DeepTech Unleashed EP 6: The Crisis/Expansion Duality with Benoit Lemaignan, CEO and Co-Founder of Verkor

In this episode of DeepTech Unleashed, host Christian Noske talks to Benoit Lemaignan, a key player in Europe’s battery industry who, as CEO and Co-Founder of Verkor, has raised €2bn to support Verkor’s mission to fast-track low‑carbon battery production. Their discussion centres on the two critical yet contrasting phases every founder must face, crisis and expansion, through the prism of the battery industry.

Topics include:

• The importance of European strategic autonomy 
• The investments Europe needs to make in fusion and hydrogen 
• Why Benoit is excited about SMRs and decarbonisation 
• What Europe has ‘forgotten’ about manufacturing in the age of outsourcing
• The European mindset v the US mindset 
• The role of management boards in crisis spotting 
• Managing risk through doing things ‘one step at a time’ 
• Revisiting traditional concepts of risk 
• The urge to push during an expansion phase 
• Changing speed during expansion can be as difficult as managing a crisis 
• The vision skill set vs the execution skill set
• How humility and letting go are important to both phases

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