About

We work with founders building hardware-, science-, or policy-heavy products where the path to commercial traction runs through a small number of well-chosen customer and partner relationships. The work tends to look like: market mapping, customer development, regulatory and permitting strategy, and the long sequence of decisions that takes a prototype to a paying contract.

In parallel, we build intelligence platforms, market maps, and decision tools that the founders we work with (and the operators around them) can actually use. Most of what is listed on the home page came out of a real customer engagement.

We are open to hosting young European founders through programs such as Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, and informal advisory relationships with technical founders at any stage.

What we look for: a founder working on a real physical problem, a clear point of view on the customer, and intellectual honesty about what they do and don’t know.

Mike German is a Ph.D., P.E. environmental engineer who has spent the last decade at the intersection of climate hardware, defense innovation, and municipal infrastructure. He has worked across NATO innovation programs, New York City building decarbonization, FEMA disaster recovery, university technology transfer, and US telecom and water utilities.

Reach him at info@stepsventures.com.