84 Pilotprojekte, drei Überraschungen

We have run 84 pilots with manufacturing companies, and we never once failed to find valuable information. But the same three surprises keep showing up:

1. Nobody knows their own competitors.

We research a company's competitors, the information appears on the screen, and they say, "I didn't even know that they do XYZ." Two companies competing in the same space, and neither has heard of the other.

2. Very little of the decision-making runs on data.

So much of it is trial and error and gut feeling, in processes that are rarely questioned, even when the data that would back or challenge them is right there.

3. The fastest win is the sources nobody knew existed.

Every niche has a few tiny websites that write about that one topic and nothing else. Think of a site that only ever covers synthetic machine working fluids.

When we run a pilot, we identify those sources and present them to the client, usually within a week or two. The reaction is almost always the same: "I didn't even know those websites exist."

And one story that keeps me honest about all of this:

We worked with a US company that turns wastewater drinkable again. They asked for market information, financial data, and the latest academic research. We connected the APIs for the financials, pulled the academic publications, and built a beautiful demo on top.

Everything was ready, and then I was simply ghosted with no reply. We somehow didn't really get to speak to that person anymore.

We found everything they asked for, but we just didn't win the deal.

So when I say we never once failed to find valuable information, it is not a brag. It just describes the first half of the job.

Selling what we find is the second half, and we can still lose that one.