Expertise
Commercial Strategy & GTM for Fintech
Commercial strategy for financial-services businesses that need a proposition, a price and a route to market that hold up in front of real buyers.
The problem this work solves
Most fintech and payments businesses do not fail because the product is weak. They stall because the proposition is unclear, the pricing does not reflect how the economics actually work, or the sales motion was designed for a different buyer than the one signing the contract.
Wernberg & Partners works on that layer: what you sell, who you sell it to, how it is priced, how it is distributed and how the commercial organisation is set up to deliver it. The work is done alongside founders, commercial leaders and boards rather than delivered as a report.
Typical situations
When companies bring us in
Revenue growth has slowed and it is unclear whether the constraint is proposition, pricing, pipeline or execution.
A product works for one customer segment and the company wants to move upmarket, into a new vertical or into enterprise and regulated buyers.
Pricing was set early, has never been revisited, and margin is being lost to interchange, scheme fees, partner costs or discounting.
A partnership or distribution channel is expected to carry growth but has not produced predictable volume.
A commercial team is being built or restructured and the operating model, targets and ownership need to be defined.
Scope
What we work on
Proposition development
Sharpening what the business actually sells, to whom, and why a buyer in banking, payments or fintech chooses it over the incumbent alternative.
Go-to-market strategy
Segment prioritisation, buyer mapping, channel mix and the sequencing of direct sales, partnerships and platform distribution.
Pricing and commercial models
Pricing structure, packaging and margin design, including how scheme fees, interchange, processing costs and partner economics flow through the model.
Sales execution
Pipeline construction, qualification, commercial process, deal structuring and how long procurement and compliance cycles are handled in regulated buyers.
Partnerships and distribution
Identifying and assessing partners, structuring commercial terms and defining what a partnership must deliver to be worth the integration effort.
Entering new verticals
Adapting proposition, pricing and evidence for a new vertical or customer type without rebuilding the business around a single deal.
Commercial organisation
Roles, ownership, incentives and reporting so that commercial decisions are made close to the market rather than escalated.
Commercial acceleration
Short, focused engagements to unblock a specific decision, negotiation or launch where speed matters more than a full strategy cycle.
Engagement
How the engagement works
01
Framing
A short diagnostic on the commercial objective, the economics underneath it and the decisions that actually move the outcome.
02
Direction
Proposition, pricing and go-to-market choices set out clearly, with the trade-offs and the assumptions made visible.
03
Execution
Support through the parts that decide the result: partner conversations, pricing negotiations, sales structure and launch.
04
Continued involvement
Where useful, staying alongside the team as the model meets the market and needs adjustment.
Selected work
Engagements of this type
Rebuilding a commercial model
Reviewing positioning, pricing, sales execution and partnerships to identify where growth is being constrained.
Launching a new proposition
Working with founders and commercial teams from proposition through partnerships, pricing, go-to-market and execution.
Executive decision support
An independent operator perspective around consequential commercial and partnership decisions.
The same commercial questions are worked on from the inside at Crosswire, where financial infrastructure is built for complex and high-risk businesses. See selected involvement.
Related expertise
Financial services market entry
When the commercial model has to be built for a market the business has not operated in before.
Payments and banking infrastructure advisory
When pricing and margin depend on the payment stack and the counterparties underneath it.
Who does the work
Advisory delivered personally
Engagements are led by Gustaf Hult, founder and senior advisor at Wernberg & Partners, who works directly with founders, executives and commercial teams across fintech, payments, banking and digital assets. Specialist expertise is brought in from the wider network where an engagement requires it.
Request advisory
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