How to Run Your First DeepTech B2B Pilot Project (And Turn One Opportunity into Many)

In the early stages, as you enter the market with your solution, getting that first partner to take a chance on you and say “yes” to a pilot project is a big milestone. 

Once you get buy-in, you quickly realize that running your first pilot project comes with a new set of challenges you didn’t anticipate.

You’re now expected to deliver in a real-world environment, often without a clear playbook. You may not know what your partner expects, how to structure the engagement, or how to make sure this first opportunity leads to another one.

At FedTech, we see this often with early-stage teams moving from product development into real-world testing. To help unpack what founders should know before launching a pilot, we spoke with David Barron, Senior Commercial Advisor at FedTech. 

David has commercialized emerging technologies in new and existing product categories across multiple industries, leading product strategy, operations, and business development functions at companies including Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, and Motorola. Today, he advises founders of FedTech alumni companies as they navigate the early stages of their growth journey.

Here is his advice for first-time founders securing a first pilot project and how to turn early engagements into future opportunities.‍

1. Know what kind of engagement you are actually running

David points out that founders often confuse beta tests and pilots.

A beta test helps you understand whether your solution works as intended in a real-world setting and whether it’s ready to be taken to market. You are testing usability, identifying issues, collecting data, and making improvements.

A pilot is more of a cooperative relationship. It is a limited deployment with a partner organization that is willing to try your product for a specific use case over a set period of time. David defines a pilot as a 30 to 90-day deployment meant to validate both product performance and commercial viability. The goal is not just to test the solution, but to show enough value so that the partner signs onto a longer-term engagement after the pilot ends.

2. Start with the most realistic path to revenue

Many founders assume that a first pilot needs to be with a high-profile or large organization in either the private or public sector. It does not. What’s needed is a partner with enough risk tolerance to try your solution in a limited setting and enough internal alignment to move quickly if it works. 

Instead of boiling the ocean, David advises you to ask yourself, “What is the most realistic path to revenue?”

That means looking for segments where:

• There is enough risk tolerance to try something new
• The value is easy to understand
• The budget line already exists

‍3. Before the pilot starts, define the rules

A pilot may feel collaborative and informal, but the operating terms still need to be documented clearly. That is what protects both sides and keeps teams from burning out halfway through the engagement.

Often, pilot failures come from unclear expectations. Before day one, get aligned on the basics:

• What does success look like?
• What performance data will you be tracking?
• Who is responsible for what?
• How often will you communicate?
• What are the rules of engagement?
• At what capacity may you use the partner’s name to speak about the work you did with them? 

Your first pilot is a learning and asset-building opportunity to start a conversation with future customers. 

“If it is not in the contract, it is not part of the agreement.”  - David Barron

David stresses that contracts should outline commitments, support windows, and a clear point of contact so expectations do not drift over time. At a minimum, define:

• The scope of the pilot
• Levels of failure
• Support expectations
• Response times
• Who is the day-to-day point of contact
• Who can make executive decisions if something changes

Most failed pilots are not actually technical failures. They are operational failures. People were not aligned, communication was inconsistent, or responsibilities were never spelled out clearly enough.

4. What makes a pilot work

The teams that run strong pilots are not always the ones with the most polished product. They are the ones who are responsive, organized, easy to work with, and have a clear understanding of the partner organization’s objectives.

That means:

• Regular check-ins
• Clear communication
• Strong documentation
• Careful tracking of performance data

These things are what allow your team to evaluate success, fix issues quickly in collaboration, demonstrate to pilot partners that you are a viable long-term solution, and show future partners the proof of what happened and its impact. 

A successful pilot is a door to another opportunity.

Your first pilot doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be good enough to tell your story.

One good case study is enough to begin a conversation with proof that your solution worked in a real environment and a partner organization trusted you enough to deliver.

Getting that first yes and maintaining a partner relationship can be hard to navigate alone for the first time because the rules are not always obvious, and the stakes are high.

Multiple pilots are proof that more than one organization trusted you and saw enough value to move forward.

Deploying a deep tech solution in a complex dual-use ecosystem is hard enough. That’s why experienced operators like David and the broader FedTech advisor network helped founders gain early traction with the right partners, at the right time. 

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About FedTech

FedTech partners with government program sponsors to move deep-tech from discovery to real-world use. We design and run commercialization programs that de-risk transitions, reduce friction across TRLs and organizations, and increase the velocity from lab to pilots and early deployments—without adding equity or vendor conflicts to your mission.