5 Go-to-Market Lessons from Building a Multi-Billion Dollar Energy Storage Company

What happens when you combine a nuclear plant problem, an innovative patent, and a mission to fight climate change? In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Curtis VanWallenghem, Co-founder and CEO of Hydrostor, shared how these elements sparked a 12-year journey to revolutionize energy storage. Here are the critical go-to-market lessons from their path to securing $2.5 billion in contracts.

1. Reframe Risk to Make the Impossible Possible

When selling revolutionary technology to risk-averse industries, conventional approaches often fail. Hydrostor’s breakthrough came from completely inverting the traditional risk model. Instead of asking utilities to fund billion-dollar first installations, Curtis explains their approach: “We kind of took a different approach, saying we’re going to develop and win the contracts and they don’t pay you a dime if you don’t perform.”

This pay-for-performance model transformed a seemingly impossible sale into a no-brainer for utilities. It worked because, as Curtis notes, there was plenty of “money sloshing around looking for climate sort of investments.” The key was finding creative ways to connect available capital with risk-averse customers.

2. Position Innovation as Evolution, Not Revolution

Despite creating a groundbreaking technology, Hydrostor deliberately avoided positioning themselves as revolutionaries. “We’ve just tweaked what was already kind of a proven asset class,” Curtis explains. By framing their innovation as an improvement to existing systems rather than a complete paradigm shift, they made it easier for conservative buyers to say yes.

This extended to their technical approach: “There are no new widgets in what we’re doing. It’s more integration of proven components.” This strategy helped overcome the natural skepticism that comes with new technology adoption.

3. Shape the Regulatory Environment Instead of Waiting for It

Rather than viewing regulations as obstacles, Hydrostor actively created their market. “Getting the first our pilot system in Ontario was done through a storage pilot program that us, and we created an association of other storage companies, lobbied and got this program launched,” Curtis reveals.

This proactive approach to regulation became a competitive advantage. “We’ve set a fair number of precedents with our projects being kind of the first of a kind to do something in a certain regulatory construct,” Curtis explains. “That’s, I think also why we’ve been successful is we’ve leaned into that as opposed to assuming they’re going to figure it out.”

4. Build Deep Domain Expertise Through Focus

In an era of serial entrepreneurship, Hydrostor’s twelve-year focus on one problem created unique advantages. As Curtis notes, “I like the fact that I’ve been able to focus because I know so much about our technology and the industry… you go to a conference, you recognize half the faces in the room and everyone on stage.” This deep expertise became a crucial differentiator in building trust with customers and partners.

5. Connect Business Goals to Personal Mission

The most powerful GTM strategies align with deeper motivations. Curtis’s drive came from a personal connection: “This is our generation’s world war, this climate change,” he recalls thinking about his niece Shay. “When Shay grows up and the world’s burning, she’s like, ‘what did you do about it?'”

This mission-driven approach helped sustain the company through critical challenges. When COVID hit and they had “only six or seven weeks of cash left,” the team’s commitment to the mission drove them to mortgage their homes to keep the company alive.

The Payoff of Playing the Long Game

Hydrostor’s approach required immense patience. “It has been a lot harder than what I was expecting. It took a lot longer,” Curtis admits. But this methodical approach is now paying dividends. Their three-year vision involves getting their “first big plant running and have a couple more under construction and another ten contracted.”

The lesson for founders? In regulated industries with high stakes, success often comes not from moving fast and breaking things, but from methodically building trust, strategically sharing risk, and playing the long game. It’s about understanding that sometimes the most innovative go-to-market strategy isn’t about the product itself, but about fundamentally reimagining how risk and value flow between stakeholders in an industry.