Solar Energy · Infrastructure · Project Finance · EMEA & Africa
de Egaña · Madrid
25 years building commercial operations in markets others find too complex — financing, structuring, and closing large-scale solar energy and infrastructure deals across three continents.
About
Most executives in solar and infrastructure can describe markets. Few have actually built the commercial operations, secured the government concessions, structured the project finance, and closed the deals — across Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Asia, over 25 years.
What the best solar manufacturers, IPPs, EPCs, and institutional investors look for is increasingly specialised: deep understanding of project finance structures and bankability requirements, hands-on experience with utility-scale RFQ and tender processes, and long-term relationships with the institutional buyers who make procurement decisions — Iberdrola, Naturgy, ENEL Green Power, Solaria, and their equivalents across EMEA and beyond.
I started in West Africa at 23, negotiating infrastructure contracts — hospitals, water systems, rural electrification — using FAD soft loans, CESCE export credits, and OECD mixed credit frameworks. That foundation — understanding how large capital moves, how governments decide, and how to structure deals that multilateral institutions will co-finance — is what I carried into solar energy at Isofoton, SolFocus, Arctech Solar, and Valmont.
The co-founder of four companies. The author of a 270-page fundraising guide. A four-year practitioner of applied AI in commercial strategy. All the same person — shaped by the belief that the most valuable work happens at the intersection of relationships, capital, and execution.
How I Can Help
Solar manufacturers, infrastructure developers, EPCs, and investment funds across EMEA, the Americas, Africa, and Asia face the same core problems. Here is where I have solved them — with receipts.
The Problem
Entering a new international market at early stage
You have a strong product but no relationships with the utilities, EPCs, and project developers who make procurement decisions. You need credibility before you need contracts — in markets where trust is built over years, not months.
→ Built the European operation of the 4th largest tracker manufacturer globally (Wood Mackenzie data) from zero — no prior European presence. Pipeline 10x in under 3 quarters. Customer base +200%.
The Problem
Making your project bankable for institutional lenders
Bankability is about understanding what a development bank, export credit agency, or institutional lender needs to see — technically, contractually, and commercially — before committing capital. Getting this wrong kills projects at the DD stage.
→ SolFocus CPV: non-recourse project finance (80% debt / 20% equity) in the post-2008 frozen credit market. FAD soft loans $100M + CESCE export credits $75M across infrastructure. World Bank and KfW co-financed ENCO concessions.
The Problem
Winning government concessions in complex markets
African and emerging market government concessions require ministerial relationships, consortium design, multilateral co-financing, and the ability to navigate regulatory environments that operate on their own timelines — and their own rules.
→ ENCO: Two Senegalese government concessions won against EDF. 47,500 households. World Bank case study. KfW and EU co-financed. Morocco PERG: 10-year PPP, 9 provinces, 13,000+ systems.
The Problem
Scaling international revenues across multiple geographies
You have a product that works domestically. International scale — across Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia simultaneously — requires a different commercial architecture, different team profiles, and a fundamentally different approach to key account management.
→ Isofoton: $43M → $426M in international revenues. 8 subsidiaries. 2 manufacturing facilities. 15+ countries across 4 continents. 7 years. Built from zero to global.
The Problem
Establishing a new market entrant as a credible tier-1 alternative
You are entering a highly competitive market where established players have deep roots with the buyers who matter. You need to pass rigorous vendor qualification processes, build technical credibility with engineering teams, and earn a position at the shortlist table.
→ Positioned a top-tier tracker manufacturer as the credible alternative in the highly competitive European market — including Spain. Led 9 vendor qualification processes with tier-1 utilities and EPCs. Achieved the first-ever vendor qualification by a tracker manufacturer at ENEL Green Power.
The Problem
Structuring and closing a strategic investment process
Bringing in a strategic investor requires a disciplined process: target selection, investment bank appointment, information memorandum, Big Four due diligence, and board-level negotiation across multiple competing candidates.
→ Isofoton: Led the process resulting in Deyá Capital (Grupo March) investing ~$205M USD (€150M) for a 25% stake — implying a valuation of approximately $848M. IB-managed. Big Four DD across 8 countries.
