One customer
Pick the customer who needs you most and can pay. Not three segments, one. Everything else follows from getting this right.
For tech founders with a working product
Most founders don't have a technology problem. They have a commercialisation problem.
If your product works but the revenue isn't following, it's rarely about working harder. It's about focus. I help founders find their first serious customers, price with confidence and land the partnerships that open every other door.
Book a free 20-minute GTM diagnostic →
Three diagnostic slots open each week · written plan within 24 hours
25 yrscommercialising technology, including ten years at Airbus
5m → 13mrevenue growth in two years, working with a spacetech CEO
Top tierpublisher partnership landed for Libraro's patented technology
Is this you?
Built for founders who've done the hard part
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You have a product that works, and early users who like it.
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You're not sure which customer to focus on first.
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Pricing feels like guesswork, and you suspect you're too cheap.
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Big partners are interested in meetings but slow to sign.
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You're raising, and investors keep asking about traction.
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You're doing everything at once and nothing is converting.
The method
The 1-1-1 Method
Three decisions, made in order, that turn a good product into a business.
One price
Price for the value you create for that customer, not for your costs or your competitors. One clear offer they can say yes to.
One partnership
Land one credible partner that your customers already trust. Done well, one partnership opens more doors than a year of cold outreach.
Customer first, then price, then partnership. Each decision depends on the one before it.
The offer
The Commercialising Tech Sprint
Six weeks of 1-2-1 work to put the 1-1-1 Method in place for your company, with real customers and real conversations, not a slide deck.
£6,000for the full six-week sprint, or two payments of £3,000
Week 1
Diagnose
Where revenue is stuck, who your best users really are, and what's holding back the next deal.
Week 2
Choose one customer
Define the customer who needs you most, then test it with real conversations.
Week 3
Set one price
Build a value-based price and a simple offer that customer can say yes to.
Week 4
Sharpen the pitch
A sales story and proof points that make the value obvious in the first five minutes.
Week 5
Land one partnership
Map the partners your customers trust, and open the right conversations with the right people.
Week 6
Build the pipeline
A 90-day commercial plan, a live pipeline and the next steps for each deal.
Weekly 1-2-1 sessions
Support between sessions
Written summary after every session
Introductions where they help
What you leave with
Five working tools, built for your company
01
Target-customer scorecard
Who to sell to first, who to ignore for now, and why.
02
Pricing model and offer
A value-based price and a packaged offer you can quote with confidence.
03
Sales story and proof pack
The pitch, the evidence and the answers to the objections you keep hearing.
04
Partner map
The partners your customers trust, who to approach and what to offer them.
05
90-day commercial plan
A live pipeline with a next step for every deal, so momentum continues after week six.
- Investment
- £6,000, or two payments of £3,000
- Format
- One 90-minute 1-2-1 session a week for six weeks
- Your time
- About two hours a week between sessions, on real customer work
- Where
- Remote, or in person in London
- Capacity
- I work with a maximum of four founders at a time, so each gets proper attention. January places are now open.
Included at no extra cost
- One warm introduction from my network in space and defence, publishing or investment, where it moves a deal forward.
- A commercial review of your pitch deck, so the story investors and customers see matches the plan.
- A 30-day check-in after week six, so momentum doesn't stop when the sprint does.
The guarantee
Two sessions to decide, or your money back
If after the first two sessions you don't think the sprint is worth it, tell me and I'll refund you in full. No forms, no argument.
Results
What changed for founders I've worked with
Revenue grew from 5m to 13m in two years, working alongside the CEO on commercial strategy.
Took the company from a working product to its first paying client.
Defined and launched the firm's technology-led approach to market.
Established the artist as the go-to name for a specific theme.
Founders I've worked with
Spacetech
Artificial intelligence
Financial modelling
Finance
Legal
The arts
Featured in the international publishing press
Who you'll work with
Arsim Shillova
Founder, AYA & Partners · Founder & CEO, Libraro
I've spent 25 years where technology meets the market. I began with ten years at Airbus Defence & Space, in one of the most demanding technology businesses in the world. I then founded and ran a technology consulting firm serving aerospace companies and government space agencies, and served as Chief Operating Officer of a satellite intelligence company.
As founder and CEO of Libraro, a reader-led publishing platform built on patented IP protection technology, I've raised £4 million of investment, grown the community to 16,000 users in eight weeks and secured a partnership with a top-tier global publisher.
Along the way I've helped founders raise multi-million funding rounds, and I know what investors look for in a company's commercial story.
Through AYA & Partners I bring that experience to founders one-to-one: practical, commercial and focused on revenue, from someone who has sat in your seat.
- Corporate
- Airbus Defence & SpaceGTM: commercialising space and defence technology
- Founder
- Technology consulting firmAerospace companies and government space agencies
- COO
- Satellite intelligence companySpace data and analytics
- Founder & CEO
- Libraro£4m raised; partnership with a top-tier global publisher
- Fundraising
- Multi-million roundsHelped founders raise multi-million investment
- Ambassador
- Technology start-up acceleratorMentor and speaker to founders
- Selected founder
- Global science and technology acceleratorCurrent programme
Questions founders ask
Before you book
I'm pre-revenue. Is it too early?
If you have a working product or prototype and people using it, no. The sprint is designed to get you to your first paying customers. If you're still at the idea stage, the diagnostic will tell you so honestly.
I'm technical, not a salesperson. Will this work for me?
Most founders I work with are engineers or specialists. The sprint gives you a process and the words to use, so selling becomes a series of structured conversations rather than a personality trait.
How is this different from an accelerator?
Accelerators run broad programmes for cohorts. This is 1-2-1 and focused on your specific customers, price and partners, with work done on live deals every week.
What if it isn't right for me?
If after the first two sessions you don't think it's worth it, I'll refund you in full.
Do you work with founders outside the UK?
Yes. Sessions run remotely for founders anywhere, or in person in London.
Start here
The free 20-minute GTM diagnostic
A focused call, not a sales pitch. Within 24 hours you'll receive a one-page written plan with your next three commercial moves, yours to keep whether or not we work together.
Minutes 0–10
Pinpoint the blocker
We find the one thing holding your revenue back right now.
Minutes 10–17
Map three moves
Your next three commercial moves, specific to your product and market.
Minutes 17–20
Decide the next step
If the sprint is a good fit, we'll talk about it. Either way, your written plan follows within 24 hours.
Six more months trying to sell to the wrong customer costs far more than £6,000.
Book your diagnostic →
Three slots each week