Go-to-Market
Finding, reaching and winning customers.
Tech Entrepreneur
Idea
Find a problem worth solving and prove people have it. Where every first-time founder starts.
- Value PropositionA clear statement of what you do, for whom, and why it beats the alternatives.
MVP
Ship the smallest thing someone will use or pay for, and set up the company properly.
Core: start here
- Founder-Led SalesThe founders selling personally until the sales process is understood.
7 more mvp concepts
- Beachhead MarketA small market you can dominate first, then expand from.
- Paid PilotA short paid trial with a business customer to prove value before a full contract.
- Go-to-Market StrategyYour plan for who you sell to, how you reach them and how they buy.
- Ideal Customer ProfileA precise description of the customer who gets the most value and is easiest to win.
- Letter of IntentA non-binding written commitment from a customer, used as evidence of demand.
- PositioningHow you want customers to place you relative to the alternatives they know.
- Cold OutreachContacting people who don't know you yet by email or message, without spamming.
Product-Market Fit
Get users who stay, pay and tell others; raise your first real round.
Core: start here
- DistributionHow your product reaches customers, which often matters more than the product itself.
6 more product-market fit concepts
- Community-Led GrowthGrowing through a community of users who help, teach and recruit each other.
- Content MarketingAttracting customers with useful writing, videos or tools instead of ads.
- Developer MarketingReaching developers through docs, open source, communities and honesty rather than ads.
- Product-Led GrowthUsing the product itself as the main way to acquire, convert and expand customers.
- Sales PipelineThe deals in progress and the stages they move through.
- Viral LoopUsers bringing in new users as part of using the product, measured by the viral coefficient.
Growth
Make acquisition and revenue repeatable; hire, raise and build a board.
Core: start here
- Customer SuccessHelping customers get value after they buy, so they renew and expand.
- Enterprise SalesSelling to large organizations: many stakeholders, security reviews, procurement and long cycles.
- First Sales HireWhen and whom to hire to take over sales from the founders.
7 more growth concepts
- Channel PartnersResellers, agencies and system integrators who sell your product for a share of revenue.
- Expansion RevenueGrowing revenue from existing customers through upsell, cross-sell and more seats.
- Growth LoopsSelf-reinforcing cycles where outputs of growth feed new growth, as opposed to linear funnels.
- Paid AcquisitionBuying users through ads, and when the unit economics allow it.
- Sales CommissionPaying salespeople: base salary, variable pay, accelerators and clawbacks.
- Sales CycleThe time and steps from first contact to signed contract.
- Sales-Led GrowthGrowing through a sales team, typically for larger and more complex deals.