Mehdi Kargar, Ph.D., is the CEO and Cofounder of Maxterial. They arecommercializing an affordable metallic coating to protect surfaces against extreme environments and to reduce the use of hexavalent chrome, and cyanides, known to cause cancers. This is the story about how Maxterial cracked the code to replacing Hexavalent Chromium without sacrificing cost, speed, or performance, and the decade of near-deaths, grit, and serendipity it took to build a deep tech revolution.

Maxterial received seed-stage funds from Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs, then backed by the Corporate Venture arms of Saint Gobain and Anglo American; the NSF, and now the U.S. Department of Defense'. In a major development, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee has approved a bill to provide $5M in 2027 for the further evaluation and adoption of their technology, MaxShield.

Shownotes

https://www.maxterial.com/
Problems with hexavalent chromium (also known as chromium-6) and why it has been difficult to
Product ecosystem fit: Founder is basically having to create a whole ecosystem for the product while developing good ROI for everyone involved.
Solution: Nickel & Molybdenum alloy
Listen to customers! They might be looking at a different use for your technology
Evolution of technology: From grad school (Virginia Tech) to startup- pivot from focusing on publications to patents
Serendipity: Scanning Electron Microscopy image that lead to bigger use cases
As a founder, be less rigid!
Pitch to Peter Thiel's investment arm https://breakout.vc/ that won them over by saying: "Good entrepreneurs are like a superbug (MRSA). I am going to build this startup successfully!"
Move from Blacksburg, VA (Virginia Tech) to Silicon Valley: Why moving to better startup ecosystems was important
For startups/aspiring founders, trade shows are a better place to understand industry needs
Evolution of customers
A "No" from anyone during the journey can change into Yes by persistence- always work towards it
Invest in relations: People invest in people
Kindness of strangers
Working with the government: "Applying for SBIR and getting money is not working with the government!"
Understanding the ecosystem: Working with DoD, lobbyists, retired personnel from armed forces
Maxterial's MaxShield aims to replace hard chrome in cylinder use