B2B buyers are empowered by digital and AI. The focus has officially shifted — from selling to enabling buying.
The B2B Buyers Journey
Because buyers are now empowered by digital channels and AI, the strategic focus has officially shifted — from selling to enabling buying. Most commercial organisations have not caught up with this reality.
Gartner's 2026 research confirms what I have been experiencing on the ground for years: 67% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free experience. The typical sales rep occupies just 17% of the buyer's total purchase journey — split across all competing vendors. The executives winning deals are not the ones talking more. They are the ones who make it easier for buyers to decide.
"We are witnessing a fundamental shift in how decisions get made in B2B. The organisations pulling ahead are redefining their role in the buying journey — not focused solely on persuasion."
Gartner 2026 — Read the research →
How I apply this — in practice
The Naturgy Example — Buyer Enablement in Action
When a top-tier Spanish utility was evaluating solar trackers — with proposals from most of the global top manufacturers — I did not lead with our product. I offered to prepare a neutral technical checklist of what they should look for as red flags across all tracker proposals: stow position engineering, aeroelasticity coefficients, structural load calculations, bankability criteria for project finance lenders.
The utility appreciated it because it gave their internal procurement committee a defensible framework for a complex, high-stakes decision. It positioned us as the most credible and transparent voice in the room — and that trust, built before any contract discussion, is what drove the relationship forward.
Guide the buyer. Don't just pitch.
Modern B2B procurement — especially in solar and infrastructure — is committee-based, non-linear, and increasingly digital-first. The decision journey is a maze, not a funnel. The executives who win identify what buyers need before the buyer knows they need it — and provide it without asking for anything in return.
This is a transferable skill built over 25 years of navigating complex institutional buyers: utilities, multilateral lenders, government ministries, and investment committees.
AI as commercial intelligence
Four years before it became mainstream, I began integrating AI into commercial research, market analysis, and buyer intelligence. Not as a content generator — as a strategic tool that accelerates the depth and quality of commercial preparation: faster market entry analysis, sharper investor memoranda, and the ability to anticipate buyer objections before they surface. Google-certified. The judgment to direct AI toward commercially meaningful results.
"The arc that nobody plans — but everyone recognises. Seven moves. One consistent thread."
My Journey
Seven moves. 25 years. A co-foundership. A published book. The same thread throughout: doing the commercial work that others consider too difficult, too remote, or too long-cycle to be worth the effort.
1995 — 2000 · Madrid & Sub-Saharan Africa
At 23, fresh from Oxford Brookes, I was negotiating infrastructure contracts — hospitals, water systems, rural electrification — with ministers and presidents across West Africa within six months, using FAD soft loans, CESCE export credits, and OECD mixed credit frameworks.
In Ghana in 1999, I closed a €5M solar rural electrification contract on behalf of Isofoton — whilst still employed by IBADESA. That contract represented 26% of Isofoton's entire annual revenue. They recruited me directly. January 2001.
2001 — 2008 · Madrid · Global
Isofoton had no meaningful international infrastructure when I arrived. Within 24 months: Deputy MD, International Division. Over seven years: 8 subsidiaries, 2 manufacturing facilities (including a WFOE in China), revenues from $43M to $426M across 15+ countries.
Simultaneously lecturing at Lehigh University's Iacocca Institute — four consecutive summers. Contributed to the strategic investor process that resulted in Deyá Capital (Grupo March) investing ~$205M USD (€150M) for a 25% stake — implying a valuation of approximately $848M in 2007.
2008 — 2012 · Madrid · 12 Countries
I joined SolFocus in June 2008. By November: financial crash, outgoing MD, collapsed IPO strategy. Appointed interim MD overnight. 48 people. One mandate: survive.
Restructured 48→14 across three ERE-compliant phases. Raised €15M in European institutional capital in a frozen credit market — including structured non-recourse project finance (80% debt / 20% equity). Europe grew to 60%+ of global revenues. Permanent appointment confirmed by Scott Sandell (NEA, Forbes Midas #5).
2012 · The Co-Founder Chapter
When SolFocus wound down, I was approached as a consultant for POZESS. I negotiated co-founder status instead — putting me on the other side: not the executive selling to VCs, but the founder being evaluated, rejected, and rebuilt by them.
