signalforgegtm.com v2 · 2026

You built hardware that works. I make it sell.

I work with hardware, deep tech, energy, and robotics founders whose product works but whose sales process still depends on them. I find where deals stall, fix the parts that are missing, and teach the team to run the process without me.

$25M+ solar sold across three companies· $7M+ contracted pipeline built with no sales staff· Four-time founder · Energy Fox contract portfolio sold in 2025
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Deep tech. Energy. Hardware. Robotics. If it's hard to explain, it won't sell.
01 / 07 The Problem

When a working product is not selling, I usually find one of three problems.

01

The buyer cannot see why changing is worth the risk.

02

The sales team is inventing the process while trying to close deals.

03

The technical advantage disappears before the CFO sees it.

02 / 07 Where to start

Before you add salespeople, fix what they will be asked to sell.

A new rep cannot scale a buyer, message, qualification standard, and deal process that no one has defined. I map those first. Then we decide where more headcount will actually help.

03 / 07 Methodology

How the work runs.

01 · Extract Signal

Learn how the deal is really bought.

Interview customers, review lost deals, and identify who approves the money, who evaluates the product, and who can stop the purchase.

02 · Translate Narrative

Turn the technical advantage into a business case.

Give the champion a clear reason to change, a financial case, and answers that hold up with the CFO and procurement.

03 · Build Engine

Build the sales process around that decision.

Set the stages, qualification rules, follow-up, proof, and ownership so every deal is handled the same way.

04 · Drive Pipeline

Run it, measure it, and hand it over.

Work live opportunities, fix what breaks, and leave the team with a process it can operate without me.

Read the methodology essay Proof to Pipeline →
04 / 07 Engagements

Four ways to engage.

Choose the amount of help you need. Every engagement has a clear scope, price, and deliverable.

TIER 0010-14 DAYS

Hardware Go-to-Market Diagnostic

I review the buyer, message, pipeline, sales process, and handoff points, then give you a scored diagnosis and a prioritized fix list. The $4,500 fee credits in full toward a Sprint.

$4,500→
TIER 018-10 WEEKS

Signal Extraction Sprint

I interview customers and the internal team, review live and lost deals, and identify why qualified buyers are not moving. You leave with the buyer map, message, and prioritized fixes.

By inquiry→
TIER 024-6 MONTHS

GTM Engine Build

I rebuild the positioning, qualification rules, CRM stages, follow-up, and deal process, then run them against live opportunities. Your team receives the working process and documentation.

By inquiry→
TIER 2.56-MONTH MIN

Fractional CRO Retainer

I take responsibility for the revenue process, work alongside the team, and stay until an internal owner can run it.

By inquiry→
05 / 07 Proof

The work behind the advice.

Specific companies, specific work, and numbers that can be explained.

Energy Fox Founder + CEO · 2022 to 2025

Energy Fox

Mid-Atlantic commercial solar contractor

Built $7M+ in contracted commercial-solar work with no sales staff, then transferred the contract portfolio to a national developer before scaling the team.

Tric Robotics Fractional Chief Revenue Officer

Tric Robotics

UV-C agricultural robotics

Served as a formal mentor and advisor during the NSF National I-Corps program, helped conduct nationwide interviews, and supported the pivot from a LEO-drone concept to UV-C agtech.

Founder / CEO   Adam Stager
SolarCity Builder Energy Manager

SolarCity

Residential solar

Reached 257% of quota, averaged 18 installs a month against a quota of seven, and sold $13M.

Additional outcomes

Falchion Systems (funded validation, defense) · Voltaic Coatings (Fortune 500 letters of intent) · The Mantis 3D Printer (commercialized) · Organtick (national grant, CPG launch) · Jesco Projects (India-US channel) · Solid Innovations (acquired) · Gameface Grooming (raised) · Heudia (raised) · Energize Delaware ($34M+ clean energy capital deployed) · Clean Energy USA (8 mostly unqualified leads a month to 15 qualified leads a week; 70% close rate)

Full track record →

06 / 07 Insights

What I have learned selling hardware.

Practical essays on the problems I have worked through as a founder, seller, and advisor.

Open the Insights hub →
PILLAR 01FOUNDATIONAL

Why hardware doesn't sell like SaaS.

Why capital budgets, pilots, technical risk, and larger buying groups make hardware sales different from software sales.

Read the essay →
PILLAR 02METHODOLOGY

Proof to Pipeline.

The four steps I use to learn how the buyer decides, make the business case clear, build the process, and hand it to the team.

Read the essay →
PILLAR 03HIRING

Hiring the hardware sales function.

How to decide whether you need a first seller, a sales leader, a fractional operator, or more time to define the process.

Read the essay →
PILLAR 04CONVERSION

Pilot to production.

Median pilot-to-production conversion is 12% (IDC 2025). We publish the playbook for the deals that convert. Innovation budget to business unit. Pilot pricing. The 90-day review.

Read the essay →
Also on the site   Hardware GTM Benchmarks 2026 →  ·   GTM consulting for deep tech and hardware →  ·   GTM consulting for hardware startups →  ·   Fractional CRO for a hardware company →
Signal Notes   Hardware business case template →  ·   Robotics GTM: selling utilization, site by site →  ·   The channel came off the cap table →  ·   A contract vehicle is not a customer →  ·   Find the budget line that already exists →  ·   Semiconductor GTM: the design win is the sale →  ·   Construction robotics GTM: the jobsite pilot cliff →  ·   Robotics GTM: capital now follows deployment →  ·   The hardware buying committee →  ·   The first hardware sales hire →  ·   The milestone is not the market →

Forge Friday

A practical weekly note on selling hardware, launching soon. Join the list and the first issue lands in your inbox.

07 / 07 Audience

Companies I can help.

SignalForge engagements

Technical founders with a working product and an uneven sales process.

Deep tech and hardware companies between $1M and $20M in annual revenue. Customers have paid, but the founder still carries too much of the sale and the team cannot reliably repeat the early wins. Energy infrastructure. Robotics. Advanced manufacturing. Agtech.

Not for idea-stage companies.

If every important deal still needs the founder to explain it, qualify it, and rescue it,
the company does not have a repeatable sales process yet.

/ Art, business, and technical sales

My background in art changed how I sell technical products.

The numbers have to work, but the buyer also has to understand the story well enough to carry it through the company.

+ Principal
Keith Modzelewski
Headshot · Keith Modzelewski

Run by Keith Modzelewski.

Four-time founder and 15+ year revenue operator. I founded Energy Fox, a Mid-Atlantic commercial solar contractor whose contract portfolio was sold in 2025. Before that I founded Voltaic Coatings, raised non-dilutive funding, reached the top three of the Italy Polymer Challenge, and learned why technical progress is not the same as a commercial business. My work since has covered clean energy, hardware, robotics, agtech, and advanced manufacturing.

/Kauffman Global Scholar 2012
/NSF Small Business Innovation Research evaluator (Phase 1 + 2) · Innovation Corps mentor
/Advisor · Ben Franklin Technology Partners · TecBridgePA
/MBA + BFA, University of Delaware

Full background →

30 minutes · bring the pipeline or one stuck deal

Find out why the deal is not moving.

We will work through the buyer, the approval path, and the next decision. If the problem is clear and you can fix it internally, I will tell you that.

Book a Signal Audit →
Boards and CEOs: for a confidential commercial-leadership conversation, keith@signalforgegtm.com
If it works but doesn't sell, fix that.