A growth practice for deep tech, defence and aerospaceDeep tech  ·  Defence  ·  Aerospace

Commercialising complex technology.

I help technically complex businesses sharpen their market position, build their market presence and create commercial momentum.

  • Market positioning
  • Go-to-market
  • Marketing activation

Selected work

  • Atomic Tessellator
  • Equilibrium Aerospace
  • Solar Bay

The problem

Build it and they will not come.

I've worked with over 20 founders, and these are the common symptoms of poor marketing. Hover for what each one is costing you.

These are different symptoms of the same problem. If you can't clearly communicate the value that your technology brings, you won't get market traction.

My starting point  ·  The Commercial Translation Gap

Technical credibility isn't commercial momentum.

The distance between what you've built and what the market believes it is. Complex technology can't create commercial momentum if the market doesn't understand why it matters, so my Commercial Translation framework makes sure the foundations are right before strategy becomes execution.

Blueprint of a bridge spanning the commercial translation gap, from technical credibility on one side to commercial momentum on the other

Pathway 01  /  Get the commercial strategy right

Diagnose. Then fix.

Three stages. Most companies start at the second. The Diagnostic fee is credited in full to the Sprint within 30 days. Fees exclude GST.

  1. 01

    Clarity Audit

    Find out which pathway you need

    About five minutes. Scores both halves of the problem, then tells you where to start.

    • Does the market understand you? Clarity, differentiation, audience fit, commercial intent, consistency
    • Is anything taking you to market? Visibility, demand engine, marketing capability
    • Immediate readout and a recommended next step
    Complimentary  ·  About five minutes Take the audit →
  2. 02

    Commercial GTM Diagnostic

    Find the constraint

    A principal-led diagnosis of where positioning, narrative and go-to-market are blocking momentum, and what to fix first.

    • Website, deck and sales materials reviewed
    • 90-minute leadership interview
    • The primary constraint, named, with a recommended direction
    • Prioritised 90-day recommendations
    • Leadership readout and written decision document
    $5,000  ·  7 to 10 business days Commission a Diagnostic →
  3. 03

    Commercial Momentum Sprint

    Rebuild the commercial system

    One commercial position, built to move every audience, in fourteen days. Direct with the Principal, backed by the Clarity Guarantee.

    • Positioning system
    • Commercial narrative system: investor, customer, government
    • Sales and investor arsenal: deck rebuilt, objection bank, pitch rehearsal
    • 90-day activation blueprint
    $25,000  ·  14 days  ·  $20,000 with the Diagnostic credit See the full Sprint →

Pathway 02  /  Take it to market

Already have the strategy? Start here.

If your positioning and go-to-market are sound but you need senior marketing capability to take it to market, I plug directly into your business. No Sprint required.

01

Brand & campaigns

Brand strategy, creative platforms, campaigns and launches for companies whose product takes twenty minutes to explain.

02

Content & thought leadership

LinkedIn, executive content, video and Field Notes-style programmes that build authority in a technical market.

03

Digital & web

Websites, landing pages, digital campaigns and AI search visibility, built for buyers who research before they enquire.

04

Sales enablement & pursuits

Decks, collateral, case studies and tender and pursuit materials, so the people selling you have the words.

05

Events & market activation

Trade shows, partnerships, launches and account-based programmes, with the follow-up that usually gets skipped.

06

Government affairs

Australia and the United States, through the Operator Network, for companies whose buyer sits inside government.

07

Fractional marketing leadership

Senior marketing direction, planning, and management of your agencies and vendors. The capability without the headcount.

Three ways to run it
Advisory

Senior direction, review and accountability. Your team executes.

Done with you

The bench and I plan, build and launch alongside your team.

Done for you

The Operator Network runs the execution, with me directing it.

Ongoing engagements from $4,500/month + GST.

Final scope and fee depend on the engagement model and the level of execution involved. Advisory sits at the entry point; done-with-you and done-for-you are scoped to the work.

"Murphy & Company has proven to be the missing link for our team as we look to scale our business. Chris' ability to understand our technology and potential and help translate that into easy-to-understand touchpoints has been invaluable."
Alain Richardt
Alain Richardt Founder · Atomic Tessellator A$11.3M seed
"I knew what we were building was special. Murphy & Company made sure the people who matter understood it too. Chris sharpened our narrative, and as a result the doors that opened were ones I didn't even know how to knock on."
Maciej Grybko
Maciej Grybko Founder · Equilibrium Aerospace Seed round ongoing
"We'd built something genuinely complex, an embedded renewable network across Australia's largest freight precinct, and Chris made it legible to the people who had to buy it. He turned a technical energy offer into a story a tenant could understand in one read. That work played a real part in getting multimillion-dollar agreements over the line."
Brendon Walsh
Brendon Walsh Investment Director · Solar Bay $350M network sale
01/03

The Clarity Guarantee

The work isn't finished until your leadership can sell the same story.

