Altered Principles · Launch to Own

Launch the next market or business line. Own it when I leave.

Hello, I am Bernd Fastenrath. I help industrial companies, including PE-owned ones, launch a new market or business line and hand it over running.

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Design
3 months · fixed
Fee
From €65k
Work product
Yours, 100%
Who I work for01

Two kinds of client, one method. The same four stages and the same signed acceptances.

Industrial operators

Industrial companies or business units of €20–200M revenue in DACH and Benelux that have decided to launch a new market or business line.

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Private equity

Chief AI Officers and operating partners in private equity who need portfolio companies to turn AI into new revenue.

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Where you stand

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The goal

Your core business pays for everything. The next growth has to come from a second engine, proven in orders before the next raise, listing or exit.

The problem

The next revenue line has been decided. Nobody is set up to build it, so six months later there is a lot of activity and no repeat customer.

Two kinds of launch03

New buyers, or a new way to earn. Often both.

Type ASame product, new buyers

New market entry

A new country, or a new segment at home. The product is proven; the company has no presence, no channel and no story for these buyers.

The hard part

Access: who buys, through which channel, and why they switch from the incumbent.

For example: A building-technology maker entering a neighbouring country where a local brand owns the installers.

Type BSame customers, a new model

New business line

A service, a subscription or equipment as a service on top of the product. The digital layer often exists already; nobody pays for it yet.

The hard part

The model: what the customer pays for, how risk and financing are handled, and what the channel earns.

For example: A power-tool maker moving from selling tools to renting tool fleets for a monthly fee.

A and B together

Both at once: new buyers and a new model together. The hardest case, and the most valuable.

Why launches stall · Six questions04

Launches seldom stall on the product. They stall on six causes around it, and each one can be tested with a single question.

Ask these six questions about the launch you are planning. Each one without a clear answer is a place where it can stall.

Ownership

Does anyone win if it works?

Question 01

Who misses a target if the launch misses its target?

No owner, no acceptance criteria

Question 02

What does a salesperson or dealer earn on a launch deal compared with a core deal?

Incentives reward the old business

Market

Who buys, what they pay, who sells it?

Question 03

Ask three people who the target buyer is. Do the answers match?

No defined buyer

Question 04

What does the customer pay for, and what does the channel earn when they buy it?

No model, no channel role

Machine

Can it run without its designers?

Question 05

Could a new salesperson explain the offer to a new buyer, in their language, on day one?

Knowledge and process live in heads

Question 06

Does whoever runs the launch have the business model in writing, or a list of tasks?

The operator gets tasks, not a model

Launch to Own · The four stages05

A method I call Launch to Own runs in four stages: Design Prove Scale and Transfer. It ends with your team running the business line.

One engagement, four stages, each one accepted by you. Design, Prove, Scale and Transfer, with two acceptances in Prove.MONTH 0MONTH 3HANDOVERMY CORE ENGAGEMENTI LEAD, REPORT BACK AND MANAGE STAKEHOLDERSACCEPTANCE 1 · FIRST MARKET RESPONSEACCEPTANCE 2 · REPEAT ORDERS01 DESIGN02 PROVE03 SCALE04 TRANSFER
One engagement, four stages, each one accepted by you. Design, Prove, Scale and Transfer, with two acceptances in Prove.MONTH 0MONTH 3HANDOVERMY CORE ENGAGEMENTI LEAD, REPORT BACKAND MANAGE STAKEHOLDERSACCEPTANCE 1 · FIRST MARKET RESPONSEACCEPTANCE 2 · REPEAT ORDERS01 DESIGN02 PROVE03 SCALE04 TRANSFER
Stage lengths after Design depend on the market. You sign off every stage; Prove has two acceptances.
  1. 01 design

    In Design I set who you sell to, at what price and through which channel.

  2. 02 prove

    Prove is where the market answers, first with signals, then with repeat orders.

  3. 03 scale

    Scale is where the launch becomes a business line with its own pipeline, people and numbers.

  4. 04 transfer

    Transfer is where I leave and the business line keeps running.

How Launch to Own works

Proof · Results

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  1. Italian CNC machine builder: a repositioning that sells machines 5 machines sold to a new buyer type in 3 months, against a target of 3 in 6 Prove · acceptance 1
  2. Robovision: from all markets to three segments and a proven sales motion 3 segments, a first new deal within 9 months, then 25 meetings in 6 weeks Prove · acceptance 1
  3. Electrical equipment OEM in Germany: a go-to-market foundation for a new segment Sales now runs the full discovery; commercial team confidence up from 2.5 to 4 (of 4) Design
All cases

Opinions · Latest

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Where I worked

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Next step

Let's scope your next launch.

In 45 minutes I tell you where your launch is likely to stall and whether Design is the right next step.

3-month Design · From €65k, fixed fee · Work product is yours

If Design ends in a no-go, you stop after three months with a written answer and all the work product. No licence, no exit fee. I take on 3–5 launches per quarter.

Bernd FastenrathFounder, Altered Principles
bernd.fastenrath@altered-principles.com
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