I'm Zach Ronski. I'm the Marketing Director at Fello Agency, a B2B tech branding and marketing shop in Toronto's Art & Design District. We work with deep tech companies in AI, robotics, quantum, advanced manufacturing, MedTech, defense - the stuff that changes how industries run.

And I'll tell you the truth right up front.

If you're a Series A - C founder, your case studies are not "nice-to-have content." They're a commercialization weapon.

They help you land an enterprise. They help you hire grown-up commercial talent. They help you look less like a risky science project and more like a real company that can execute.

If you want to go from lab to market leader, you need proof on display. Not someday. Now.

Why case studies win deep tech deals (even when your tech is insane)

Most B2B buyers are trying to protect their job. That's the real game.

Forrester found that 43% of B2B buyers make "defensive" decisions more than 70% of the time. That means your prospect is not asking, "Is this the coolest technology?" They're asking, "Will this blow up in my face?"

And it gets worse for you. Forrester also says fewer than one-third of buyers are truly risk-tolerant.

So when you show up with a brand-new approach, a new category, or a new system... you are automatically "risk" until proven otherwise.

Case studies are how you prove it.

They're not about hype. They're about safety. They tell the buyer, "Someone like you did this. They survived. They got value. You'll be fine."

Trust does the heavy lifting too. When buyers trust you, they're nearly twice as likely to recommend you or pay a premium. That's real leverage.

And in deep tech, trust doesn't come from your pitch deck. It comes from other people.

Forrester found that 82% of B2B buyers trust coworkers/management and 79% trust information from existing vendors when they research. They also trust "independent experts." Forrester reports that about 66 - 72% of buyers trust those sources.

Your case study is you putting an "independent expert" on your website. That's what's happening.

And buyers are looking online anyway. A TrustRadius report found 94% of B2B buyers consult online reviews. They're hunting for validation. They're checking if you're real.

They're also comparing you. That same report found 55% evaluate 3 - 5 vendors. So your prospect is reading everyone's site, everyone's PDFs, everyone's claims.

If you don't have proof, you're just another tab in the browser.

One more point for any founder selling into government or defense. Those cycles are brutal. Gartner found public-sector tech buying cycles average 22 months. Gartner also reports that the average procurement involves about 12 decision-makers.

You're not persuading one person. You're persuading a committee over almost two years. Case studies keep you alive during that time.

The mistake I see founders make every week

Deep tech founders love specs. I respect it. You built the thing. You probably invented part of the category.

But here's the line I repeat all the time: your website needs to speak business.

There's "technical talk" and there's "business talk." Your case study is business talk.

If your case study opens with architecture diagrams and performance benchmarks, you're forcing the buyer to do homework before they care. Most won't.

Lead with what the buyer actually wants to know.

Did it save time? Did it reduce risk? Did it increase output? Did it help them move faster than their competitors? Did it make their life easier?

I push this hard because it works across deep tech. Advanced manufacturing. MedTech. Quantum. XR. Doesn't matter.

It's the same human on the other side. They're trying to make more money or save more money. That's it.

And yes, I'm going to say the B2C thing. I believe B2B should steal from B2C. Sell a lifestyle, even in technology. Talk about what the buyer becomes after they adopt you.

Not how smart the device is, but how much smarter you're going to be.

The only case study rule I care about: tell it from the customer's angle

When I build a case study, I'm not trying to tell your story. I'm trying to get your customer to tell theirs.

Because the fastest way to lose trust is sounding like you're marketing yourself. Buyers smell it.

So I push founders to remove dense technical blocks and put the spotlight on the end user. The customer becomes the narrator.

When we worked with Mosaic Manufacturing on their orthotics use case, we didn't make it a story about a printer. We made it a story about the orthotics business owner. What their day looked like. What changed. Why it mattered.

That's the best way to tell a case study.

I'll say it exactly how I say it: It has nothing to do with your specs or your products, it has everything to do with the clients that give you their hard-earned money.

Founders sometimes worry this will "dumb down" the company. It won't.

It makes you sellable.

You can still earn the technical buyer's respect. You just earn it after you've earned attention. Put the heavy proof lower on the page. Add it as a download. Use it in sales calls. Keep it available.

Just don't make it the opening act.

The "Padawan" structure: how I keep a case study readable and human

A case study that converts feels like a real story. It has movement.

I use a simple frame: your client is your Padawan.

They start stuck. They're dealing with friction. They're skeptical. They've tried other ways. Then your company guides them through the mess and they come out the other side.

That arc keeps people reading because it sounds like real life.

Here's the flow I use, written in plain English.

