The Story
We work with startups, scaleups and VC/PE teams to build the business clarity, ICP-precise signal and sharper execution that breakthrough growth depends on. The results are faster, bolder and safer decisions, stronger partner conversations and earlier market traction.
Our core competence is rooted in decades of working with brilliant tech vendors and industry analysts across markets and categories. We have absorbed their no-nonsense frameworks to assess strategy, positioning, differentiation and category innovation. We apply these stage-aligned and systematically. Where most can only add to the noise, we are all about creating substance that excels under serious scrutiny.
We often start hands-on and reduce our role as internal capability grows — from fractional leadership to co-pilot support to ad-hoc advice. Your independence is our goal.
About Chris
Chris is an innovation-GTM strategist with career-long experience in b2b market intelligence, business building, and a track record in helping innovators break into markets or create new ones.
Chris has helped global tech megaplayers as well as VC backed startups and scaleups in Germany, the UK, the Nordics and the US.
An active mentor in accelerator programmes, Chris also leads the global State of Startups with Industry Analysts research with the University of Edinburgh Business School which has become the largest source of insights on the matter. Chris coined key frameworks in modern AR management and was voted a top-10 expert in this field for his growth-oriented approaches.
Business Clarity
We get your strategy to unlock everyday planning and decision making. You get excellent thinkers on your team. Our no-nonsense guidance on sharper positioning and differentiation is damn hard to copy and will help you move your GTM from challenge to actionable.
Investor Impact
We help you create investor pull before funding becomes survival. Because we get you share-of-mind with the specialists from whom investors get their data and insights. We level up your pitch with ICP-precise priorities and bigger picture leverage that creates conviction not hype.
Analyst Signal
Innovators cross the chasm sooner when the Early Majority gains confidence through respected 3rd party validation. Our worldclass analyst intelligence specialists get you there — systematically, stage-aligned, and with measurable and proven impact.
Category Leadership
We help you move/make the map in the infinite game of business innovation. Understand and conquer whitespace sooner. Get your brand into LLMs to influence longlists and gain analyst advocacy to win the shortlists. Our experts on your team get you growth support where it matters.
PE / VC platform teams can't be in every management decision.
But you can upgrade the questions your teams ask before timing becomes survival.
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Helps spot whether your team has the kind of market signal that:
→ gets them onto buyer shortlists
→ builds Early Majority trust
→ helps to make decisions faster and safer than rivals
Investors:
If one question is hard to answer confidently, that’s usually the signal — not the problem.
Management Teams:
Don’t overthink it — pick the one question you can’t answer clearly. That’s usually where speed and trust are leaking.
An 8-page introduction to one of the market-signal methods behind our work
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Sources: a16z, Cervin Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Sifted.eu, SSIA Research 2018, 2022 and 2025
- What's Changing, Who's Winning
- VCs and Industry Analysts
- VC- and Founder-Rated Benefits
- Leave the Misconceptions to Others
- Avoidable Missteps
- Minimal-viable -> Selective -> Strategic
- Getting Started
What startups, analysts, and investors told us about signal, timing, and market perception
Independent, bi-annual research project, led by Professor Neil Pollock, at the University of Edinburgh Business School
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- Analyst experience with Startups
- Use cases expectation vs. experience
- Most-reachable report types
- Business benefits seen by investors and founders
- Investor AR activities & support of startups
- Activities along funding stages
- Startup / investor spending and plans
- Strategic implications for startups, investors and accelerators, analyst firms, and for policy makers
Case Studies
Strategy & GTM Sharpening
A truly disruptive Business Transformation Services Consultancy in the UK succeeds at differentiating and displacing mega-players. Accelerates to FT1000 growth.
Critical Series A Investment
A German Industrial IoT startup builds top-tier analyst advocacy and secures critical growth investment just in time as market rivalry intensifies.
Category Change and Leadership
Network and compute services specialist enters top-tier analyst report, advances to repeated leader placements, moves the category and creates strategic leverage.
Example Clients
Our investment paid-off 10x
Chris makes good things brilliant. His guidance in getting the value deep into all parts of Pace has been a booster for us in so many ways.
Tim Bretman, CEO at Pace
Pace is a UK-based Business Transformation specialist
Outstanding
The quality of briefings you provide is refreshing. The engagement you're creating among leadership and SMEs is a joy to support.
Principal Analyst, Top-tier Analyst Firm.
A real force for good
Chris has been a real force for good for our business.
Remember 5x Gartner MQ Leader and improvement.
Impact management
Clear value propositions and systematic outcome tracking. This isn't just measurement improvement — it's organisational transformation.
Duncan Chapple, AR Lead, Elisa Industriq
#2 on Thinkers360 Global Thought Leaders
Focused & effective
Getting highlighted alongside only 4 other startups in this innovator report for investors helped us close our Series-A in time and with good terms.
Pierre Maniere, Founder and CEO, Cybus.io
Gartner Cool Vendor and other analyst publications
Category impact
Chris' expertise and approach created excitement in our Leadership and Board of Directors. The results in category creation speak for themselves.
David Hopp, Head of AR, Synd.io
Hottest topic in startup research
Your „State of Startups with Industry Analysts“ shines a light on maybe the last overlooked success factor for b2b tech innovators.
Sector Background
AI | Automation | Blockchain | GreenTech | CRM | ERP
EdTech | FinTech | HealthTech | IaaS | Industrial IoT
Networks | SaaS | Security Services | Storage
AI | Automation | Blockchain
GreenTech | ERP | EdTech | FinTech
HealthTech | IaaS | Industrial IoT
Networks | SaaS | Security | Storage
Example Outcomes
FT1000 Growth
Supported a startup from its early days to #24 in the FT1000 list of fastest-growing companies in Europe over three years – #2 in their category.
B2B services disruptor
£100m
Market intelligence and ICP signal programme as part of a GTM-/sales acceleration initiative that quadrupled pipeline, tripled win rates and grew revenue 5x.
Innovative IaaS vendor
€8m
Minimal-viable AR programme grew awareness across selected analyst firms and resulted in the inclusion in a category-sharp investor note. Series A closed soon after.
Industrial IoT startup
Partnerships & Analyst Relations
We have worked with hundreds of analysts at the "big 5" industry analyst firms as well as with rising stars, specialists and industry legends.
We've earned our reputation for excellent analyst relations management in countless briefings, inquiries, events, and projects - and not least through standout results and business impact in 20 years.