmentation, and the death of the "mushy middle" mean for how founders should think about visibility, PR, and media strategy.

Warning: this one gets philosophical.

US vs. European tech media — The fundamental difference is size and reach. US outlets skew toward covering Silicon Valley companies, making it harder for European seed-stage startups to break through without a strong narrative hook, major fundraising news, or a US expansion angle. Steven's rule: define your goal first, then pick the outlets that match it.

Why founders should pitch journalists directly — When Steven was a reporter, a direct email from a founder saying "I cover your space, want to grab coffee?" always got a yes. Today's version of the five-reporter shortlist might include a Substack writer or LinkedIn creator. Build those relationships personally, not through agencies.

The AI slop problem — Faceless, generic AI content is flooding every channel. The counter-move: a growing premium on human faces and authentic voices. OpenAI's acquisition of tech news show TBPN for reportedly hundreds of millions signals exactly this.

LLMs as the new search — If your audience is getting their news via AI tools instead of clicking TechCrunch, the tier of the outlet matters less than it used to. What matters is that your company and point of view exist across enough credible sources to be surfaced by LLMs. GEO is becoming as important as SEO.

Opinions as the new gold — As information becomes a commodity, what becomes scarce and valuable is judgment, taste, and a distinctive point of view. Founders who show up consistently with a genuine perspective are positioned to become trusted, parasocial key opinion leaders in their space.

The 10-80-10 rule for AI-assisted content — 10% you → 80% AI → 10% you again to edit, humanize, and make it sound like yourself. Prompt it to use your actual language from transcripts and speeches. Don't let it default to "momentum" and bullet points.

• Trust Me, I'm Lying — Ryan Holiday
• TBPN — live tech news show acquired by OpenAI
• ETN — European equivalent of TBPN

Most founders walk onto stage cold. Even Usain Bolt doesn't do that.

In this solo episode, Marina shares the exact warm-up routine she uses as a professional moderator — a five-minute ritual that will make you sharper, more confident, and more connected with your audience. Do this before your next pitch, panel, or keynote and you'll be in the top 5% of speakers on stage.

The framework: Breath → Body → Mind. Always in that order.

👉 Working on your visibility as a founder?

Marina helps deep tech founders get seen, heard, and backed — on stages, podcasts, and beyond. Learn more at www. wearekinetik.com or connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/

🫁 BREATH

Start with 5–10 deep belly breaths to ground your voice and calm nerves. Try a slight backbend while breathing to open the diaphragm. Also try the Physiological Sigh (from Huberman Lab): inhale through the nose, take a short top-up breath, then exhale slowly through the mouth. A few of these settle the nervous system fast.

For your voice:

– Lip trills: blow air through relaxed lips while going up and down in pitch — stretches your vocal range without straining the cords

– Lion & Lemon: alternate between stretching your face wide open (lion) and scrunching it tight (lemon) — activates your facial muscles and makes you more expressive

– The Finger Bite: lightly place a finger between your teeth and practice speaking clearly. Remove it and your articulation is immediately sharper. Marina's #1 non-negotiable — especially if you tend to mumble or trail off.

🧍 BODY

Open your chest. Get your elbows away from your ribcage. Confident speakers take up space. Do a power pose, shake out your arms and legs, and prime your body to gesture freely. According to researcher Vanessa Van Edwards' analysis of thousands of TED Talks, gestures are the single most consistent predictor of how many views a talk gets.

🧠 MIND

Last, because you need to be grounded first. Adopt a host mindset: you're here to take care of the audience, not to perform for them. Shift the spotlight from yourself to the room. Ask: how can I make sure they have a good experience?

If you can, walk the stage beforehand. Find real faces in the audience. Make eye contact with individuals. You're priming your brain to talk to people, not at a crowd.

---

Referenced in this episode:

– Huberman Lab podcast (Andrew Huberman, Stanford) — the Physiological Sigh

– Die Gastgebermethode (The Host Method) — available in German only

– Vanessa Van Edwards — TED Talk gesture research

Marina Schmidt is a founder communications strategist and professional moderator. If you're a founder working on getting on stages, podcasts, or using storytelling to grow your visibility — reach out on LinkedIn.

Scaling Nerds is ranked in the top 5% of podcasts globally, with listeners in 160+ countries.

Make your investor updates the highest-leverage tool to unlock intros, hires, and your next round.

