Launching a New Category with Stanhope AI CEO and Co-Founder

Nick truly understands how to live in both the vision and execution planes at the same time, and he was able to articulate our product back to me better than I could explain it myself.

Rosalyn Moran, Co-Founder and CEO of Stanhope AI and former Deputy Director of the King’s College London Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Overview

A product launch is a one-off opportunity to leave a lasting impression. From Steve Jobs’s product-centric keynotes to Whitney Wolfe Herd’s intuitive branding of Bumble, tech leaders know that great launches connect on both an emotional and functional level with their customers.

Get it right, and you accelerate adoption, capturing attention and driving sales momentum. Get it wrong, and you risk spending time and money delivering confusing messages that hold back your growth.

When Stanhope AI, an AI platform for autonomous robots, was preparing to launch, they knew the stakes were high. The pressure was on to craft a demo that not only demonstrated the platform’s value but also connected directly with customers’ use cases and compelled immediate action.

With so much riding on this pivotal moment, it wasn’t just about showcasing the AI—it was about connecting a bold vision for the future of autonomous AI to the business impact that customers want to see today.

Challenge One: Balancing Immediate Value Creation with Long-Term Vision

Stanhope AI needed to position their decision-making AI in a way that highlighted the immediate value to customers while also painting a compelling picture of their long-term vision. This is a knife-edge balance that many startups fail to achieve: be too vision-focused, and attendees write it off as vaporware; be too short-term focused, and the greater value that the founder sees is missed.

Challenge Two: One Shot to Get High-Level Decision Makers in the Room

Rosalyn and her team needed to ensure that the right stakeholders were in the room, and that the demo day left a lasting impression, propelling the next phase of the product forward. With so much of the young startup’s resources being poured into launch day, we had one shot to make a huge impression.

Challenge Three: Standing Out in a Crowded Category of AI Platforms

AI is a crowded field, with many startups claiming reasoning and decision-making capabilities. Stanhope AI needed to condense their deep academic understanding of AI into a snappy, engaging story that left attendees with a single take-home message.

Nick’s Approach

Nick brought deep tech product launch experience to the table, providing both strategic and tactical insights to help Stanhope AI position their technology in a way that would resonate. Nick worked closely with Rosalyn to:

• Make every use case communicate value—ensuring that the use cases clearly communicated the value and benefit to customers, linking the technology to real-world business needs.
• Use bold outreach tactics by encouraging direct outreach, concise value-oriented messaging, and repeated follow-ups. Stanhope AI’s demo day was well attended by customers and potential investors.
• Understand customers’ real concerns by looking beyond their immediate questions to identify their true motivations and blockers, leading to strong engagement and a solid pipeline of customers.

The Outcome

• Successful Commercial Launch: Nick’s advice helped drive immediate action from customers, ensuring critical feedback was gathered and key benefits were communicated, setting the stage for rapid progress following the demo.
• Clear, Use Case-Driven Narrative: Nick helped Stanhope AI develop a product narrative that not only showcased the advanced capabilities of their AI platform but also connected the bold vision of autonomous AI with the immediate, tangible benefits that customers wanted to see.
• Polished Demo Execution: Through Nick’s guidance, Stanhope AI delivered a compelling, well-rehearsed demo, backed by tailored materials and a proactive invite list that ensured the right stakeholders attended and were engaged.

In Rosalyn’s Words

“Nick’s real-world experience in deep tech product launches was a game-changer for us. He provided insights that were not just strategic but also immediately actionable. His guidance on positioning our product was crucial, and with his help, we were far more proactive in preparing the invite list and framing the POC to drive progress. Nick truly understands how to live in both the vision and execution planes at the same time, and he was able to articulate our product back to me better than I could explain it myself. His advice was spot on and helped us achieve the outcomes we wanted from demo day.”

Position Your Deep Tech Products for Success

Nick helps deep tech founders launch and scale their products. Get in touch to find out more.