Apr 8, 2022
The Challenge
FTN Motion was founded by two engineers in Wellington, New Zealand, with a vision to design electric motorbikes that combined style, simplicity, and everyday practicality.
By 2020 they had prototyped their first bike — but as a product-driven team, they lacked a clear brand, positioning, and market strategy. They needed to turn their engineering innovation into a business that could attract capital, build a loyal following, and launch successfully in a crowded global market.
The Approach
I joined FTN Motion as a co-founder and board director (September 2020 – early 2024) to lead the company’s brand and growth strategy. My role was to:
Define a compelling brand identity that would resonate with early adopters.
Build the company’s positioning, values, vision and mission from the ground up.
Design a go-to-market strategy that could generate traction without relying on a big marketing budget.
Use scarcity and exclusivity to drive urgency — creating a waitlist pipeline for early adopters and ensuring demand outstripped supply.
Put in place the structure and messaging needed to raise capital and prepare for launch.
Guide growth and decision-making as part of the board of directors through the early scale-up phase.
The Outcome
The results exceeded expectations:
The Founder’s Edition bikes (100 units) sold out within weeks of pre-launch in 2021.
A waitlist of 1,500+ riders was generated ahead of release — driven by a scarcity-led marketing strategy.
FTN Motion launched with immediate traction and positioned itself as a credible challenger brand, attracting both customers and investors.
By 2025, FTN Motion had delivered 200+ Streetdogs across New Zealand and fully sold out the first production run of the new Streetdog80.
Between 2020 and 2024, FTN Motion successfully raised $5.1 million in capital to fund growth, infrastructure, and international expansion.
The business is now strongly positioned for international markets, with Australia as the next step.
Client Feedback
“Working with Saskia has always been fantastic. She has a unique ability to drive marketing strategy and vision into the team, and in a very short time (with next to no marketing budget ) she achieved incredible results. She didn’t just give us guidelines, she established a mindset for brand leadership that is now ingrained in our company. Efficient, hardworking, and incredibly experienced, I would absolutely recommend her.
- Luke Sinclair, Founder/CEO FTN Motion
Why This Matters
This case study demonstrates how brand strategy, positioning, and structured go-to-market execution can transform a product-driven startup into a scalable, investment-ready business.
By pairing clarity and structure with scarcity-driven demand generation, FTN Motion was able to build credibility, attract customers, and secure significant investment — proof that strategy is as critical to growth as engineering or design.