If, at the end of the Sprint, your leadership team cannot explain what you do, why it matters and why you're different in language they believe is materially stronger than where you started, I'll continue refining the agreed deliverables at no additional professional fee for up to 30 days following final presentation.

The small print
  • Applies to the Commercial Momentum Sprint engagement only
  • Runs for 30 days from final presentation, on the agreed Sprint deliverables
  • Does not cover new audiences, scope expansion or changes in company direction
  • Does not guarantee fundraising, sales, procurement or partnership outcomes
  • Confidential and sensitive work is handled under existing NDA protocols
Chris Murphy, founder of Murphy & Company Chris Murphy
Chris Murphy Founder & Principal, Murphy & Company

Why Murphy & Company

Senior marketing leadership, backed by a specialist bench.

I market hard things. I only work with frontier technologies: defence and aerospace, dual-use and advanced manufacturing.

Specialisations
  • Brand strategy
  • GTM and channel planning
  • Sales and business development
  • Commercialisation
Technical bench
  • AI visibility
  • Design
  • Government affairs, Australia and US
  • Web development
  • AI integration
Practice outcomes
  • Atomic Tessellator: one narrative into an A$11.3M seed round
  • Solar Bay: a proposition tenants could buy, and a $350M network sale
  • Equilibrium Aerospace: a live raise with an investor, defence and dual-use story
Commercial craft
  • 15+ years leading brand teams and strategy at top-tier agencies in the UK and Australia
  • +158% Qantas US bookings, year on year
  • BINGE to one million subscribers in eight months
  • 50+ creative and effectiveness awards
And you work with me
  • 8am to 6pm access via Slack
  • Your own client hub in Notion, updated weekly
  • Full access to a senior operator, at a level that fits your budget
As seen in
Commercial craft, before the practice


FAQ

Before you reach out.

If you're commercialising technically complex technology and need stronger positioning, go-to-market strategy or marketing execution, probably. Some clients come to me because the market doesn't understand them: customers don't grasp what they've built, fundraising stalls at the narrative level, partners describe them differently in the room. Others already have the story right and need the senior marketing capability to take it to market: brand, campaigns, content, digital, events and sales enablement. The common denominator isn't the sector or the symptom. It's a technically sophisticated product that has to be understood by non-technical decision-makers.

Yes. That is the second way of working with me, and it does not require a Sprint first. If your positioning and go-to-market are already sound and what you actually need is senior marketing capability, I plug into your business at the level you need: advisory, where I give direction and your team executes; done with you, where the bench and I plan, build and launch together; or done for you, where the Operator Network runs the execution. It covers brand and campaigns, content and thought leadership, digital and web, sales enablement and pursuits, events and market activation, government affairs across Australia and the United States, and fractional marketing leadership.

If your product exists and you are in live conversations with investors or customers, you are not too early, and fixing the story now is cheaper than fixing it after a failed raise. If you are pre-product and still proving the science, you are probably too early for a paid engagement, and I will tell you that on the first call. Take the Clarity Audit either way. It is complimentary, takes about five minutes, and it will tell you whether your constraint is the story or the absence of anything taking it to market.

The Diagnostic finds the constraint. The Sprint fixes it. In seven to ten business days the Diagnostic reviews your materials, interviews leadership, scores you against the five dimensions of commercial translation, names the primary commercial constraint and recommends a direction and a 90-day sequence. It does not build the positioning system, the audience narratives, the deck or the GTM architecture. That is the Sprint. Most companies start with the Diagnostic, and its full fee is credited to the Sprint if you commission it within 30 days.

The Clarity Audit is complimentary. The Commercial GTM Diagnostic is $5,000 plus GST, credited in full to the Sprint if you commission it within 30 days. The Commercial Momentum Sprint is $25,000 plus GST for 14 days, delivered directly by me, or $20,000 plus GST with the Diagnostic credit applied. I run two Sprints a month, so there is sometimes a queue. Ongoing marketing and activation starts from $4,500 a month plus GST, with the final scope and fee depending on the engagement model, and you do not need to have done a Sprint first. It is one person. But that one person has done this for Qantas and BINGE, and you get him, not an account manager.

With rigour. Many of my clients operate in sensitive sectors where discretion is not a preference. It is a requirement. Every engagement operates under mutual NDA as standard, and I understand that some of the most important work I do will never be publicly attributable. The practice is structured accordingly, with all communications and materials encrypted and secured as a matter of course.

Commercial narrative work does not need controlled technical data, and I structure engagements so it never touches any. The story is built from what you can already say to the audiences you are trying to reach, not from the engineering underneath it. Where a company operates under ITAR, the Defence Trade Controls Act or the Defence and Strategic Goods List, I agree with you at the outset what is out of scope, who on your side reviews materials before they go anywhere, and how drafts are stored and shared. Nothing controlled leaves your environment, and I am comfortable working inside yours.

Start a conversation

Tell me what you're building. Let's have a conversation.

hello@murphyandcompany.com.au (02) 9146 5076

Every enquiry comes straight to me. Reply within one business day.