DEEP-TECH SCALING PRACTICE

The technology works.
What happens next is the hard part.

CompoundWorks helps deep-tech companies through critical product and scaling transitions — deciding what deserves to become the product, what is really ready, and what must change for growth to become repeatable.

The more systemic and consequential the challenge becomes — across technology, architecture, organisation, ecosystem and trust — the more relevant the CompoundWorks approach becomes.

Discuss your situation →See how CompoundWorks works ↓

Founder-led · operator-built · deep-tech systems & scaling

25+ yearsDeep-tech systems & scaling
150+ peopleVentures and teams scaled
€10M+ fundingDeep-tech scaleup journey
50+ customersEurope · US · China

Built systems. Productised what repeated. Scaled adoption.

CompoundWorks is built on Jose Lopez’s experience delivering mission-critical systems in regulated defence environments, then productising repeatable capability at Simware, TMRW and Threedy — including HOLOH and instant3Dhub — and scaling its adoption across international and industrial markets.

Delivered with or for during Jose’s career: Spanish MoD · NATO · Airbus · Thales · Lockheed Martin · Leonardo · Indra · BMW · Porsche · Daimler Truck · Stadler Rail · Forvia Hella

HOW COMPOUNDWORKS WORKS

Start with the decision.

There is no mandatory funnel. If the decision is clear, start there. If the situation is unclear, create the smallest read that can make it clear.

FORM

Define what to build and where to win.

Clarify the wedge, product boundary, system role, strategic moat, architecture and validation path.

Wedge · product boundary · system role · architecture

Explore FORM → ASSESS

Understand what is real, ready, risky or constrained.

Create an executive, investment or system-level read before committing capital, scope or organisational change.

Readiness · maturity · diligence · integration risk

Explore ASSESS → SCALE

Remove what limits growth and make it repeatable.

Move from pilots to programmes, projects to platforms and founder-dependent execution to a system that can absorb more complexity.

Productisation · pilot-to-program · delivery · trust

Explore SCALE →
TWO SYSTEMS LENSES

Architect × Operator

Every critical deep-tech decision has two sides: what the system can become, and what the company must become to make it real. CompoundWorks works across both.

COMPOUND INNOVATION LENS

When technologies compound, the system changes.

What kind of systems are emerging?

Technologies that once evolved in parallel are starting to compound — each layer making the others more valuable, and harder to separate. This lens looks outward at the new system that convergence makes possible, where value can be created, and what has to be architected for it to work.

  • System boundaries & interfaces
  • Ecosystem position & partners
  • Architecture & standards
  • Moat & category design
  • Operational Reality & infrastructure layer
FOLLOW THE VISIONThe World Becomes Operational →
SCALING SYSTEMS LENS

Technology can work before the system can scale.

What must the company become to operate there?

Proven technology is necessary, but not sufficient for scale. This lens looks inward at whether Technology, Organisation and Trust are maturing together — and where a hidden maturity gap is likely to become the next scaling constraint.

  • TechnologyArchitecture, platform and engineering system.
  • OrganisationOperating model, governance and decision capacity.
  • TrustInstitutional trust, evidence and deployment confidence.
EXPLORE THE SCALING GAPThe Compound Innovation Gap →

These two lenses constrain each other. A more ambitious technology and market thesis changes the demands placed on the company. The company's actual maturity constrains which parts of that future can credibly be pursued now.

See how the two lenses change the decision →
WHERE COMPOUNDWORKS FITS

The more systemic and consequential the transition, the stronger the fit.

CompoundWorks can support deep-tech companies broadly. Its highest leverage appears when three conditions come together.

A consequential transition exists.

Something material has to change: the product boundary, architecture, deployment model, operating system, investment case or leadership capacity.

The constraint is coupled.

Technology, product, architecture, organisation, ecosystem or trust interact strongly enough that solving one in isolation risks creating the next bottleneck.

Senior judgement or ownership matters.

The situation needs system-level judgement, architecture, decision-making or temporary ownership — not simply more execution capacity.

The same technology can create a very different scaling problem depending on the system around it.

See how the system changes the problem →
25+ YEARS · FOUNDER · ARCHITECT · OPERATOR

A rare combination.

Systems rigor, platform thinking, technological foresight and business execution — together, not separately.

Jose Lopez founded CompoundWorks after more than 25 years building, productising and scaling deep-tech systems across defence, simulation, XR, industrial platforms and digital twins. That operating history combines the Architect’s view of what new systems can become with the Operator’s understanding of what companies must become to deliver them.

01 — NADS · SOLVE

2002–2017Founder & Managing Director70+ people · €50M+ deliveries

Built and bootstrapped NADS into a profitable 70+ person defence engineering business, delivering €50M+ in mission-critical systems and R&D programmes. Earned long-term trust with government agencies, NATO and major primes by combining rigorous engineering discipline with agile, lean execution — delivering high-quality solutions faster and with a strong cost advantage.

02 — SIMWARE SOLUTIONS · PRODUCTISE

2012–2018Founder & CEO / CPO€5M+ raised · 50+ customers internationally

Turned recurring simulation patterns into a software platform, pioneering Simulation-as-a-Service and the Internet of Simulations. Raised more than €5M through R&D grants and convertible financing to develop and bring the venture to market, reaching customers across Europe, the US and China.

03 — CRYTEK / TMRW · CONVERGE

2018–2024Co-Founder & SVP Product & Services150+ people · €10M+ funding

Co-founded TMRW and helped scale it while developing new deep-tech platform categories in the industrial metaverse and immersive holographic communication — including RealityOS and HOLOH — at the convergence of AI, simulation, XR, digital twins and industrial systems.

04 — THREEDY · SCALE

2024–2025VP Customer SuccessSeries A · industrial digital twins

Worked inside a post-Series-A industrial digital-twin company on the adoption, delivery and organisational maturity required to move an enterprise platform beyond first deployments.

Four stages. One accumulating pattern. Each changed how I think about architecture, innovation and scaling — and ultimately shaped the CompoundWorks practice, its strategic thesis and its core IP.

See the lessons compounded →jose.lopez@compoundworks.ioFull background on LinkedIn →
IN THEIR WORDS

What people I’ve worked with say.

Jose is not just a visionary technologist but also an innovator with high capacity for navigating the complexities of deep-tech products and companies.
Carlos FrancoFounder & CEO, FYWARE
Jose is an extremely smart and well prepared entrepreneur with the ability to see both the big picture all the way to the small implementation details needed to realize complex projects.
Javier PeñalbaDeep-Tech IP & Innovation Strategist
Jose's noteworthy accomplishments include building and maturing a product team from scratch, alongside developing software engineering processes to effectively manage our entire product and solutions portfolio.
Andy RiddellExecutive Growth Leader · ex-NVIDIA, Sharp, Foxconn
See all recommendations on LinkedIn →
START WHERE YOU ARE

Is the decision already clear?

If the decision is clear, let's talk. If it isn't, take the quick self-assessment to understand where you are now and what may be constraining the system.

Discuss your situation →Take the quick Check →