In this episode, you get a full, practical breakdown of how to write investor updates that actually work. We cover how to keep them fast and simple, what to include (and what to leave out), how to structure wins, losses, and asks, and how to turn a simple email into a system that builds trust, momentum, and fundraising advantage over time.

• Why investor updates are one of the most underused growth tools

• How to use updates to activate your investors (not just inform them)

• The ideal structure: reflection, highlights, metrics, wins/losses, asks

• How to balance transparency with confidence when things go wrong

• What changes from pre-seed → Series A and beyond

• How to keep updates short, readable, and high-signal

• When and how often to send them (and why consistency matters more than length)

• How to use updates during a live fundraising round to create momentum and FOMO

• Common mistakes: radio silence, overdesign, inconsistent formats, and bloated content

• Investor updates are not newsletters—they are operating tools

• “Radio silence is a kiss of death” → consistency builds trust

• Investors want both wins and problems—and how you handle them

• Short, structured, and regular beats long and sporadic

• Your asks are the leverage point—don’t bury them

• A strong update builds a track record over time, not just a snapshot

• Daniel Ruben’s article on investor updates (Solvable Syndicate):
  https://www.solvablesyndicate.com

• Newsletter platforms:
  https://www.beehiiv.com
  https://mailchimp.com

• Writing reference:
  On Writing Well by William Zinsser

• FoodTech Weekly newsletter:
  https://www.foodtechweekly.com

• Solvable Syndicate:
  https://www.solvablesyndicate.com

• LinkedIn:
  (link in episode description)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
[email protected]

Could use some help with your comms?
Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wearekinetik.com/⁠

Scaling Nerds helps science and tech founders master the communication skills behind fundraising, hiring, and growth—so you can scale faster without relying on luck.

Keywords

Investor updates, startup investor communication, founder communication strategy, fundraising strategy, startup fundraising tips, venture capital communication, investor relations startups, startup growth strategy, founder updates, startup metrics reporting, pre-seed startup advice, seed stage fundraising, Series A preparation, startup storytelling, founder transparency, startup email strategy, investor engagement, startup accountability, startup communication systems, scaling a startup, deep tech founders, startup leadership communication

Your voice communicates leadership long before your words do.

In this solo episode of Scaling Nerds, Marina Schmidt explores a subtle but powerful communication skill most founders never think about: vocal placement.

Links

Connect with the host:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

[email protected]

Could use some help with your comms?

Work with Marina via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wearekinetik.com/⁠⁠

Why do some people instantly sound trustworthy, calm, and authoritative — while others unintentionally sound nervous, strained, or less confident than they actually are?

The answer often lies in where the voice is coming from in the body.

Drawing from vocal training, podcasting experience, and hundreds of founder conversations, Marina explains how founders can use their voice more intentionally when pitching investors, speaking on stage, or leading teams.

You will learn how different vocal placements — from head voice to chest voice to belly voice — affect how others perceive your confidence, credibility, and presence.

Most importantly, Marina shares simple exercises you can use before an important presentation or pitch to ground your voice and project calm authority.

If you are a technical founder who wants to sound as credible as the work you are building, this episode will help you become more aware of the leadership signal hidden in your voice.

In This Episode

• Why the voice of a pilot can instantly calm nervous passengers

• The concept of vocal placement and why it matters for founders

• The five common places people speak from: head, mouth, throat, chest, and belly

• Why chest and belly voice create more authority and trust

• The difference between speaking loudly and projecting your voice

• How vocal strain and sore throats reveal poor vocal placement

• A simple breathing exercise to ground your voice before a pitch or presentation

• Why smiling slightly while speaking can make your voice sound warmer

• How founders can consciously train their voice for leadership presence

Your voice shapes first impressions.
Before people process your ideas, they interpret your vocal tone, grounding, and confidence.

Authority is often a physical phenomenon.
Speaking from the chest or belly creates a grounded vocal tone that naturally communicates credibility.

Projection is not about volume.
It is about directing your voice so it carries through a room without strain.

Warmth can be heard.
Even a subtle smile changes the vocal pattern and makes a speaker sound more approachable.

Before an important pitch or presentation:

1. Find a private space.

2. Place your hands on your lower back.

3. Lean slightly backward in a gentle backbend.

4. Take slow deep belly breaths.

This activates the diaphragm and helps move your voice into a more grounded register.

