Speaking & engagements
Operational straight talk for founders, investors and the programmes behind them.
Dr Gareth Mills speaks on what it actually takes to scale deep-tech, hardware and regulated products — drawn from 25+ years of operations leadership and more than £200m of supported venture, growth and private-equity funding. Available for talks, panels, roundtables, founder sessions and workshops across the UK and online.
Most scale-up advice on hardware and deep tech comes from people who have watched it happen. Gareth's comes from having done it: leading engineering release, manufacturing, supply chain, quality and service inside start-ups finding their first repeatable build, scale-ups whose growth had outrun their controls, and established businesses facing transformation.
He has scaled revenue from £0.5m to £30m in a venture-backed consumer technology business, outsourced more than 50 product families, worked with six of the world's top ten contract manufacturers, and contributed operational leadership to funding and exit processes from seed through Series B, private equity and strategic acquisition.
The sessions are direct and practical. Founders leave with a clearer view of what their next stage of growth will demand operationally — and what to fix now, while it is still cheap.
Credentials
- DBA, MSc, CEng, MCIPS — engineering, business, law and chartered recognition
- 25+ years of operations leadership in technology and manufacturing
- £200m+ of venture, growth and private-equity funding supported
- Short-term consultancy for Apple, BMW, Nike, Flex, ABB and Qualcomm
Who this is for
Speaking for the programmes and investors building deep-tech, hardware and regulated-product businesses
Hardware accelerators and venture studios
Cohort sessions on what production actually demands: industrialisation, manufacturing strategy, cost and the operational evidence investors look for.
Deep-tech VCs
Portfolio and investment-team discussions on operational due diligence, manufacturing risk and what 'ready to scale' really means for a hardware or deep-tech business.
Climate-tech VCs
Sessions on scaling physical climate technology: supply chains that hold up, unit economics under volume, and the operational plan behind the impact case.
Medtech and health-tech accelerators
Regulated-product scale-up: QMS, design and process controls, and the operational path from clinical prototype to a business that can manufacture and support product.
University spin-out programmes
Founder sessions for academic founding teams on turning research into product: manufacturing readiness, operating models and what investors expect before they commit.
Innovate UK ecosystems
Talks and workshops within Innovate UK, Catapult and grant-funded communities on industrialisation, scale-up readiness and building operating capability early.
Series A and Series B founder communities
Practical sessions on the operational step-change each round demands: from working prototype to working business, and from first scale to durable, investable operations.
Topics
What Gareth speaks on
Every session is built around the audience — these are the recurring subjects.
- Moving from prototype to production
- Operational readiness for Series A and Series B
- Manufacturing strategy and industrialisation
- Internal versus outsourced manufacturing
- Supply chain, COGS and working-capital readiness
- Scaling regulated and complex hardware products
- Operational due diligence for investors
- Building the operating model required for growth
- AI in manufacturing and product operations
- Why hardware scale-ups stall — and how to prevent it
Sample sessions
Ready-made talks, or built around your cohort
From working prototype to working business
Why the jump from a working prototype to a business that can build, sell and support product is the hardest a hardware company makes — and what to put in place before Series B.
What operational readiness looks like to an investor
The operational evidence behind £200m+ of supported funding: what diligence teams actually test, and how founders can be ready for it.
Make, buy or partner: the manufacturing decision
A framework for the internal-versus-outsourced decision, drawn from outsourcing more than 50 product families and working with six of the world's top ten contract manufacturers.
Scaling regulated products without losing control
Quality systems, design and process controls and supply chain for medtech and other regulated hardware — at start-up speed.
Formats
From a twenty-minute talk to a full portfolio day
Keynotes and talks
Twenty to forty-five minutes, built around evidence and real cases rather than theory.
Panels and roundtables
Founder, investor and portfolio discussions — contributing the operational view most panels miss.
Founder sessions
Small-group working sessions with cohort or portfolio founders on their live scaling problems.
Workshops and masterclasses
Half-day practical formats: manufacturing readiness, operational diligence or the operating model for growth.
Investor briefings
Sessions for investment teams on assessing operational readiness and manufacturing risk before committing capital.
Portfolio support days
A day embedded with several portfolio companies — rapid operational assessment and direction for each.
Book Gareth
Planning a cohort session, panel or investor event?
Sessions are available in person across the UK and online. Fees depend on format and preparation; community and ecosystem rates are available for accelerator, university and Innovate UK programmes.
Tell Gareth about the audience, the date and what you are planning. He replies personally, usually within one working day.