Case Story
From empty to overflowing:
How Equipment Co. created $25M
in net new revenue in 12 months
Client Mandate
Close a $6M revenue growth gap in 3 years with offerings that don’t currently exist
Our Starting Point
-
- Stagnated innovation capability resulting in an empty new product pipeline
- Burned out organization due to supply chain disruptions and effort required to fill 2-year backlog
- Transactional customer relationships
-
Our Success
- Validated innovation pipeline with $100M+ in total revenue potential
- Re-energized team eager to explore new offerings including software and services
- Collaborative customer partners engaged in new product development
Our Starting Point
Equipment Co had built a reputation for delivering durable, mission-critical industrial products. Decades of consistent performance had earned them loyal customers—and a deeply ingrained mindset of “don’t fix what isn’t broken.”
But when leadership set ambitious new revenue targets, cracks appeared. There was no innovation capability. No growth plan beyond squeezing more from the core. No process to identify, evaluate, or pursue new opportunities.
The problem wasn’t resistance—it was reflex. The COO firmly believed the company could “just push harder on sales.” The head of product confessed, “We don’t know how to grow without a customer asking for something first.”
Meanwhile, the industry was shifting. Equipment Co’s customers were evolving, competitors were exploring adjacent markets, and new needs were emerging that no one inside the company was tracking—let alone addressing.
The same operational excellence that had built their reputation had quietly created tunnel vision—they could execute brilliantly but couldn’t see beyond their current boundaries.
It wasn’t a creativity problem. It was a capability gap. Equipment Co didn’t need more ideas. They needed a system to discover, de-risk, and deliver what came next.
Our Journey
MileZero partnered with Equipment Co to build an innovation pipeline and capability from the ground up—quickly and deliberately.
Together, we:
- Deployed a 5-phase innovation framework (Discover, Design, Develop, De-Risk, Deliver) to guide teams from ambiguity to action.
- Used Doblin’s 10 Types of Innovation to shift thinking beyond product tweaks—expanding into business model, channel, and customer experience innovation.
- Mapped the opportunity landscape—starting with 100+ raw ideas, refining a dozen concepts, and focusing on two adjacent markets with the highest near-term upside.
- Introduced “Need to Believe” planning, working backward from revenue targets to identify and test the critical assumptions behind each opportunity.
- Built an assumption-driven validation process using discovery interviews, concept tests, and lightweight prototyping—ensuring real demand before real investment.
Our Progress
Within a year, Equipment Co had $25M in net new revenue booked, almost 4x their three-year goal. But the team’s success ran even deeper as people across the organization realized they had been artificially limiting themselves and the business for years.
The breakthrough came when they discovered that customers weren’t just willing to buy new solutions—they wanted to collaborate in developing them. This shift from vendor to innovation partner unlocked revenue potential that had been invisible to a company that had never learned to look beyond its current boundaries.
By developing an innovation pipeline, we also built a capability and a repeatable system that enabled Equipment Co to anticipate market shifts, redefine how they grow, partner with customers, and see their future.
With a clear innovation system and a bold adjacent growth strategy, Equipment Co has moved from tactical execution to strategic leadership, proving that the greatest constraint to growth isn’t market conditions. It’s mindset.
Client Mandate
Close a $6M revenue growth gap in 3 years with offerings that don’t currently exist
Our Starting Point
- Stagnated innovation capability resulting in an empty new product pipeline
- Burned out organization due to supply chain disruptions and effort required to fill 2-year backlog
- Transactional customer relationships
Our Success
- Validated innovation pipeline with $100M+ in total revenue potential
- Re-energized team eager to explore new offerings including software and services
- Collaborative customer partners engaged in new product development
Our Starting Point
Equipment Co had built a reputation for delivering durable, mission-critical industrial products. Decades of consistent performance had earned them loyal customers—and a deeply ingrained mindset of “don’t fix what isn’t broken.”
But when leadership set ambitious new revenue targets, cracks appeared. There was no innovation capability. No growth plan beyond squeezing more from the core. No process to identify, evaluate, or pursue new opportunities.
The problem wasn’t resistance—it was reflex. The COO firmly believed the company could “just push harder on sales.” The head of product confessed, “We don’t know how to grow without a customer asking for something first.”
Meanwhile, the industry was shifting. Equipment Co’s customers were evolving, competitors were exploring adjacent markets, and new needs were emerging that no one inside the company was tracking—let alone addressing.
The same operational excellence that had built their reputation had quietly created tunnel vision—they could execute brilliantly but couldn’t see beyond their current boundaries.
It wasn’t a creativity problem. It was a capability gap. Equipment Co didn’t need more ideas. They needed a system to discover, de-risk, and deliver what came next.
Our Journey
MileZero partnered with Equipment Co to build an innovation pipeline and capability from the ground up—quickly and deliberately.
Together, we:
- Deployed a 5-phase innovation framework (Discover, Design, Develop, De-Risk, Deliver) to guide teams from ambiguity to action.
- Used Doblin’s 10 Types of Innovation to shift thinking beyond product tweaks—expanding into business model, channel, and customer experience innovation.
- Mapped the opportunity landscape—starting with 100+ raw ideas, refining a dozen concepts, and focusing on two adjacent markets with the highest near-term upside.
- Introduced “Need to Believe” planning, working backward from revenue targets to identify and test the critical assumptions behind each opportunity.
- Built an assumption-driven validation process using discovery interviews, concept tests, and lightweight prototyping—ensuring real demand before real investment.
Our Progress
Within a year, Equipment Co had $25M in net new revenue booked, almost 4x their three-year goal. But the team’s success ran even deeper as people across the organization realized they had been artificially limiting themselves and the business for years.
The breakthrough came when they discovered that customers weren’t just willing to buy new solutions—they wanted to collaborate in developing them. This shift from vendor to innovation partner unlocked revenue potential that had been invisible to a company that had never learned to look beyond its current boundaries.
By developing an innovation pipeline, we also built a capability and a repeatable system that enabled Equipment Co to anticipate market shifts, redefine how they grow, partner with customers, and see their future.
With a clear innovation system and a bold adjacent growth strategy, Equipment Co has moved from tactical execution to strategic leadership, proving that the greatest constraint to growth isn’t market conditions. It’s mindset.