Every year, universities produce groundbreaking research, new algorithms, new hardware, new scientific breakthroughs. But turning those ideas into real products that solve real problems in the world is a completely different challenge.

There’s often what people call the “valley of death” between a promising proof of concept in the lab and a scalable, commercially viable technology. Crossing that gap requires not just technical brilliance, but a deep understanding of customers, markets, and the realities of building a company.

Today’s guest has spent his career right at that intersection.

Dr. Seth Hollar is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of WISER Systems, a company developing advanced real-time location and tracking technology using ultra-wideband radio systems to help industries track assets with extreme precision. He’s been the primary inventor behind key innovations in the company’s technology and has helped build a growing portfolio of patents in real-time localization systems.

Before building WISER, Seth worked across some of the most demanding environments in engineering—from aerospace work at Lockheed Martin on space exploration missions, to research in MEMS and nanotechnology as a fellow at Toshiba, and later shaping the next generation of founders as Associate Director of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program at North Carolina State University.

With degrees from MIT and a PhD from UC Berkeley, he has spent decades thinking about how deep technical innovation actually makes its way from research labs into real-world impact.

In this conversation, we’re going to talk about that journey—what it takes to translate academic research into real companies, the mindset shift from scientist to founder, and how deep-tech innovators can bridge the long road between breakthrough ideas and scalable products.