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Martín Soler

Martín Soler

Writes on pricing strategy, value capture, and win-win ecosystems, covering how every strategic decision should create tangible value for customers, employees, and partners at the same time.

Articles by Martín Soler

Robot Legs for $2,500 and What That Tells the Humanoid Market
May 28, 2026Exponential Technologies

Robot Legs for $2,500 and What That Tells the Humanoid Market

Hugging Face has just published the blueprints, wiring, and software to build a pair of humanoid legs for approximately $2,500 in parts. No arms, no torso, no head. Just bipedal 3D-printed legs assembled with off-the-shelf components. The question this opens is not technical. It is structural: when an AI platform decides to lower the entry cost of robotic hardware to the price of a mid-range laptop, it is moving a piece on the board that does not move out of mere generosity.

Martín SolerMartín Soler8 min
When European Factories Become China's Cheapest Asset
May 24, 2026Strategy

When European Factories Become China's Cheapest Asset

There is a pattern that repeats itself when an industry enters forced transition: the assets that once defined the strength of a sector end up being acquired by those who arrived later, with less history and structurally different costs. The European automotive industry is living through that sequence now, not as a metaphor, but as a concrete movement of capital and productive capacity. What The Telegraph headline captures — China taking control of Europe's decaying factories — does not describe just a one-off transaction.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Eclipse Made $2.5 Billion Betting on What Nobody Wanted to Touch
May 19, 2026Exponential Technologies

Eclipse Made $2.5 Billion Betting on What Nobody Wanted to Touch

When Lior Susan founded Eclipse Ventures in 2015, the prevailing logic in Silicon Valley was simple: software scales without factories, inventory, or workers. SaaS companies captured the attention of the best funds and the best engineers. Betting on semiconductors, industrial robotics, or physical computing infrastructure was, at best, an oddity.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Motorola in India went from 2.5% to 8.5% market share in three years. Here's what's driving that number
May 14, 2026Strategy

Motorola in India went from 2.5% to 8.5% market share in three years. Here's what's driving that number

There's a difference between growing in a market and changing your position within it. Motorola has just proven that both can happen at the same time. According to statements by T.M. Narasimhan, Managing Director of Motorola India, the company went from controlling 2.5% of the smartphone market in India three years ago to the current 8.5%, with expectations of continuing to advance.

Martín SolerMartín Soler8 min
Bacteria with Philanthropic Funding and 150 Million Children at Risk
May 9, 2026Exponential Technologies

Bacteria with Philanthropic Funding and 150 Million Children at Risk

Kanvas Biosciences is not a laboratory story. It is a story about incentives. When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation decides to fund a synthetic microbiome company to combat environmental enteric dysfunction—an intestinal disease affecting around 150 million children in areas with poor sanitation that blocks nutrient absorption—it is not doing conventional philanthropy. It is betting on an intervention model that the private market cannot yet sustain alone.

Martín SolerMartín Soler9 min
The Robot That Wants to Be Your Companion, Not Your Employee
May 6, 2026Exponential Technologies

The Robot That Wants to Be Your Companion, Not Your Employee

There is a specific moment in the history of domestic robotics where the industry decided that value lay in solving tasks. Vacuuming. Mopping. Monitoring. The logic was flawless: if the robot does something useful, the consumer pays. Colin Angle proved it better than anyone when he launched the Roomba in 2002 and turned a disc on wheels into the first mass-adoption domestic robot.

Martín SolerMartín Soler9 min
Academy Sports Bet on AI for Pricing — The Real Question Isn't Whether It Works, But Who Captures the Value
May 2, 2026Strategy

Academy Sports Bet on AI for Pricing — The Real Question Isn't Whether It Works, But Who Captures the Value

When a retail chain with more than 300 stores announces it has spent over a decade working with a price intelligence platform — and has just extended that contract for several more years — the technology headline is the least interesting part. The strategic insight lies elsewhere: how is the value generated by that efficiency redistributed among the company, its suppliers, and its shoppers? Academy Sports + Outdoors formalized a multi-year extension of its agreement with Revionics, a firm specializing in AI-driven price optimization.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
The Quantum AI That Predicts Chaos and Changes Who Controls Scientific Computing
April 18, 2026Exponential Technologies