A year in. Sound team. Solid metrics. Dozens of rejections. Then one VC told us the truth: "You're fundable — but not investor-ready." We fixed it. Got funded. That experience became the foundation of the 270-page book.
Ahead of its time
Africa is now one of
the world's fastest-growing
solar markets.
We built the infrastructure
a decade before the world noticed.
2012 — 2022 · Dakar · Madrid · New York · Milan
ENCO was founded with Abdou Sy — a Senegalese entrepreneur whose father's deep institutional network across West African government and finance provided access that most foreign companies never achieve. Our first major contract was negotiated directly with Macky Sall, then a rising political figure who would serve as President of Senegal from 2012 to 2024.
I designed the consortium strategy that won two Senegalese government concessions — 47,500 households, ~500,000 beneficiaries — co-financed by KfW, EU, World Bank, and Spain. World Bank case study. Built from 3 to 100 people. Africa as a solar market was not yet mainstream. We built the infrastructure a decade before the world noticed.
2019 — Present · Madrid · Global
Approached to build the European operation of the 4th largest solar tracker manufacturer globally — a company with no prior European presence. Within three quarters: pipeline 10x, customer base +200%, and the first-ever ENEL Green Power vendor qualification achieved by a tracker manufacturer.
At Valmont (2022–23), 140% of annual European targets in 18 months — trackers, fixed-tilt, and agrivoltaics. Then Thinking Smarts: because after 25 years of building commercial operations for others, I wanted to give back — making my experience, network, and Silicon Valley connections available to first-time founders who needed someone who had genuinely been through it.
"The most complex commercial work happens where relationships, capital, and execution converge."
Strategic Investment Process
As part of the Isofoton Leadership Team, and as the executive who had driven the International Division's growth from $43M to $426M in revenues, I played an integral part in the strategic investor process — from the initial Board decision through to close.
The mandate was carefully defined: bring in a strategic investor to fuel growth and further scale — with the financial flexibility and institutional credibility to accelerate an ambitious international expansion plan. The Board evaluated and ultimately discarded the option of industrial partners — primarily early-stage Chinese solar manufacturers, several of whom are now firmly in the global top 10 — concluding that Deyá Capital, the investment arm of Grupo March, offered the right combination of financial strength, strategic flexibility, and institutional reputation without the operational complexity of an industrial co-shareholder.
The outcome: Deyá Capital acquired a 25% stake for approximately ~$205M USD (€150M) — implying a company valuation of approximately $848M. Validated through a full Big Four due diligence process across 8 countries, an investment bank-managed competitive process, and board-level negotiation with multiple shortlisted investors.
This type of process is one of the most demanding a senior commercial executive can navigate — requiring fluency in financial modelling, investor psychology, competitive positioning, and the ability to defend revenue projections under forensic scrutiny from investors who have seen thousands of information memoranda.
| Stage | Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Strategic Decision | Board resolution to seek a strategic investor to fuel growth and scale. Industrial candidates — including early-stage Chinese solar manufacturers now in the global top 10 — evaluated and discarded in favour of a financial investor with greater structural flexibility. |
| 02 | Target Selection | Longlist of 40+ potential investors screened across European family offices, infrastructure funds, and institutional investors. Shortlisted to 8 qualified candidates based on strategic fit, financial capacity, and alignment with expansion objectives. |
| 03 | Investment Bank | Leading Spanish investment bank appointed as process advisor. Managed confidentiality protocols, investor approach sequencing, and competitive tension between shortlisted candidates throughout the process. |
| 04 | Information Memorandum | Prepared with Big Four firm. International revenue model, pipeline projections by geography, technology roadmap, subsidiary performance across 8 countries, and risk factors. Forensic-grade documentation. |
| 05 | Investor Presentations | Management presentations to 5 shortlisted investors. International revenue growth defended under detailed questioning. Pipeline credibility across 15+ markets was both the central challenge and our strongest card. |
| 06 | Due Diligence | Full financial, legal, and technical due diligence across all subsidiaries in 8 countries. Big Four audit team. Six-week intensive process. Two binding offers received. |
| 07 | Close | Deyá Capital (Grupo March) — 25% stake acquired for ~$205M USD (€150M). $848M implied valuation. Board seat granted. Strategic growth partnership formalised. |
~$205M USD (€150M) · 25% Stake
Deyá Capital (Grupo March) · $848M implied valuation · 2007
Big Four due diligence · Investment bank process · Board-level close
Infrastructure & Solar
From hospitals and water systems in West Africa to utility-scale solar across three continents — large capital, complex stakeholders, and the patience to operate where others won't.
