Agent skill

startup-go-to-market

GTM strategy, channel selection, launch planning, and market entry execution

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version
1.0

SKILL.md

Startup Go-to-Market

Systematic framework for designing and executing market entry strategies.

Modern Best Practices (Dec 2025):

  • Start from ICP + positioning, then pick 1–2 channels to sequence (avoid “all channels”).
  • Instrument the funnel end-to-end (activation and retention defined, not assumed).
  • Use tight feedback loops (weekly learning reviews) and write stop/pivot thresholds.
  • Treat customer data with purpose limitation, retention, and access controls.

Decision Tree: What GTM Analysis?

GTM QUESTION
    │
    ├─► "How do I reach customers?" ───► Channel Strategy
    │                                     └─► Channel selection, sequencing
    │
    ├─► "PLG or Sales-led?" ───────────► Motion Selection
    │                                     └─► GTM motion design
    │
    ├─► "How do I launch?" ────────────► Launch Planning
    │                                     └─► Launch playbook
    │
    ├─► "Who is my ICP?" ──────────────► Segmentation
    │                                     └─► ICP definition, targeting
    │
    ├─► "How do I scale?" ─────────────► Scaling Strategy
    │                                     └─► Growth loops, expansion
    │
    └─► "Full GTM strategy" ───────────► COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS
                                          └─► All dimensions

GTM Motion Types

Motion Taxonomy

Motion Description Best For Examples
Product-Led Growth (PLG) Product drives acquisition, conversion, expansion SMB, developers, horizontal Slack, Figma, Notion
Sales-Led Reps drive deals through outbound and inbound Enterprise, complex sales Salesforce, Workday
Community-Led Community drives awareness and adoption Developer tools, open source Hashicorp, MongoDB
Channel/Partner-Led Partners drive distribution Enterprise, geographic expansion Microsoft, Cisco
Marketing-Led Marketing drives demand generation B2C, SMB HubSpot, Mailchimp

Motion Selection Framework

ACV < $5K + Self-serve possible?
    │
    ├─► YES ──► PLG (primary)
    │              └─► Add Sales-assist for expansion
    │
    └─► NO ───► Is buyer technical?
                    │
                    ├─► YES ──► Developer/Community-Led
                    │              └─► Bottom-up adoption
                    │
                    └─► NO ───► Sales-Led
                                   └─► Inbound + Outbound

Hybrid Motions (2024-2025 Reality)

Hybrid Components Examples
PLG + Sales Self-serve → Sales-assist for enterprise Slack, Zoom, Figma
Community + PLG OSS → Hosted → Enterprise MongoDB, Elastic
Marketing + Sales Inbound MQLs → Sales conversion HubSpot
Partner + Sales Partner referrals → Direct sales AWS Partners

Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

ICP Components

Component Questions Example
Firmographics Size, industry, geography 50-500 employees, B2B SaaS, US
Technographics Tech stack, tools Uses Salesforce, Modern data stack
Behavioral Buying behavior, adoption patterns Self-serve evaluation, fast decisions
Pain indicators Symptoms of the problem Growing support tickets, churn issues
Success indicators Signs of good fit Strong product-market alignment

ICP Template

markdown
## Ideal Customer Profile: {{PRODUCT}}

### Company Profile
- **Industry**: {{INDUSTRY}}
- **Size**: {{EMPLOYEE_RANGE}} employees
- **Revenue**: ${{REVENUE_RANGE}}
- **Geography**: {{REGIONS}}
- **Growth Stage**: {{STAGE}}

### Technology Profile
- **Must have**: {{REQUIRED_TECH}}
- **Nice to have**: {{PREFERRED_TECH}}
- **Red flags**: {{AVOID_TECH}}

### Buyer Profile
- **Primary Buyer**: {{TITLE}}
- **Champions**: {{TITLES}}
- **Economic Buyer**: {{TITLE}}
- **Influencers**: {{TITLES}}

### Pain Indicators
- {{PAIN_1}}
- {{PAIN_2}}
- {{PAIN_3}}

### Success Indicators
- {{SUCCESS_1}}
- {{SUCCESS_2}}

ICP Scoring

Factor Weight Score (1-10)
Budget available 20%
Problem severity 25%
Technical fit 15%
Decision timeline 15%
Champion identified 15%
Expansion potential 10%
ICP Score 100%

