The skill that scales photonics companies: it is not what you think

There is a quote circling the photonics industry from Marisa Edmund of Edmund Optics: technology defines what is possible, but people define what becomes real. She was reflecting on how Edmund Optics grew from a small operation selling refurbished optics into a global company. Her answer was not a product breakthrough or a clever strategy. It was people, relationships, and showing up consistently over time.

In an industry built on precision engineering and cutting-edge physics, you might expect the answer to scaling to be technical. But anyone who has watched a photonics startup try to grow will recognise exactly what she means.

The gap nobody warns you about

The Dutch photonic chip industry is full of companies that have genuinely cracked something technically. Their technology is real, but going from a team of eight researchers sharing the same mental model, to fifty people who need processes, communication structures, and clear ownership of decisions: that is where things get hard. The skills that help you navigate that transition are not the ones that got you there.

What Marisa’s story actually tells us

Edmund Optics grew by staying close to the regions it served, hiring people who brought networks and perspectives with them, and building long-term relationships over time. What started as two people in Europe grew into a team of around 150 across multiple sites. Marisa describes it as growth shaped by close collaboration with local partners, by hiring people who brought strong networks with them, and by staying present in the regions they served. That model works just as well for a photonics startup in Eindhoven trying to reach its first fifty customers.

The roles that actually drive scale

The photonics industry needs project managers who can hold complex programmes together. Business developers who can translate a chip capability into something a customer in healthcare, telecoms, or defence actually wants to buy. People who understand regulatory pathways and market dynamics. And people who can communicate, internally to keep a fast-moving team aligned, externally to explain what photonics does to someone who has never encountered it.

The playbook is still being written, and companies across the Dutch ecosystem are actively looking for people who want to help write it. Want to be the first to know about new opportunities in the photonic chip industry? Leave your details to get the latest jobs, news, and events delivered straight to your inbox.