The Quantum AI That Predicts Chaos and Changes Who Controls Scientific Computing

Predicting fluid turbulence with sustained accuracy over time is one of the most costly problems in computational physics. On April 17, 2026, researchers at University College London published in Science Advances a result worth reading carefully: an AI model trained on data preprocessed by a 20-qubit quantum computer achieved 20% greater accuracy in predicting chaotic systems and required hundreds of times less memory than equivalent classical approaches.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Shareholder Activism Does Not Destroy Value, It Redistributes It
April 15, 2026Strategy

Shareholder Activism Does Not Destroy Value, It Redistributes It

Shareholder activism reached historic highs in 2025, reshaping corporate dynamics and prompting crucial questions about value distribution.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
MIT Puts a Price on Ocean Acidification, and It’s Not Small
April 14, 2026Exponential Technologies

MIT Puts a Price on Ocean Acidification, and It’s Not Small

A MIT project aimed at removing CO2 from the ocean without chemical waste is not just climate science; it’s an honest audit of a $60 billion value chain.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
The Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz Destroys the Ecosystem Washington Needs to Win
April 13, 2026Strategy

The Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz Destroys the Ecosystem Washington Needs to Win

Trump's blockade of the planet's most strategic oil passage was presented as economic pressure, but the fallout extends beyond Tehran.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Geely Bets on Methanol as Electric Vehicles Get Heavier
April 12, 2026Exponential Technologies

Geely Bets on Methanol as Electric Vehicles Get Heavier

Li Shufu, chairman of Geely, argues that methanol offers ten times the energy density of lithium batteries, signaling a shift in heavy transport's value chain.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Why Two Trillion Dollars Didn’t Buy a Functional Sustainability Strategy
April 12, 2026Strategy

Why Two Trillion Dollars Didn’t Buy a Functional Sustainability Strategy

Despite investing over two trillion dollars in green energy by 2025, most companies struggle to demonstrate verifiable results. The issue lies in organizational structure, not budget or ambition.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Alibaba Builds Its Own Sky: 10,000 Chips and a Bet on Complete Integration
April 11, 2026Exponential Technologies

Alibaba Builds Its Own Sky: 10,000 Chips and a Bet on Complete Integration

Alibaba not only launched a data center with its own chips, but designed an economic architecture where the supplier, customer, and state share the same staying incentive.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Trader Joe's Opens 30 Stores at Its Own Pace: The Geometry of a Model That Doesn’t Need to Rush
April 10, 2026Strategy

Trader Joe's Opens 30 Stores at Its Own Pace: The Geometry of a Model That Doesn’t Need to Rush

While Dollar General opens 55 locations in a month, Trader Joe's adds 30 stores across 18 states without fanfare. This reflects a strategic model focused on value density.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
South Korea Builds Its Own Eye in the Sky, Changing Defense Market Rules
April 9, 2026Exponential Technologies

South Korea Builds Its Own Eye in the Sky, Changing Defense Market Rules

When a country with 90% domestic production unveils its first strategic reconnaissance drone, it reshapes its defense market and industrial value distribution.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Royal Van Leeuwen Reported Lower Profits Yet Increased Acquisitions: The Cold Logic Behind This Decision
April 8, 2026Strategy

Royal Van Leeuwen Reported Lower Profits Yet Increased Acquisitions: The Cold Logic Behind This Decision

A steel distributor with a century of history reported declining profits yet accelerated its acquisition program. This is a positioning thesis worth dissecting.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Crewless Sonars and the New Geometry of Naval Power
April 7, 2026Exponential Technologies

Crewless Sonars and the New Geometry of Naval Power

Kraken Robotics recently demonstrated a high-resolution sonar operating from an unmanned ship. This marks a significant shift in the maritime defense value chain.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Xoople Raises $130 Million Betting on Earth Data's Value Over Satellites
April 7, 2026Startups

Xoople Raises $130 Million Betting on Earth Data's Value Over Satellites

Spanish startup Xoople closed the largest funding round in its category without yet having its own satellite constellation, focusing on demand before hardware.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min
Public Electricity at Half Price: What the Municipal Model Reveals About Utility Margins
April 6, 2026Sustainability

Public Electricity at Half Price: What the Municipal Model Reveals About Utility Margins

While private utilities retain up to 15 cents of every dollar billed for shareholders, non-profit municipalities in Massachusetts deliver the same electricity at half the price.

Martín SolerMartín Soler7 min