Channel Strategy

Channel Categories

Category Channels Best For
Organic SEO, content, social, community Long-term, sustainable
Paid SEM, paid social, display Fast, scalable, expensive
Outbound Email, cold calls, LinkedIn Enterprise, high ACV
Partnerships Referrals, integrations, resellers Leverage, distribution
Product Viral, freemium, PLG Self-serve, network effects
Events Conferences, webinars, meetups Enterprise, brand

Channel Selection Matrix

Channel CAC Volume Time to Impact Control
SEO/Content Low High 6-12 months High
Paid Search Medium Medium Immediate High
Paid Social Medium High Immediate Medium
Outbound Email Medium Medium 1-3 months High
LinkedIn Outbound High Low 1-3 months High
Conferences High Low 3-6 months Medium
Partnerships Medium Medium 6-12 months Low
Product/Viral Low High 3-6 months Medium
Community Low Medium 6-12 months Medium

Channel Sequencing by Stage

Stage Primary Channels Why
Pre-PMF Founder sales, communities, early users Direct feedback
Early Content, outbound, founder network Capital efficient
Growth Paid, SEO, partnerships Scale
Scale All channels optimized Efficiency

PLG Playbook

PLG Funnel

AWARENESS
    │
    ▼
ACQUISITION (Sign up)
    │
    ▼
ACTIVATION (First value moment)
    │
    ▼
RETENTION (Continued usage)
    │
    ▼
REVENUE (Convert to paid)
    │
    ▼
REFERRAL (Viral spread)

Key PLG Metrics

Stage Metric Benchmark
Acquisition Visitor → Signup 2-10%
Activation Signup → Activated 30-60%
Retention Day 1 / Day 7 / Day 30 40% / 20% / 10%
Revenue Activated → Paid 10-30%
Referral % users who invite 20-30%

Activation Definition

"Activation" = When user experiences core value

Product Type Activation Moment
Slack Sent 2,000 messages
Dropbox Installed + synced file
Zoom Completed first meeting
Notion Created and shared doc
Your product {{ACTIVATION_MOMENT}}

PLG Pricing Considerations

Element Recommendation
Free tier Yes, with usage limits
Trial length 14 days (card optional)
Upgrade triggers Hit limits, need feature
Pricing page Transparent, self-serve
Enterprise "Contact sales" option

Sales-Led Playbook

Sales Motion Design

Element SMB Mid-Market Enterprise
ACV $1-10K $10-50K $50K+
Sales cycle <30 days 30-90 days 90-270 days
Touch model Low-touch/inside Inside/field Field/strategic
Demo Self-serve or 15 min 30-60 min Custom POC
Stakeholders 1-2 3-5 5-10+
Procurement Credit card Simple Complex

Outbound Playbook

Sequence Structure:

Day 1: Email 1 (Pain-focused)
Day 3: LinkedIn connection
Day 5: Email 2 (Value-focused)
Day 8: LinkedIn message
Day 12: Email 3 (Social proof)
Day 16: Email 4 (Break-up)

Targeting:

Element Specification
Company size {{RANGE}}
Titles {{LIST}}
Industries {{LIST}}
Signals {{TRIGGERS}}

Sales Stages

Stage Definition Exit Criteria
Prospecting Identifying targets Meeting booked
Discovery Understanding needs Qualified (BANT/MEDDIC)
Demo Showing solution Interest confirmed
Evaluation POC, trial, references Success criteria met
Proposal Pricing, terms Proposal sent
Negotiation Contract discussion Agreement on terms
Closed Won Signed Revenue booked

Launch Planning

Launch Types

Type Goal Timeline
Soft launch Test, iterate 2-4 weeks
Beta launch Build waitlist, get feedback 4-8 weeks
ProductHunt launch Awareness, early adopters 1 day + prep
Full launch Maximum awareness 1-2 weeks
Feature launch Existing customer expansion Ongoing

Launch Playbook Template

markdown
## Launch: {{PRODUCT/FEATURE}}

### Objectives
- Primary: {{GOAL}}
- Secondary: {{GOAL}}
- Metrics: {{TARGETS}}

### Timeline
| Week | Activities |
|------|------------|
| -4 | {{PREP}} |
| -2 | {{PREP}} |
| -1 | {{FINAL}} |
| Launch | {{ACTIVITIES}} |
| +1 | {{FOLLOW_UP}} |