1995 — 2000 · West Africa · IBADESA
Engineering & Infrastructure — Africa Division
Hospitals · Water Systems · Rural Electrification · FAD & CESCE Finance · Ministerial relationships across 8 countries
2001 — 2008 · Global · Isofoton
Solar Scale — International Division
$43M → $426M Solar & Infrastructure Revenues · 8 Subsidiaries · 2 Factories · 15+ Countries
2012 — 2022 · Senegal · ENCO Group
Rural Electrification & Mini-Grid Concessions
47,500 Households · KfW + EU + World Bank · Won against EDF · World Bank Case Study · ~500,000 Beneficiaries
2019 — 2023 · Europe · Arctech Solar & Valmont
Tracker Market Leadership — Europe
4th Largest Global Tracker (Wood Mackenzie) · First ENEL Green Power Qualification · 140% European Target · Agrivoltaics
"Most founders don't fail on product. They fail because nobody taught them how buyers actually decide."
The Founder Chapter
Not an advisor who has read about founding. An operator who co-founded, negotiated equity, raised capital, survived the rejection stack, and built companies from three to one hundred people — while running a parallel career as a senior commercial executive.
2014 — 2015
SFC Business Partners
Boutique solar advisory co-founded with Ernesto Macías Galán. Created following approach from NEA Executive in Residence. Negotiated term sheet with Iberdrola PERSEO (€200M+ portfolio) for client Generalia's mini-grid technology.
2012
POZESS
Approached as consultant. Negotiated co-founder equity instead. Got rejected by every VC. One honest conversation: "Fundable — but not investor-ready." Fixed it. Got funded. Wrote the book.
2012 — Present
ENCO Energy Services
Founding partner with Abdou Sy. Built from 3 to 100 people. Two government concessions. World Bank case study. The partnership that built Africa's solar infrastructure before the world noticed.
2023 — 2026
Thinking Smarts Inc.
Founded to mentor first-time founders — making 25 years of experience, network, and Silicon Valley connections available to those who needed someone who had genuinely been through it. Chapter complete.
Why I founded Thinking Smarts
After 25 years of building commercial operations at scale — and after going through the founder journey myself with POZESS — I wanted to give back. I wrote a 270-page fundraising guide. I supported $25M in capital raises. I made my Silicon Valley network — including connections at NEA — available to first-time founders facing the same walls I had faced. That chapter is now complete. The experience made me a better commercial executive: I understand the founder's perspective from the inside.
The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising
270 Pages · Christian Herrero de Egaña · Gumroad
VC mechanics · 2&20 model · LP & GP dynamics · The Babe Ruth Effect · Pitch construction · Investor psychology · Equity dilution · Term sheet negotiation · Scaling strategy.
Written by a founder who raised capital, failed first, and figured out exactly why.
"The storyteller is the most powerful person in the world. Most entrepreneurs can't tell a story." — Steve Jobs
Storytelling & Communication
The most underestimated
commercial skill.
Storytelling is not a startup skill. It is the difference between a vendor qualification that succeeds and one that stalls, between a board presentation that moves a committee and one that generates follow-up questions, between a pitch that gets funded and one that gets filed.
One of the most important lessons from 25 years of enterprise commercial work: the ability to identify what your audience needs before they know they need it — and communicate it in the language they use to make decisions — is a transferable skill that is chronically underestimated in B2B organisations.
"People will pay for a story, but people will die for a narrative. If you have a narrative, you make people do impossible things."
Robert Rose — The Content Advisory
"People don't buy what you do or how you do it. They buy why you do it."
