Go-To-Market Strategist · Maja Voje · 2023
Identify and target a well-defined early audience segment (e.g. early adopters) to achieve initial product-market fit before scaling.
Craft a GTM strategy anchored in a clear value proposition, unique positioning, and pricing that resonates with the chosen niche.
Use frameworks like North Star Metrics and OKRs to set a goal-oriented roadmap, measure real value creation, and steer the team's focus and alignment.
Continuously refine your approach by testing assumptions, iterating quickly, and adapting to market feedback.
Rehearse execution steps (preparation), and use surprise and speed in execution to outmanoeuvre bigger competitors.
Foster interdisciplinary collaboration for holistic market insights, unified direction, and cohesive execution.
Recognise that a resilient mindset and willingness to learn from failures are crucial to long-term GTM success.
Start by focusing on a narrow, high-potential market segment (a beachhead) rather than trying to serve everyone—this approach validates product-market fit faster and sets a foundation for growth.
Deeply understand your chosen segment's needs, pain points, and alternatives; calibrate focus by defining a minimal viable segment (MVS) that your MVP can serve distinctly and profitably.
Conduct quick, targeted market research (TAM/SAM/SOM), competitive analysis, and customer interviews to gather proprietary insights—use these learnings to shape your product, pricing, positioning, and messaging.
Apply frameworks like SWOT, consider various types of competitors, and identify how you can innovate—whether via product, marketing, or pricing—to stand out.
Use a Market-Problem Map to score potential segments by winnability, pain intensity, willingness to pay, size, and growth potential; select the segment where you have the strongest case for early success.
Initially target early adopters, not your "ideal" long-term customer—build credibility, generate feedback, and create a launching pad into the broader market.
Narrow down to a single beachhead segment, validate key assumptions (desirability, feasibility, viability), and focus research efforts to ensure you're solving real problems for the right audience.
Employ structured research (OODA loop, experiments, pre-launch tests) to refine who you target and how you position your product—prioritise learning over perfection early on.
Translate findings into an Early Customer Profile (ECP) or persona, detailing pain points, decision-making roles, and preferred channels—this clarity drives product, messaging, and GTM execution.
Keep refining your ECP through iteration and testing, ensuring your understanding of the early customer remains dynamic and informs both immediate moves and future scale-up.
Define and test a compelling Unique Value Proposition (UVP) early—translate features into clear, differentiated customer benefits.
Reach Product-Market Fit (PMF) by quickly releasing an MVP, validating assumptions through customer feedback, and iterating based on user behaviour rather than guesswork.
Prioritise metrics and analytics from the start—focus on a single "One Metric That Matters," track leading/lagging indicators, and analyse cohorts to inform product decisions.
Assess PMF through retention, willingness to pay, and the intensity of customer "pull"—if 40%+ of surveyed users would be "very disappointed" without your product, it's a strong signal.
Post-PMF, expand strategically—either by addressing new segments, new solutions, or optimising your distribution channels and pricing models to sustain profitable growth.
Use early WTP research (e.g. Van Westendorp, Gabor–Granger) to set prices based on actual value rather than guessing or copying competitors.
Adopt a value-based pricing mindset—tie price to tangible outcomes to justify premium tiers.
Continuously test and adjust prices, packages, and models (e.g. freemium, usage-based) to meet market expectations.
Position pricing strategically for different customer segments; optimise communication, page design, and psychological triggers to improve conversion.
Regularly revisit pricing as your product, market conditions, and competitors evolve.
Define a clear ICP and highlight your unique differentiators—your value proposition, USP, and category positioning must stand out against alternatives.
Align messaging, storytelling, and brand identity (visual and verbal) with the target segment's core pains, motivations, and desired outcomes.
Consistently test and iterate your positioning and branding: update narratives, refine messaging, and strengthen brand guidelines as you learn.
Leverage a strong brand foundation—mission, values, visuals, voice—to build trust, drive loyalty, and command better pricing over time.
Ensure every GTM effort (marketing, sales, product design) reflects a cohesive brand promise and positions your product to resonate with the chosen audience.
Identify channels by researching how your target customers discover products and what influences their decisions—let them guide channel strategy rather than relying solely on competitor intel.
Start broad (using frameworks like Bullseye), then narrow down to a few scalable, repeatable channels that deliver high ROI—treat channel selection as an iterative experiment.