Key TakeawaysPractical Exercise From This EpisodeWho This Episode Is For

Imagine you are about to perform a three-minute startup pitch. You stand on stage, the countdown timer ticking. Precious seconds go by, and as you start talking about your business, you explain who you are. You mention the team — beep, beep — the time is up. What. Already. Well, that has happened to a lot of founders.

I can guarantee you, nailing a three-minute stage pitch is not easy, and it’s not something that most of us can just wing. Some of the best practices for preparing a long presentation actually do not apply to a three-minute stage pitch and can even be harmful.

Why? Because the margin of error is so thin.

In this episode, you’ll find out how many words and sentences you can actually fit into a three-minute pitch, what the four elements are that you absolutely have to include, and how you can end your pitch on a powerful note. The interesting thing is, it’s easier to turn a three-minute pitch into a five-minute or eight-minute pitch than the other way around.

It’s better to start with a short version and then add to it, whereas cutting content is really, really tough. So whatever you take away from today, this is the essence of your pitch.

Our lovely guest today is David Beckett. David is an international pitch coach who has trained over 2,900 startups and scaleups to win over 490 million in investment. David is also the creator of the Pitch Canvas and author of the books Pitch to Win and Blue Moon Pitch. It was really a blast to talk to him, and I hope you’ll enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Scaling Nerds helps science and tech founders master the essential communication skills of startup growth so you can fundraise easier, attract customers, and scale faster. I’m your host, Marina Schmidt, a communications advisor for founders specialized in AgriFood, biotech, and materials — or put differently, I scale nerds.

Links

Connect with David Beckett

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbeckettpresentationcoach/

Best3Minutes

https://best3minutes.com/

The Pitch Canvas

https://best3minutes.com/the-pitch-canvas/

Connect with the host:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

[email protected]

Could use some help with your comms?

Check out ⁠⁠⁠https://www.wearekinetik.com/

#StartupPitchTraining
#ThreeMinutePitch
#FounderFundraising
#InvestorPitchTips
#PitchCoachInsights
#StartupCommunication
#DeepTechFounders
#ScienceTechStartups
#PitchToWin
#PitchCanvasFramework
#ScalingNerdsPodcast
#StartupGrowthStrategies
#StartupSEO
#PodcastSEO
#PodcastShowNotes
#FounderSkills
#PitchStructure
#StagePitchPreparation
#EntrepreneurAdvice

Okay, this was a really, really great episode. Today I'm helping another founder with a life pitch fix, and you are really in for a treat because on the one hand, Strong by Form, the company of today, is absolutely fascinating. And on the other hand, we are also going to be covering so many helpful concepts that will help you improve your pitch and your communication, all while working on a really interesting case study.

So to start off, I will just pitch you Strong by Form how I pitch it to friends or random people, right? If you think of a healthy tree, imagine a healthy tree with long branches. It is really fascinating how resilient trees can be, right? Surviving wind and storm. How is that possible? It is actually partially due to the way the fibers of the wood align. Now Strong by Form saw an opportunity here and decided to analyze this and learn from the natural fiber structure of trees to create wood that is as strong as steel or concrete.

Now their super wood can be used as the cover, the external layer of cars. Imagine a Mercedes or a BMW just covered with a layer of wood on the outside.

Super resilient, but it could also cover skyscrapers or replace the concrete slabs used within skyscrapers. Andreas Mitnick, the founder and CEO of Strong by Form, is, in my humble opinion, sitting on a gold mine of storytelling that can sometimes be pretty hard to grasp as the founder, right? Because there is a German saying: you don’t see the forest due to too many trees.

Well, that is exactly what is going on in this episode. You get to witness the process of rediscovering the forest, the big picture, as we, layer by layer, reshape the pitch of Strong by Form from the ground up. You will find that Andre’s excitement and energy truly build throughout the episode.

So I would say it really is worth listening until the end.

Links

Connect with Andres Mitnik

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andres-mitnik/

Check out Strong By Form

https://www.strongbyform.com/

Connect with the host:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

[email protected]

Could use some help with your comms?