You start with context. Who is the customer and what world do they operate in? Keep it tight. Two or three sentences. Then you go straight to the pain. What was breaking? What was slow? What was stressful? This is where most companies get soft, and the story gets boring.

So I go hunting for the emotion. Find out what pisses off your clients the most. That's where the case study gets teeth.

After the frustration, you explain the trigger. Why did they finally change now? What was at stake? Then you show the journey. What did adoption look like? What surprised them? What did the team have to align on?

Then you land the outcome. What changed in time, output, risk, confidence, or revenue? If you can share numbers, great. If you can't, you still describe real operational change. Finally, you stack proof. Quotes, visuals, video, screenshots, anything that feels real.

This is also how you scale "human selling." I'm big on this. Deep tech deals can take six months, a year, two years. People need connection during that time. A good case study acts like a strong sales rep who never gets tired.

How I interview customers for case studies (so I get quotes that hit)

Most case study interviews are useless because they're polite. Everyone says the same thing. "Great team." "Great support." "Amazing product."

That's fluff.

Before I talk to the customer, I talk to the company's sales and marketing people. I want to know what's working in real conversations. I want to know what objections show up every week. That tells me what the case study needs to answer.

Then, when I'm with the customer, I don't start with the product. I start with their world.

I'll ask, "What was happening before you found this?" Then I'll push: "What was the frustrating part?" Then I'll push again: "What did that cost you in time, money, or stress?"

I want specific moments. I want the messy stuff. The missed deadlines. The manual work. The workaround they hated. The part they were embarrassed about. That's the stuff a buyer recognizes instantly.

I also ask decision questions, because founders forget how political enterprise buying is. "Who else was involved?" "What did they worry about?" "What almost killed the deal?" Those answers help you sell to a committee, not just one champion.

And I always end with advice. "If someone like you is on the fence, what would you tell them?" That line is gold. It creates the quote that pushes the next buyer over the edge.

When you can't share metrics: how to still look market-ready

Deep tech has NDAs. MedTech has compliance. Defense has constraints. Quantum can be pre-revenue for a while. I get it.

You still need proof.

If you're in advanced manufacturing, stop obsessing over specs in the case study. Talk about output. Talk about throughput and reliability. Talk about how much faster they can ship. Talk about how much easier it is to run the operation. Talk about how they can move while competitors are still stuck.

If you're pre-revenue, you need a different kind of credibility.

With Nord Quantique, it was very early. So we focused the narrative on the experts at the table and the pedigree of the people doing the work. We highlighted that they were tackling error correction early in the Canadian ecosystem, and we brought forward the fact that people involved had invented a lot of the science being applied.

That's how you fight the "science project" label without making fake commercial claims.

One warning, because it matters. Overselling destroys you. You promise too much, you under-deliver, and you lose credibility fast. In deep tech, that reputation sticks.

Be honest. Be clear. Be proud. Just don't pretend.

PDF vs video: what I recommend, by stage

Founders always ask me if they need video. My answer depends on where you are and what you're selling.

If you're early-stage and budget is going into R&D, start with clean PDF case studies. Keep them sharp. Keep them visual. Make them easy to forward.

But once you raise a Seed round, or you land your second solid deal where product-market fit is starting to show, you need to get serious.

You need a video on your website. You need a real case study page. If you're asking for high-six-figure contracts, written testimonials alone don't match the value you're trying to sell.

And the video can't look cheap. Professional visuals and branding are non-negotiable in enterprise. If the design looks off, the buyer assumes the operation is off.

We've literally seen a company miss a multi-million-dollar Amazon deal because they looked like shit. They didn't show professionalism. They didn't show credibility. It cost them dearly.

Budget-wise, I'm a big believer in "bang for your buck." If you spend 15 - 20K on a video case study, squeeze it. Turn that video into the written case study. Turn it into a PDF. Turn it into blog content. Cut it into short clips for LinkedIn. Use it in sales decks. Use it at trade shows. Make it pay you back for years.

Where case studies should live so they actually drive revenue

A case study hidden in a random PDF folder is wasted.

First, you need a dedicated case studies or testimonials page. I'm aggressive about this. If you don't have one, it's a red flag. Enterprise buyers want a single place to scan proof. Make it easy.

Then put proof where people actually land. Your homepage should show outcomes and credibility early. Same thing for your key landing pages. Homepages and landing pages should lead with ROI signals and case studies, then you layer technical proof points after.

I also like using case studies as "collector" assets. At Fello, we talk about collector pages as the pages that build loyalty and belief over time - your mission page, your about page, partner pages, that type of thing. They're not always the place where the deal closes. They're where someone goes to decide if they trust you.

Case studies sit right in that zone. They build belief. They make the long sales cycle easier because they keep your brand resonant while the buyer goes quiet.

