From Lab to Market: The Hidden Milestones That Signal Deep Tech Commercialization

The journey from breakthrough technology to commercial product often feels like crossing an endless desert. But sometimes, the most meaningful milestones aren’t the ones that make headlines. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Craig Rupp, founder and CEO of Sabanto, revealed a surprisingly emotional moment in his company’s commercialization journey: seeing their first installation manual.

“The other day I saw an installation manual that one of my engineers made,” Craig shares, “and it is essentially the manual for installing an Autonomy kit on a Kaboda M Five. And I just thought to myself, my God, we’re at a point now in the company’s life where we have an actual installation manual.”

The Real Signs of Commercial Readiness

This seemingly mundane achievement represents something profound about the commercialization journey. It’s not just about the technology working – it’s about making it accessible, repeatable, and scalable. For Sabanto, this meant transforming complex autonomous farming technology into something that could be installed in “about 4 hours.”

From Research to Reality

Craig’s journey from initial concept to commercial product reveals a methodical approach to commercialization:

1. First came the hands-on research phase. As Craig explains, “I went and leased the JCB 4220… and went and bought an 18 row 20 inch planter, spent the winter writing software, putting hardware together.”
2. Then extensive field testing: “I went and got a CDL, a license to operate a semi… and I went from state to state, lined up a bunch of farmers and went state to state.”
3. Next, building the core team: “I went back to Chicago and hired five of the best engineers I knew that could help me pull this off.”
4. Finally, the productization phase: “Throughout 2022, we thought, okay… now let’s productize this.”

The Hidden Work of Productization

What makes Sabanto’s story particularly instructive is their focus on the unsexy but crucial aspects of commercialization. “We spent productizing it, giving it the ability to hand it off or let other people deploy Autonomy into their operations,” Craig explains.

This included building a dealer distributor network, creating training programs, and going through certifications – all the infrastructure needed to turn innovative technology into a scalable business.

From One-Off to Repeatable

One critical milestone was achieving FCC compliance. As Craig notes, “A while back I was watching one of my engineers, they were doing FCC compliance testing and Canadian testing as well. And I’m just thinking to myself, you know, we had the wherewithal and we had the ability to actually pass FCC testing.”

These regulatory achievements might seem bureaucratic, but they represent crucial transitions from prototype to product. They’re the difference between something that works in the lab and something that can be sold at scale.

Lessons for Deep Tech Founders

Sabanto’s commercialization journey offers several key insights:

1. Look for Infrastructure Milestones: Sometimes the most meaningful progress isn’t in the technology itself, but in the systems that make it deployable.
2. Build for Handoff: True commercialization means creating something others can implement without your direct involvement.
3. Embrace the Boring: The unsexy parts of productization – manuals, certifications, training programs – are often what determine commercial success.

The Platform Vision

Ultimately, Sabanto’s approach to commercialization feeds into a larger vision. “We want to give others the ability to add or I guess contribute to agriculture,” Craig explains. By focusing on making their technology accessible and deployable, they’re not just building a product – they’re creating a platform for industry innovation.

For deep tech founders, the lesson is clear: the path from breakthrough to business isn’t just about perfecting the technology – it’s about building all the systems, documentation, and infrastructure that make that technology commercially viable. Sometimes, the most exciting milestone isn’t a new technical achievement, but seeing your first installation manual.