Simon Sinek
Story
Business Storytelling for Startups & Beyond
Christian Herrero de Egaña · Free Guide · 2024
↓ Download PDF — Free · No Signup
Contact
Senior commercial mandates, advisory engagements, speaking opportunities, or the right executive role. Every serious enquiry answered personally.
AI in Practice
I have been using AI as a commercial intelligence tool for four years — before it became a boardroom conversation. Not to generate content. To think faster, verify harder, and position better.
Before the meeting
Buyer research, procurement cycle mapping, competitor positioning, stakeholder preparation. AI compresses weeks of commercial intelligence into hours — when you know which questions to ask it.
During the work
Parallel drafting across registers, languages, and audiences. Structural analysis of complex documents. Pattern recognition across large evidence sets. The production layer — fast, precise, tireless.
The override
Knowing when the machine is confidently wrong. When the tone is correct but the moment is not. When what is left out matters more than what is included. That is not AI. That is 25 years.
Case Studies — AI + Experience in the Field
The Proof is in the Pudding
Two working sessions. A personal brand rebuilt from zero. Three executive applications positioned and sent. What AI produced — and what only 25 years of commercial judgment could add.
Read the case study → Case Study 02 · Complex MatterThe Pilot and the Autopilot
Five weeks. One complex international matter. Eight versions of a single document. 1,143 pages of primary-source evidence. What flying the aircraft looks like when the autopilot needs overriding.
Read the case study →
"Africa has become the world's last 'New Frontier' — a kind of 'it-continent.'"
— Mo Ibrahim, Telecommunications billionaire & philanthropist
Africa
Less than 6% of global foreign direct investment. Returns of 11–15%. A population of 2.5 billion by 2050. The executives who understand this gap — and have the relationships, patience, and track record to operate inside it — are building positions that no amount of capital can replicate later.
The Opportunity
Severe undersupply in energy, digital infrastructure, industrial manufacturing, and financial services means early movers capture high-margin returns simply by meeting demand that established players have not yet reached.
The Method
Africa rewards the patient and the present. Monthly visits when there is no immediate deliverable. Relationships built over years, not quarters. Trust established before any contract is on the table. This is not soft strategy — it is the hard commercial reality of how deals close.
The Track Record
25 years. 8 countries with direct operational experience. 27 countries visited commercially. Government concessions in Senegal. Bilateral infrastructure financing in Ghana. Active relationships with SENELEC, ONE Morocco, and Ghana Petroleum Corporation — available from day one.
Africa — Field Notes & Market Analysis
Doing Business to Make Friends
The executive's real guide to Africa — four rules nobody taught at business school. With a story from Makola Market, Accra, 1995.
Read the article → Article 02 · Markets & DataThe FDI Paradox
Africa captures less than 6% of global investment and delivers 11–15% returns. The gap between those two numbers is the opportunity.
Read the article → Article 03 · Energy & IndustryThe Last Energy Frontier
Africa holds 60% of the world's best solar resources and accounts for 3% of installed capacity. The industrial energy opportunity is unlike anything in any other market.
Read the article →Insights
Field notes, market analysis, and methodology — written for the executives and organisations who want to understand what is actually happening, not what the headlines say.
Africa — Field Notes & Market Analysis
Doing Business to Make Friends
The executive's real guide to Africa — four rules nobody taught at business school. With a story from Makola Market, Accra, 1995.
Read → Article 02 · Markets & DataThe FDI Paradox
Africa captures less than 6% of global investment and delivers 11–15% returns. The gap between those two numbers is the opportunity.
Read → Article 03 · Energy & IndustryThe Last Energy Frontier
Africa holds 60% of the world's best solar resources and accounts for 3% of installed capacity. The industrial energy opportunity is unlike anything in any other market.
Read →AI in Practice — Case Studies
The Proof is in the Pudding
Two working sessions. A personal brand rebuilt from zero. What AI produced — and what only 25 years of commercial judgment could add.
Read → Case Study 02 · AI + Complex MatterThe Pilot and the Autopilot
Five weeks. One complex matter. Eight structural rebuilds. What flying the aircraft looks like when the autopilot needs to be overridden.
Read →