### Channels
| Channel | Asset | Owner | Date |
|---------|-------|-------|------|
| ProductHunt | Listing | | |
| Blog | Announcement | | |
| Email | Customer comms | | |
| Social | Posts | | |
| PR | Press release | | |
| Community | Posts | | |

### Assets Needed
- [ ] Landing page
- [ ] Demo video
- [ ] Blog post
- [ ] Social graphics
- [ ] Email templates
- [ ] Press kit
- [ ] Customer quotes

### Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Actual |
|--------|--------|--------|
| Signups | {{N}} | |
| Traffic | {{N}} | |
| Mentions | {{N}} | |
| Trials | {{N}} | |

ProductHunt Launch Playbook

Before (4 weeks):

  • Build hunter network
  • Create assets (logo, screenshots, video)
  • Write compelling tagline and description
  • Prepare maker comment
  • Coordinate with team for day-of support
  • Schedule for Tuesday-Thursday

Launch Day:

  • Launch at 12:01 AM PT
  • Post maker comment immediately
  • Share on social, email, communities
  • Respond to ALL comments within hours
  • Coordinate team upvotes (ethically)
  • Update throughout the day

After:

  • Thank supporters
  • Follow up with interested users
  • Publish retrospective
  • Update based on feedback

Growth Loops

Loop Types

Loop Mechanism Example
Viral User invites users Dropbox referrals
Content Content → SEO → Users → Content HubSpot
UGC Users create content YouTube, TikTok
Paid Revenue → Paid ads → Users Performance marketing
Sales Revenue → Sales team → Users Enterprise sales
Partner Partners drive users → Revenue share App stores

Viral Loop Design

USER → CREATES/SHARES → CONTENT/INVITE
                             │
                             ▼
                        NEW USER → CREATES/SHARES → ...

Viral Coefficient (K):

K = Invites per user × Conversion rate

Example:
Average invites: 5
Conversion rate: 20%
K = 5 × 0.20 = 1.0 (viral threshold)

Content Loop Design

CONTENT → SEO TRAFFIC → SIGNUPS → PRODUCT USAGE
    ↑                                    │
    │                                    │
    └────── USER-GENERATED DATA ─────────┘

Expansion Strategy

Land and Expand

LAND (Initial)
└─► Single team, single use case, low ACV

ADOPT (Prove)
└─► Usage growth, success metrics, champions

EXPAND (Grow)
└─► More teams, departments, use cases

STRATEGIC (Transform)
└─► Company-wide, multi-year, executive sponsor

Expansion Signals

Signal Action
High usage Proactive expansion conversation
New use case request Cross-sell motion
Team growth Seat expansion
Hitting limits Upgrade conversation
Success metrics achieved Case study + referral ask

Geographic Expansion

Phase Markets Approach
1 Home market Direct
2 Adjacent (language/culture) Localization
3 New regions Local presence or partners

Resources

Resource Purpose
channel-playbooks.md Detailed channel execution guides
sales-motion-design.md Sales process design
plg-implementation.md PLG execution guide

Templates

Template Purpose
gtm-strategy.md Full GTM strategy document
launch-playbook.md Launch planning template
icp-definition.md ICP documentation

Data

File Purpose
sources.json GTM resources and guides

Do / Avoid (Dec 2025)

Do

  • Define activation as a concrete “first value moment”.
  • Track leading indicators (activation, retention) alongside revenue.
  • Run structured experiments with decision thresholds.

Avoid

  • Content spam without measurement.
  • “Do all channels” in parallel without learning loops.
  • Vanity metrics without retention and payback context.

What Good Looks Like

  • ICP + positioning: one primary segment, explicit alternatives, and proof points (quotes, numbers, cases).
  • Channel focus: 1 primary channel with a 4-week experiment plan and decision thresholds.
  • Instrumentation: activation (“first value moment”) defined, tracked, and reviewed weekly.
  • Launch plan: messaging, assets, owners, and a post-launch learning review scheduled.
  • Feedback loop: win/loss + retention cohorts drive the next backlog decisions.

Optional: AI / Automation

Use only when explicitly requested and policy-compliant.

  • Draft assets and experiment variants; humans verify claims, brand voice, and compliance.
  • Summarize call notes and objections; keep source links and spot-check.

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