Go-to-Market Strategy

Frameworks for selecting sales channels and building go-to-market motions.

Channel Selection Matrix

Channel Best For CAC Range Time to Revenue Complexity

Outbound High ACV ($10K+), defined ICP $500-2K 3-6 months Medium

Inbound Searchable problem, content fit $200-800 6-12 months High

PLG Simple product, quick value $50-200 3-9 months High

Partners Ecosystem play, trust transfer Varies 6-18 months Medium

Events Relationship-driven, enterprise $1K-5K 6-12 months High

Community Developer/prosumer products $100-500 12+ months Medium

ACV-Based Motion Selection

ACV Recommended Motion Team Structure

< $5K PLG or Marketing-led Growth + self-serve

$5K-$25K Inside sales + Inbound SDR > AE

$25K-$100K Outbound + Account-based SDR > AE > CSM

$100K Enterprise sales + Partners Named AE > SE > CSM

Sales Motion Archetypes

Founder-Led ($0-$1M ARR)

Founder does everything:

• Prospecting → Discovery → Demo → Close → Onboard Focus: Learning what works, documenting wins Goal: Find repeatable motion before hiring

First Sales Hire ($1M-$3M ARR)

Hire: Full-cycle AE or SDR Split: Founder handles enterprise, AE handles SMB Focus: Can someone else close deals? Goal: Prove non-founder can sell

Sales Team ($3M-$10M ARR)

Structure: SDR team → AE team → CSM Specialization: Hunting vs farming Focus: Repeatability and predictability Goal: Quota attainment without founder

Capacity Planning Model

Revenue Target ÷ ACV = Deals Needed Deals Needed ÷ Win Rate = Opportunities Needed Opportunities ÷ SQL→Opp Rate = SQLs Needed SQLs ÷ MQL→SQL Rate = MQLs Needed MQLs ÷ Marketing Conversion = Traffic Needed

For Outbound: Deals Needed ÷ Win Rate = Meetings Needed Meetings ÷ Meeting Rate = Contacts Needed Contacts ÷ Contacts/Rep/Month = Reps Needed

Multi-Channel Strategy

Channel Percentage Purpose

Primary 60-70% Main revenue driver

Secondary 20-30% Diversification + experimentation

Exploratory 10% Future growth bets

Rule: Don't spread thin. Dominate one channel before adding another.

GTM Launch Phases

Phase 1: Validation (0-3 months)

• Manual outreach to ICP

• Founder-led demos

• Goal: 10 paying customers

Phase 2: Repeatability (3-6 months)

• Document winning process

• First sales hire

• Goal: Non-founder closes deals

Phase 3: Scale (6-12 months)

• Add SDR/AE capacity

• Layer in marketing

• Goal: Predictable pipeline

Channel-Specific Playbooks

Outbound Playbook

• ICP list building > Sequence automation > Meeting booking > Demo > Close

• Key metric: Meetings/SDR/month (target: 15-20)

Inbound Playbook

• Content > SEO/Ads > Lead capture > Nurture > MQL > Demo > Close

• Key metric: MQL-to-Customer rate (target: 5-15%)

PLG Playbook

• Free trial/freemium > Activation > Engagement > Upgrade trigger > Expansion

• Key metric: Free-to-Paid conversion (target: 2-5%)

GTM Health Metrics

Metric Healthy Warning Critical

Pipeline coverage 3-4x 2-3x < 2x

Win rate 20-30% 15-20% < 15%

Sales cycle On target +25% +50%

CAC payback < 12 mo 12-18 mo

18 mo