CASE STUDY · CONTEXT
A go-to-market that outlived three CEOs and an acquisition.
Premium positioning, pricing and installer-led distribution.
Confidential engagement. I came in as interim CMO and Chief Strategy Officer for a publicly traded battery-storage company going straight at the Tesla Powerwall. I built the commercial strategy: the premium position, the pricing architecture, installer-led distribution, and the investor story. Then I left.
The strategy remained in use after I left.
Defending a premium position against Powerwall.
A premium battery going at the category king has one reflex to beat. The market sees a challenger and reaches for a single word: cheaper. That word kills a premium product before the spec sheet finishes loading. Price becomes the whole conversation, and margin follows the frame down.
The engineering was real. The hardware could stand next to a Powerwall and hold its own. But the premium story was not landing, because nobody was fighting the frame. Left alone, a good product was about to get sold like a discount one.
Positioning, pricing, distribution and investor communication.
I connected the premium position to pricing, installer-led distribution and the investor story. Those decisions gave the next leadership team a strategy it could use.
Premium by design
I developed a premium position against Powerwall rather than leading with a lower price.
Pricing for the premium position
I developed pricing architecture to support the premium position.
Installer-led distribution
The installer is the buyer's trusted voice in the room. I built the channel to carry the story, so the pitch survived the handoff to the person on the roof.
One thesis, repeatable
A single story the board, the market, and the next CEO could each say back without me there to prompt it.
The positioning work is one example of building evidence behind a category claim. The installers and pricing needed to support the same explanation.
Three management transitions and an acquisition.
The strategy remained in use through three management transitions and an acquisition after I left. That is the outcome described here, rather than a claim that one launch or campaign caused the company's growth.
Five parts, one system.
My contribution was the premium position, pricing, installer channel and investor story as interim CMO and Chief Strategy Officer. Later leaders continued using that work.
I left. The strategy stayed in use.