Blonay, Vaud, Switzerland
Most tech SMEs I meet share the same frustration. Their product is solid. But when a salesperson walks into a client meeting, something breaks down. I'm the person who walks into that meeting with them — or instead of them — and makes the solution make sense. The product is solid. The engineering team is sharp. But when it comes to explaining the solution to a customer — or selling it — something breaks down. Sales cycles drag on. Prospects say "interesting" and go quiet. Sales reps struggle to articulate what actually makes the solution different. This isn't a product problem. It's a translation problem. I've spent 30 years at the intersection of technology and business — EPFL engineer, pre-sales at Dell, then six years in a smart grid startup where I built market presence from scratch and opened the German market. What I learned: buyers don't buy technology. They buy the certainty that their problem will be solved. Today, I work with B2B tech SMEs where that certainty is missing — in pre-sales, offer positioning, or aligning product and sales teams. Not as an external consultant who leaves with a report. As someone who works alongside the teams until deals start moving. What this looks like in practice: • Pre-sales & solution consulting — in the room with the client, qualifying, demonstrating, closing • Offer positioning — turning a technically complex solution into a message buyers understand • Sales cycle support — unblocking stalled deals, structuring proposals, handling objections • Buyer preparation — building credibility and trust before the first conversation If your solution deserves to be better understood — and better sold — let's talk.
Commercial • Built and documented sales and marketing processes from scratch — no operational foundation existed on arrival • Implemented CRM and commercial tools — sales team now fully equipped • Simplified and clarified the customer product experience — reduced adoption friction Sales • Developed and launched a customer acquisition strategy — first qualified leads generated • Secured Swiss-German Abacus partners for the hosting solution Marketing • Launched the product page for the new product • Defined positioning, messaging, and channels — from zero to a consistent market presence
• Helped tech SMBs transform their expertise into clear customer messaging — from technical jargon to compelling value propositions • Built problem–impact–solution narratives to accelerate buying decisions • Audited and improved demand generation funnels — identified friction points between messaging and conversion
• Advised tech SMBs on product strategy and go-to-market execution.
• Product Strategy & Market Fit: Defined vision and roadmap for a multidimensional smart grid solution; translated grid operator needs into actionable technical specifications for engineering • Product Launch: Led the full innovation cycle from ideation to launch, aligning product, engineering, and marketing teams • Evangelism: Championed the product message internally and with customers — bridging technical complexity and commercial understanding • Cross-functional Alignment: Coordinated stakeholders across an organization where product, sales, and engineering operated in silos
First Swiss tech SMB to penetrate the German smart grid market — built from zero: from brand awareness to customer acquisition. • Built depsys’ market presence from zero: Positioning, messaging, and content to make niche technology understandable to non-specialist buyers in a conservative sector • Opened the German market for depsys: Acquired first industrial customers from traditional grid operators; established sector reputation through trade shows, conferences, and media relations • Developed thought leadership in Switzerland and internationally: depsys recognised as a reference in its field
Consulting work on projects for new business creation, essentially in the field of Sales & Marketing
Dell was entering a new market: networking. The products were good, but the brand had zero credibility in that space. Cisco owned the conversation. My job was to build a presence from scratch — with a $1.2M annual budget and a mandate to generate measurable pipeline. • Generated 20% of the sales pipeline through integrated marketing campaigns — a direct, measurable contribution to revenue • Designed and executed the first marketing plan for Dell Networking, establishing the brand in a market where it had no prior presence • Developed and launched a trade-in programme that contributed to overall campaign performance Building a brand in a market that doesn't know you yet — with a budget that forces you to be precise — is one of the best training grounds for understanding what actually moves buyers. Awareness without pipeline is decoration.
A broader role — less campaign execution, more business management. I owned the marketing processes that connected product strategy to revenue: forecasting, supply and demand, pricing, and go-to-market planning across the EMEA region. • Recognised as subject matter expert for enterprise business and marketing programmes across EMEA • Implemented communication frameworks that improved product transition management — reducing confusion between product cycles and field execution • Received "Team of the Quarter" award for cross-functional collaboration across sales, product, and marketing What I learned here: the gap between a product launch and actual revenue is almost always a communication problem. The teams that win are the ones who can translate strategy into something the field can act on the next morning.
Dell was expanding aggressively into enterprise infrastructure — servers, storage, networking. The technology was strong. But in Switzerland, the market still associated Dell with consumer PCs, not data centre solutions. My role was to change that perception: build credibility with enterprise buyers, enable the sales team to have the right conversations, and execute campaigns that moved the needle on pipeline. • Achieved best campaign execution across EMEA countries — 90% follow-up rate and on-target pipeline contribution • Organised workshops and trade show participation to build Dell's enterprise credibility in the Swiss market • Early internal adopter of social media as a sales and marketing tool — influenced broader adoption across the team This role taught me that positioning isn't just about messaging — it's about making a sales team believe in what they're selling and giving them the tools to prove it to customers.