Balance demand capture (e.g. SEO, search ads) with demand generation (content, communities, education) based on market maturity and buyer journey stages.
Consider internal capabilities, cost-effectiveness, and acquisition efficiency (unit economics) before committing to channels.
Test small, measure results, and continually adjust channels and tactics—stay alert to diminishing returns or channel saturation.
Blend strategies (inbound/outbound, ABM, PLG, community, partnerships) to create a self-reinforcing growth system.
Emphasise ongoing learning: update tactics as market conditions shift, refine targeting, and master execution with time.
ABM focuses on high-value accounts; community building cultivates advocates; partnerships extend reach; PLG uses the product to drive acquisition; growth loops create compounding effects.
Remain agile, experimenting with emerging channels and adapting to customer feedback, ensuring long-term, sustainable growth.
Build a disciplined, iterative GTM system with clear goals, milestones, and tight alignment across a small, specialised, cross-functional team.
Provide everyone with the essentials—timelines, roles, tools, and budgets—keeping execution lean, focused, and mission-critical.
Use data-driven decision-making, continuous measurement, and regular checkpoints to refine strategy, messaging, channels, and product-market fit.
Establish simple, transparent communication frameworks—centralised documentation, shared dashboards—and a culture encouraging open feedback and learning-by-doing.
Integrate experimentation at every stage: start with broad idea generation (inception), then run focused tests (experimentation), and loop insights back into planning.
Balance speed with rigour: aim for "done is better than perfect" while still ensuring experiments and initiatives are purposeful and tied to GTM objectives.
Reassess and adjust regularly, staying responsive to new insights, shifting market dynamics, and evolving customer needs.
Over a structured 90-day plan, first secure objectives, research, and fundamentals, then run initial experiments, refine positioning and offers, and finally formalise processes and teams.
This systematic, agile approach ensures that the GTM strategy is always evolving, always learning, and always primed for sustainable growth.
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What I’m reading this week
Tracing the Thoughts of a Large Language Model · Article · Video
Data Structures For Image Processing · Article
15 Product Adoption Metrics · Article
Time Management For Product Leaders · Article
How To Choose The Right Metrics To Evaluate Experiments · Article
7 Different Types Of RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) · Article
Ethical and Social Risks of Harm from Language Models
Laura Weidinger et al.
Abstract: This paper aims to help structure the risk landscape associated with large-scale Language Models (LMs). In order to foster advances in responsible innovation, an in-depth understanding of the potential risks posed by these models is needed. A wide range of established and anticipated risks are analysed in detail, drawing on multidisciplinary literature from computer science, linguistics, and social sciences.
It’s great to a have a clear taxonomy and classification of potential harms from language models.
- Discrimination, Exclusion and Toxicity
- Social stereotypes and unfair discrimination
- Exclusionary norms
- Toxic language
- Lower performance for some languages and social groups
- Information Hazards
- Compromising privacy by leaking private information
- Compromising privacy by correctly inferring private information
- Risks from leaking or correctly inferring sensitive information
- Misinformation Harms
- Disseminating false or misleading information
- Causing material harm by disseminating false or poor information e.g. in medicine or law
- Leading users to perform unethical or illegal actions
- Malicious Uses
- Making disinformation cheaper and more effective
- Facilitating fraud, scams and more targeted manipulation
- Assisting code generation for cyber attacks, weapons, or malicious use
- Illegitimate surveillance and censorship
- Human-Computer Interaction Harms
- Anthropomorphising systems can lead to overreliance or unsafe use
- Creating avenues for exploiting user trust, nudging or manipulation
- Promoting harmful stereotypes by implying gender or ethnic identity
- Automation, access, and environmental harms
- Environmental harms from operating LMs
- Increasing inequality and negative effects on job quality
- Undermining creative economies
- Disparate access to benefits due to hardware, software, skill constraints
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Book Highlights
The product strategy now gives you a tool to align your product work with your sales and marketing organisations Marty Cagan · Inspired
If the task is large, break it down into related pieces of work that several small teams can handle simultaneously. Align those teams with a single outcome to achieve Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden · Lean UX
The roadmap also helps us understand what we won’t be giving our attention to Banfield, Eriksson and Walkingshaw · Product Leadership
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Quotes & Tweets
A focused hour outweighs an unfocused day Shane Parrish
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