Tire-As-A-Service: Meet François Johnston, Founder of Johnston Circular and ex-General Manager at Michelin

In this episode, Yann Toutant speaks with François Johnston, Founder of Johnston Circular and former Head of Michelin’s Tire-as-a-service business, about why value-based pricing, high reuse rates, and operational excellence are key to making product-as-a-service both profitable and truly circular.

Key takeaways:

• Monetize real customer value first: efficiency, peace of mind, and performance drive pricing.
• Value-based pricing aligns profitability with circularity, as higher reuse directly increases margins.
• Product-as-a-service shifts the model: the story begins at contract signature and success depends on operations.
• It is a premium play requiring high-quality products, strong brand trust, and reliable service execution.
• Scaling requires a new go-to-market approach: trained sales teams, strong sales kits, and ongoing customer success support.

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