# Key-Person Risk in Deep Tech Bus factor = 1 means the company dies if one person leaves. In deep tech, this is common and dangerous. The pattern: a CTO who is simultaneously the sole inventor, domain expert, lead architect, and primary customer-facing delivery person. They hold 20-30% equity but are the 100% capability bottleneck. Every deployment requires their involvement. Every technical decision flows through them. This is not a risk factor on a spreadsheet. It is the structural ceiling of the company. If the CTO is needed for every deployment, the company scales linearly with their calendar. That's a solo consulting practice with employees, not a scalable business. The test: who delivers a new deployment without the CTO's involvement? If the answer is nobody, then the 18-month plan must include hiring 2-3 senior engineers who can deliver independently. Without this, all other scaling assumptions are fantasy. Vesting and acceleration matter here too. If the key person's equity structure allows early departure or has acceleration on change of control, the investor bears outsized risk. Always check vesting schedule, acceleration clauses, and liquidity preferences. Related: [[Technical DD Framework]], [[Consultancy-to-Platform Transition]], [[Industrial AI MOC]] --- Tags: #deeptech #investing #firstprinciple