Check out ⁠⁠⁠https://www.wearekinetik.com/⁠

Podcast Keywords

Scaling Nerds, startup communications, founder communication, science and tech founders, deep tech startups, VC-backed growth, startup fundraising, investor decks, startup storytelling, founder branding, startup marketing, venture capital, thought leadership, media strategy, technical founders, startup growth

Episode keywords

startup pitch example, Series A pitch example, pitch deck feedback, live pitch coaching, how to pitch investors, startup storytelling example, deep tech pitch, climate tech startup pitch, materials startup, sustainable materials innovation, biomimicry startup, wood stronger than steel, founder pitch training, investor presentation tips, pitch deck strategy, startup communication skills, VC pitch preparation, real startup case study, Andres Mitnik interview, Strong by Form pitch.

 Early-stage founders spend years learning how to fundraise from venture capitalists.

But very few ever look beyond the VC sitting across the table.

Just like founders need to fundraise from VCs, VCs need to fundraise from limited partners.

Who are the guys who give VCs the molah-molah?

What are the hidden incentives?

And how those dynamics quietly shape fundraising, timing, and pressure.

“Everyone thinks they’re pitching one person. They’re not.”

Ariel Barack is a Senior Partner and the Chief Executive of Ordway Selections, a private investment office investing primarily in food and agriculture, health, blockchains, and digital assets.

As Einstein said, “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

Well, today we will look at the rules of the game, so you can play better than anyone else.

This was a very interesting conversation, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Links

Connect with Ariel Barack

https://www.linkedin.com/in/arielbarack/

Mentioned: Anterra Capital

https://anterracapital.com/

Connect with the host:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

[email protected]

Could use some help with your comms?

Check out ⁠⁠https://www.wearekinetik.com/

Find out how to solve the top 3 issues you may face in corporate sales: .1 not understanding the process, 2. the sale taking way too long, 3. getting ghosted or declined and not knowing why.

An absolute must-watch episode for any founder currently hustling for big client deals.

Links

Connect with Ben Kimura-Gross:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-k-g/

Check out Catalyne

https://www.thecatalyne.com/https://www.thecatalyne.com/

Connect with the host:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

[email protected]

Could use some help with your comms?

Check out ⁠⁠https://www.wearekinetik.com/

Episode Keywords

corporate sales strategy, B2B startup sales, enterprise sales for startups, how to close corporate deals, selling to large companies, startup pilots vs paid contracts, why pilots fail, avoiding getting ghosted in sales, long sales cycle solutions, procurement process explained, selling into corporates, founder led sales, startup business development, enterprise deal negotiation, corporate innovation programs, startup partnership strategy, revenue strategy for startups, Ben Kimura Gross interview, Catalyne startup sales, closing big clients fast.

Podcast Keywords

Scaling Nerds, startup communications, founder communication, science and tech founders, deep tech startups, VC-backed growth, startup fundraising, investor decks, startup storytelling, founder branding, startup marketing, venture capital, thought leadership, media strategy, technical founders, startup growth.

 Thought leadership. It's a big topic. You may know of Infarm, the vertical farming company that raised $600 Million before going bust after the Ukraine war drove up energy prices and made their business collapse.

Regarding their operations can say all you want, the CEO of Infarm was an exceptional fundraiser. But how did he do it?

One of my close friends worked for infarm and thats how I found out that they actually hired a full-time employee in charge of supporting the founders with thought leadership.

Raising funds requires investors trusting the team, especially the founders. To me, thought leadership is about scaling yourself. Instead of only relying on one-on-one introductions you create ways for people to get to know you and what you are up to.

But well... how?

Lets explore this in the second half of this conversation with Sarah Rall, Director of Communications at Cherry Ventures.

Links

Connect with Sarah Rall:

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahrall/⁠

Check out Cherry Ventures

⁠https://cherry.vc/⁠

Connect with the host:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠⁠⁠

[email protected]

Could use some help with your comms?

Check out ⁠https://www.wearekinetik.com/

Episode Keywords

founder thought leadership, startup personal branding, VC backed founders, how to build credibility as a founder, investor trust building, startup media strategy, LinkedIn strategy for founders, founder visibility strategy, raising venture capital, startup reputation management, executive positioning, venture capital communications, Cherry Ventures, Sarah Rall interview, scaling founder influence, startup storytelling strategy, PR for startups, founder brand building, startup communications podcast

Podcast Keywords

Scaling Nerds, startup communications, founder communication, science and tech founders, deep tech startups, VC-backed growth, startup fundraising, investor decks, startup storytelling, founder branding, startup marketing, venture capital, thought leadership, media strategy, technical founders, startup growth.