Why proven technology stalls
Between a successful pilot and a procurement decision, there are parties who haven’t been aligned, sequences that haven’t been mapped, and commercial systems that haven’t been built.
Most climate-tech companies treat this as a sales problem. It’s a coordination problem. The buyer can’t say yes alone. Engineers, procurement, finance, operations, sometimes external validators, all need to agree, in sequence, on timelines that don’t match. The companies that break through are the ones that learn to see the full system and build alignment deliberately.
Free 10-question diagnostic. I’ll send you the one thing I’d fix first.
Three qualified stakeholder meetings in your first 30 days.
How I work
Pressure-Test
Three conversations with real stakeholders in thirty days. Not for pipeline. To surface what only the market can tell you, before another quarter is spent defending the wrong thesis. The first loop of the work.
Map the System
Those conversations reveal the real shape of the system: who has to say yes, in what order, and what each of them needs to see. Names, concerns, sequences. Everything downstream depends on it.
Build to Scale
A commercial operating system built around how your buyers actually decide. Rhythms, signals, and the infrastructure to support them, configured for your market. By the time I leave, your team runs it
I don’t hand over a strategy deck. I build the commercial operating system and hand over the keys.
What this looks like in practice
I work alongside founders and leadership teams for six to eighteen months. The first 90 days are diagnostic and pressure-testing. Three guaranteed meetings with qualified stakeholders in your first 30 days. Not to build pipeline. To validate how the market actually responds to your value proposition. What comes back from those conversations reshapes everything.
From there, I build. Not plans. Infrastructure. Sales process with stage gates and opportunity scoring. Messaging tested in market and built into outreach sequences. Pipeline that tracks the leading indicators that actually predict revenue, not the vanity metrics that make board decks look busy. Coalition playbooks for the multi-stakeholder projects where your buyer can’t say yes alone. The pattern that converts gets documented, systematized, and made operational.
By the time I’m done, there’s a functioning commercial operation with dashboards your team checks Monday morning, outreach that runs on rhythm, and a system that doesn’t depend on me to operate or interpret.
See how engagements are structured.
Good technology doesn’t stall because people say no. It stalls because the people who need to say yes haven’t had the conversation yet.
WHO I WORK WITH
Climate-tech companies with proven technology navigating buyer environments where the decision requires more than one person saying yes. Seed-Plus to Series A with active pilots or early revenue. Pre-revenue companies at TRL 6+ with real pilot traction are also a fit for the Discovery Sprint. Companies already generating revenue but stalled on the next tier fit too: the system that got you here is usually what needs re-examining.
The sectors where this matters most: energy systems, water infrastructure, the built environment, circular economy, freight and logistics, and Indigenous infrastructure. International companies entering the Canadian market get the additional layer: provincial regulatory navigation, CSA certification strategy, and access through the accelerators I work with, Access Canada, and BCIC.
Not a fit yet: pre-revenue research without pilot traction. When you’re there, the Growth Toolkits are built for that stage.
Start a Conversation
45 minutes. No deck required. An honest read on where you are, what’s blocking progress, and whether working together makes sense.
Drop your name, email, and a quick note on what you’re working on. I’ll send a calendar link.
Executive-in-Residence, Foresight Canada. Executive-in-Residence, Spring Activator. Board of Directors, CRDC Materials, North America.
CLIENT WORK
CRDC Global
"...producing some great international partnerships from their extensive network. We ended up collaborating with them to build a Canadian presence for CRDC Global and they absolutely hit that out of the park. Chris and his team mapped the market, introduced us to the key players, and helped us identify and start negotiations with a strategic investor and operating partner..."
Ross Gibby - COO, CRDC Global
