Go-to-market for new businesses and services
Who to sell to, what to offer, and how to reach them. I stay with you until the first customers are won.
New products do not sell just because they exist. Who to sell to, what to offer and how to reach them: I design the whole path to the first customers — market and customer definition, the pitch, partner development and early sales — and will sell myself when needed.
When this helps
- You have launched a new business or service but have not won the first customers yet
- There is no agreement inside the company on who the ideal customer is
- You want to build sales through agencies or partners but do not know where to start
- You are an overseas company entering the Japanese market, or launching sales at your Japan entity
What I do
- 01
Market and customer definition
Decide the ideal customer profile and the message for each segment based on customer interviews — facts, not assumptions.
- 02
Reasons to act, and risks
Work backwards from impact to decide what is worth doing, and surface the risks up front. Refine the strategy with what you learn instead of throwing it away.
- 03
Winning the first customers
Treat the first few accounts as need discovery, align internally before proposing, and turn what resonated into the next targeting decision. I join sales meetings myself when needed.
- 04
Agency and partner development
Choose candidates from a hypothesis and design what the partnership means for them, through to co-hosted events that create pipeline.
- 05
Cross-functional execution
Move projects that involve sales, product, legal and finance forward with groundwork and data.
Related track record
- Go-to-market for a new business, Uber Courier
Uber Japan. Growing corporate contracts and managing deals and projects across departments
- 0→1Built agency partnerships from zero
Flywheel Digital Japan. From research and planning to stakeholder and budget management. Co-hosted events became the most cost-effective lead source I have seen
- $3,000Closed the largest New MRR deal at the time
Flywheel Digital Japan (November 2024). Built a special plan and negotiated terms cross-functionally
- Sales project for TRP, a high-value reserved product
Twitter Japan. Driven across advertiser, agency, research vendor and internal teams
What stays with your company
- You win the first customers
Who to pitch, what to offer and how — and a path to the first contract.
- You can decide the next move
What resonated and what did not is recorded in words and numbers, ready for the next targeting and pricing decisions.
- The channel stays with you
Partner relationships and ways of working that survive changes in staff.
Ways to work together
- Contract
I take on execution as a fractional COO/CMO or head of business development. Scope and commitment are designed around the work and the fee.
- Advisory
Regular sessions to review where things stand and decide the next moves and priorities together. Your team does the execution.
- One-off (speaking, media, writing, spot consultation)
A single engagement. If the topic and date are set, I can usually take it on right away.
- Angel investment
For seed to pre-Series A startups: a small investment combined with hands-on business development and go-to-market support. See INVESTING below.
How it works
- Share your situation through the form: the challenge, the timing, and the kind of engagement you have in mind
- An online call, where I tell you frankly what I can and cannot help with
- I send a proposal covering scope, duration and fee
- Once we agree, we start
FAQ
Can you do the selling, not just the strategy?
Do you work with overseas companies entering Japan?
Tell me about your situation.
I take on this work alongside my full-time role, so the number of engagements I can run at once is limited. Start by telling me about your situation.