Episode Details

What connects offshore engineering, inkjet printers, molecular diagnostics and a small workshop in a church in Newcastle? 

For Paul Marshall, it’s all part of the same journey: a lifelong fascination with how things work, and a belief that good engineering can solve meaningful problems. 

Paul is the co-founder of Rapid Fluidics, a UK consultancy and prototyping company specialising in microfluidic cartridges. What began as a part-time side project; evenings, weekends and two 3D printers in a rented room has grown into a profitable, globally recognised business serving life sciences startups, research labs and multinational pharma companies. 

But the part that makes Paul’s story compelling isn’t the technology. 

It’s the honesty: 

He never wanted to be a founder. 

He never set out to run a business. 

And yet here he is, leading a team, travelling the world for client meetings, navigating cash flow, BD, branding, and hiring… all while staying open, self-aware and disarmingly human about the whole thing. 

In this episode of Why Design, Paul joins host Chris Whyte to unpack the journey: the technical foundations, the unexpected turns, the small risks, the networking habits, the content strategy, the international expansion, and what it really means to grow a niche hardware business without investment. 

Don’t just listen. Go beyond the podcast. 

Join the Why Design community → teamkodu.com/events 

💡 What You’ll Learn 

🧪 Why microfluidics is exploding, and how Rapid Fluidics carved out a niche 

🎓 How a grandfather, Lego and curiosity shaped Paul’s engineering mindset  

🚀 The step-by-step transition from contractor → founder → employer 

📈 Why transparency about cash flow builds trust inside a team 

🔗 How LinkedIn and trade shows built a global BD pipeline 

🇸 How Paul is expanding into the US without losing his UK roots 

💬 Why the best founders “make it up as they go along”, and why that’s okay  

💬 Memorable Quotes 

“I wanted to see how machines work. I wanted to design machines… building things, breaking things, probably more breaking than building.” 

“If an engineer can design a solution to a problem, it doesn’t matter if it’s a 36-inch pipe or a 200-micron pipe.” 

“Six months in, we hired our first intern… and that’s when I realised: if I’m going to have employees full time, I need to do this full time.” 

“I’m making it up as I go along but as long as I’m one page ahead, that’s all that matters.” 

“You can’t beat sitting in a room showing people what we can make and watching the lightbulb moment.” 

🔗 Resources & Links 

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, YouTube & Amazon → whydesign.club 

👥 Join the Why Design community → teamkodu.com/events 

🔍 Explore Rapid Fluidics → https://www.rapidfluidics.com/ 

🔗 Connect with Paul Marshall → https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-marshall-rapid-fluidics/ 

📸 Follow @whydesignxkodu on Instagram 

🎥 Watch full episodes → YouTube.com/@whydesignpod 

🔗 Connect with Chris Whyte →

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