Client
AiT SmartDesk
Service
Cross-border Scaling · Fractional CxO / Interim · Product & Project Delivery
location
Budapest, Hungary → USA (Texas), Dubai, EU
AiT SmartDesk started with a phone call. A founder with an early-stage engineering concept — a height-adjustable smart desk — reached out looking for advisory support. The product existed on drawings and in prototype form. The team knew how to build; they didn't yet know how to launch, scale, or fund it internationally.
What began as an advisory engagement evolved, over three years, into an interim operational leadership role and eventually a full business partnership. Between 2018 and 2021 we built Hungary's first international crowdfunding campaign to cross $1+ million, scaled operations across three continents, and closed a strategic acquisition ahead of most industry timelines. This case is the archetype of what happens when an advisory relationship grows into whatever shape the business actually needs.
The Challenge
The founder had a product he believed in and no path to prove it internationally. There was no brand, no market-entry plan, no capital plan beyond the founder's own runway, and no team capable of running a multi-country hardware campaign. Traditional consulting, a deck, a playbook, and a fee — would have solved nothing. The situation required someone who could think alongside the founder at strategy level, then move into the operating seat when the campaign demanded it.
The specific challenge in front of us was to translate an engineering-desk product into a globally credible brand story, build the go-to-market machinery from zero, run an international crowdfunding campaign in a market where Hungarian consumer-tech had essentially no track record, and stay operational through post-campaign scale-up in the US and MENA regions. That work could not be done from an advisor's chair alone.
The Approach
Phase 1: Advisory. The first weeks were a diagnostic — reviewing the product, the market, the team, the founder's risk profile, and the realistic capital paths. Together we settled on international crowdfunding as the vehicle: it would validate the product publicly, raise capital without giving up equity too early, and create the brand momentum needed to attract follow-on investors. We defined the campaign architecture, the target markets, and the operating cadence.
Phase 2: Interim operational leadership. As the campaign scope grew, it became clear that external advisory wouldn't be enough. I stepped into the COO / de facto CEO role in-house, built a 20+ person cross-functional international team across marketing, creative, technology, manufacturing, and logistics, and ran the campaign end to end. Global tech media coverage in GadgetFlow and others, community-building, US and MENA business development, and the day-to-day operational grind of a public campaign all sat under this seat.
Phase 3: Business partnership. The campaign's success turned the engagement into a long-term partnership. Post-campaign, we opened US manufacturing negotiations in Texas, drove Dubai market expansion including government-level conversations, and secured approximately €500K in follow-on JV and investor capital. The company operated for over two years across e-commerce, international sales, and strategic planning, ending in a successful strategic acquisition. The founder and I built and exited together, as partners.
The Outcome
AiT SmartDesk raised over $1 million USD on international crowdfunding — Hungary's first and to date only product campaign from Budapest to cross the seven-figure line. The 20+ person team delivered a US manufacturing scale-up in Texas, a Dubai market entry (including government representative conversations), and approximately €500K in follow-on JV and investor capital. Global tech media validated the brand internationally.
The company operated for over two years post-campaign across three continents before closing a successful strategic acquisition. What started as an engineering drawing became a globally distributed hardware brand with real international revenue, a clean exit, and a founder who had built and sold his first company. The shape of my role evolved with the business: advisor when the question was strategic, operator when execution was required, partner when the long game demanded it.
"Greg came in as an advisor and ended up leading the company through the most defining eighteen months of our journey. From concept to global campaign to exit, he ran the play."
—
M.Thomas
,
Founder & CEO
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