And yes, I still love content downloads for deep tech. A strong brochure or PDF case study gives you a reason to capture contact info, then stay connected during a six-to-24-month cycle without spamming people.

One platform, multiple verticals: stop writing "for everyone" case studies

If your product hits multiple industries, you're going to feel pressure to write one big "hero" story that covers everything.

Sometimes you can do that. If you have a flagship customer that defines your credibility, build the hero case study.

But most of the time, you need vertical-specific proof.

We did this with Sphere Tech by building distinct industry pages so factories, medical tech, and defense audiences could see themselves in the story. We've also built distinct partner pages for Acto to tailor messaging to different ICPs.

The point is simple. Each vertical has different fears. Different buying committees. Different language. Your case study should match that.

Even if the product is the same, the story needs to sound like it was written for them. That's how you win very heavily.

The credibility killers I see in audits (fix these fast)

There are a few things that quietly kill deals.

The first is having no proof hub. No case study page. No testimonials page. Nothing that says, "Real customers trust us." That alone makes you feel risky.

The second is weak visuals. Bad typography. Stock imagery. Sloppy layouts. If it looks rushed, buyers assume the company is rushed. And I'll use my own line here because it's true: If it looks like bullshit, no one's gonna want to work with it.

The third is feature dumping. Specs are fine. Put them in the right place. Case studies should read like outcomes.

The fourth is overselling. Deep tech buyers can smell hype. They'll punish you for it.

The fifth is having a website you can't update. A lot of teams are stuck on builders they hate. Every case study update becomes a dev ticket. That slows everything down. One of our strongest promises at Fello is giving teams a fully editable site so they can move without waiting.

Speed matters. Commercialization rewards speed.

A simple 30-day case study sprint (for founders who are slammed)

You don't need a six-month content program to get your first great case study live.

You need one strong story and a tight execution window.

In week one, pick the customer with the cleanest transformation. Clear pain. Clear outcome. A customer who's proud to talk. Then loop in the decision makers early. Boards change strategies. Stakeholders disappear. Don't let approvals drag this out.

In week two, do the interview and pull the frustration. Go after the "before." This is where the story comes from. If you skip it, your case study becomes corporate wallpaper.

In week three, write the web version and design the PDF version. Keep it tight. Keep it skimmable. Add real quotes. Add visuals that match the value you're selling.

In week four, deploy it everywhere. Homepage. Relevant landing pages. Sales follow-ups. Investor updates. Hiring. Trade shows. Put it in the places where people need reassurance.

Then do it again. You don't need 10 case studies. You need a few that hit hard.

From lab to market leader means showing proof early

If I had a magic wand for deep tech, I'd make every company obsessed with going to market. I'd make it feel like life or death. Because a lot of the time, VC capital makes companies move slow. That kills momentum.

Case studies are one of the fastest ways to go to market without pretending you're something you're not. They let your customers do the selling. They build trust while you're still building the product, the pipeline, and the team.

So if you've got even one real win, go capture it. Tell it from the customer's angle. Make it look professional. Put it on your website where buyers can find it.

That's how you stop sounding like a science project. That's how you earn enterprise confidence.

And that's how you climb from lab to market leader.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a white paper and a technical case study?

A white paper focuses on theory, future applications, and educating the market on a problem. In contrast, a case study is a retrospective proof point that analyzes a completed project. Deep tech buyers use case studies to validate the theoretical claims made in white papers with actual performance data.

How do case studies impact government technology procurement?

Public-sector cycles are notoriously slow, with nearly 48% of projects experiencing major delays. Case studies act as risk mitigation tools for the average 12-person buying committee, helping to prevent the internal hesitation and 'science project' concerns that often cause these extended stalls.

How do I optimize deep tech case studies for SEO?

To capture search traffic, wrap your content in Schema.org structured data, specifically `Article` or `Product` types. Additionally, ensure your H1 tag targets the specific application (e.g., 'Computer Vision for Assembly Lines') rather than just the client's name, helping you rank for problem-aware searches.

Can I publish a case study if my client requires a strict NDA?

Yes, you can publish a blind case study. Instead of naming the client, describe their market profile (e.g., 'Fortune 500 Defense Contractor') and focus entirely on the engineering challenges and operational metrics. This demonstrates technical capability and commercial viability without violating confidentiality agreements.

How do case studies support Series B fundraising?

For Series A and B rounds, investors shift focus from vision to repeatable commercial success. Robust case studies prove you have moved beyond the R&D phase and achieved product-market fit. They demonstrate to VCs that your complex technology can be sold, implemented, and scaled in a commercial environment.