Everything a Board needs to know about Product-as-a-Service
Former Acer DaaS Director Mailin Jappé covers why boards must commit 3-5 years, how SPVs solve sales conflicts, and why transaction profitability matters most.
Product-as-a-Service propositions are seen as a key business model for implementing the circular economy. However, PaaS comes with specific challenges:
- Why should people rent and not buy?
- What are the differences between B2B & B2C customers?
- What software is best to manage all the contracts?
- How to fund the assets?
- Does PaaS save resources?
And, in the case of launching it from inside a linear company: Do stakeholders understand the different characteristics of PaaS and adapt the steering accordingly?
While many of these challenges may be clear, possible solutions are too often hidden. So, let’s unveil them!
Welcome to PaaS Decoded – 16 conversations about the fine details of Product-as-a-Service!
All released episodes:
- B2C
- B2B
- Funding
- Process & IT
- Impact
- Reflection
Episodes
16 episodes in this series
TRUMPF – Be more Efficient with Equipment- as-a-Service
TRUMPF's team shares their 4-year pay-per-part journey: remote centers enable 1 operator per 20 machines, material nesting cuts waste, dash cams close loops.
kaer – Cooling-as-a-Service and the Role of Technology
kaer's Dave Mackerness reveals how machine learning optimizes 30-50 equipment settings in real time, why there's no lock-in, and pricing per ton hour.
Royal Ahrend – From a Separated Startup to an Integrated Business
Royal Ahrend's Rob Keulemans reveals how they provision for refurbishment costs monthly, use RFID to track 10-year histories, and leverage 15-year lifespans.
Hilti – Overcoming Hidden Complexities of Circular Rental and Reuse
Caroline Stern shares Hilti's 20-year fleet journey: reused electronics outperform new, but accounting standards can't value circular components properly.
UNDRESS Circularity – Assessing the Impact of Circular Business Models
Dr. Marianne Kuhlmann shares UNDRESS findings: rental uptake is 1% B2C vs 11% B2B, and why measuring circular impact requires tracking full device lifecycles.
V-ZUG – Reporting & Accounting of a PaaS Model
V-ZUG's Jonas Bulach reveals their 12-year depreciation approach, device-level cost tracking, and how to map PaaS models into standard financial reporting.
Cradle to Cradle NGO – From Product to Performance
Cradle to Cradle NGO's Nora Sophie Griefahn explains why PaaS needs matching product design, not just new business models, and how materials should circulate.
Debt Financing of PaaS Assets
Former Grover CFO Mitja Sadar reveals how to structure debt financing for product-as-a-service, from early-stage facilities to €270M deals with major lenders.
Circular X – Identifying and Mitigating Rebound Effects
Ankita Das reveals how careless consumption and modal shifts cause rebounds in PaaS models, plus practical tools to detect them during experimentation.
Circularity Capital – The Asset’s influence on Funding
Circularity Capital's Andrew Shannon explains how investors evaluate circular business models, why equity shouldn't fund assets, and what makes PaaS bankable.
Commerzbank – Financing a PaaS Business
Commerzbank's Lennert van Mens explains when startups become bankable, how to finance asset pools, and why PaaS cashflow design determines financing success.
Philips – Operating & Communicating Refurbishment Successfully
Philips reveals how they refurbish IPL devices and shavers, why surveys got customer demand wrong, and how subscriptions cut decision time from months to weeks.
Lizee – Finding the best Circular Model for Customers & Business
Lizee founder Anna Balez explains why brands need a mix of rental, secondhand, and buyback models - and why customer trust matters more than product category.
HP Instant Ink – Scaling a Value Proposition around the World
HP's Shuchir Bhatia explains how Instant Ink delivers ink before you run out, why customers pay per page not cartridge, and scaling subscriptions globally.
MUD Jeans – Close the loop with Lease-a-Jeans
Discover how MUD Jeans built the world's only closed-loop denim subscription, including bank partnerships, IKEA collaboration, and recycling economics.