[Virtual] Structuring Early Customer Engagement for Commercial Momentum with Marco Smit

You have a working product, a warm customer, and an active pilot — so why isn't the deal closing? This session cuts through the confusion around pilots, POCs, design partnerships, and LOIs to give founders a shared vocabulary and a practical framework for structuring early customer engagements that actually convert. We'll cover how to define success criteria upfront, choose the right vehicle for your stage, and negotiate simple agreements that enterprise legal will sign. For health and med-tech founders, we'll also address the unique challenge of designing a single pilot that satisfies FDA evidence requirements, investor proof points, and commercial conversion - without compromising any of them.