Michael Stanton launches 9Gs to help deep tech startup teams master sales
A long time supporter of the startup scene in Knoxville, Michael Stanton is taking the leap toward starting his own venture.
Many deep tech founders can explain their technology in extraordinary detail. Far fewer can sell it.
That is the gap Michael Stanton hopes to close with 9Gs, the new company he launched after leaving his role as Director of Customer Experience and Innovation at Clayton Homes at the end of 2025. For years, Stanton served as a startup advocate, strategic partner, and mentor for various new businesses in Knoxville. Now, he’s ready to build a business of his own.
“I realized that I can help deep tech companies with the thing they struggle with the most: sales,” Stanton said. “Whether you are tech readiness level one (TL-1), or you’re at prototype, or you’re even post-revenue, you have to really know your customer really well and be able to sell them.”
Stanton believes sales infrastructure is the missing piece inside many early-stage companies. He believes it is the core reason so many deep-tech founders, academics, and innovators experience the proverbial “valley of death” when grant funds run low.
Stanton said founders often secure legal support, accounting guidance, and technical advisors first; however, without sales infrastructure, customer identification, and a robust commercialization strategy, the operation “falls apart.”
“Somebody has to desire the thing that you have created. And, I want to help founders find those people,” he said.
Building the system behind sales
Instead of traditional fractional sales support, Stanton said 9Gs is designed to build the entire foundation that good salespeople eventually rely on. The 9Gs package would include marketing, advertising, customer research, strategy, automation, CRM structure, and even video production.
“Most startups at some point think they need to hire a fractional salesperson,” he said. “But, even the best salesperson, who calls people and develops relationships, they’re still going to need systems to rely on,” Stanton said. “9Gs is going to build that foundational system, which then you can pass off to a salesperson.”
Stanton’s creative background shapes the way he approaches commercialization. Before working in innovation, he led video projects and creative campaigns. That lens, he said, is surprisingly rare among service providers who work with deep tech founders.
“A lot of folks in the deep tech space who try the marketing and sales stuff are starting from a technical standpoint,” he said. “So I think the strategic advantage I have is starting from a creative standpoint and coming toward the more technical stuff. It balances us out.”
It is also why video will be a central offering inside 9Gs.
“I wanted to do something where I could leverage video production, because I feel like that is where I excel the most,” Stanton said.
For complex technologies, he believes strong visual storytelling can shorten sales cycles and help customers understand value more quickly.
Supporting startups that will grow the region
By focusing on deep tech, Stanton hopes 9Gs will support companies that drive significant job growth and long-term economic impact, especially in a region anchored by national labs, universities, and advanced manufacturing assets.
“If you want to be a startup company that is successful in building and selling what you build, I want to help you do that,” he said.
In East Tennessee, where commercialization support is increasingly critical to converting research into high-growth companies, Stanton’s goal is simple: to give founders the tools they need so innovative ideas can grow into sustainable businesses with real customers.
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