What is the Academic Trap?

It's when a technical founder presents their company the way they'd present to other researchers: mechanism first. The work is strong, but people outside the field can't see what the company does or why it matters in the time they give it.

Do you need to be a scientist to brand a deep tech company?

No, and I'm not one. My job is to translate the science for the people who need to act on it: investors, hires, partners and buyers.

It gives a better experience for visitors and for your team. Everything is hosted in one place and updates are easier than on WordPress.

How does a project run?

You share a mood board, I design in Figma, we do two rounds of revisions with changes listed out, then I build once the design is signed off.

Can you do the brand, website and pitch deck together?

Yes. They work best as one piece, because investors usually look at your site before or after your deck.

Do you work with fintech and investment firms?

Yes. Ula Capital, one of the Gulf's first tech-focused VC firms, is one example.

Services

Brand identity, Webflow websites and pitch decks for deep tech founders

For science, deep tech and fintech teams who need to be understood fast

Most technical founders I meet have the same problem. The science is excellent, but the website reads like a research paper. I call it the Academic Trap. Investors, hires and partners give a page a few seconds, and if they can't see what the company does, they move on. I fix that with a brand, a site and a deck that say it plainly.

Talk to Marshall Studio See the work

APPROACH

Three things I do.

Brand, website and pitch deck. They work best as one piece, so I can do one or all three.

Brand identity and brand guidelines.

A logo, wordmark and visual system that looks like a company, not a lab. You get a brand guidelines doc so your team and suppliers keep it consistent.

Webflow websites and landing pages.

Story first, science second. I design in Figma and build in Webflow, so the site is fast, easy to update and hosted in one place. Every page tells an investor or buyer what you do and why it matters before it explains how. No research paper, no Academic Trap.

Pitch decks.

Story first, science second. At the pitch clinic I sat in on at Camp Hustle, Hustle Fund's founder bootcamp in San Francisco, the judging VCs kept saying decks were disorganised and too slow to get to what the company does. So I build decks in that order: what you do, why it matters, the proof, then the mechanism. Built to match your website, because investors check both.