How might GTM vary for the first product i.e. at a tech startup?

Across B2B and B2C companies, one of the biggest influencers in a buying decision is a happy customer. Think about it, when you go to buy something that matters to you, how often do you ask a friend who's used the product how they like it, or look for peer reviews online from trusted sources? 

Peer feedback, case studies, and references can make or break a purchase decision . Buyers want to know that they can trust you as a company and that your product will deliver what you say you will provide. Without having an existing customer or user base, the challenge of setting up a successful launch becomes much more daunting and risky. 

Instead of having customer testimonials, you'll have to get creative to find ways to build that trust:

• Offer a free trial or free beta program 
• Include a respected industry influencer in your launch process or as an advisor as you build your product and GTM motion
• Find ways to include key personas and potential customers in your research process and make sure your buyers know that their voices were included in the process
• Consider if there are other companies your buyers trust that might be open to partnering on a webinar or another channel activity
• Spend time making sure you test your messaging and positioning with you key personas so it immediately resonates
• If you're in the B2B space, offer to include a key prospective customer as part of your roadmap development (but be sure to set clear guardrails) and make sure they feel heard

GTM could very by motion (sales-led, product-led, marketing led) or packaging (free/paid) or persona (audience). GTM could also vary by time to value (long or short sales cycle) or industry segment (vsb, mid market, enterprise). The bigger the client, the more complex the sales cycle - the longer the deal. However if you're down market, you're likely facing more volatility (churn) and a crowded space (lots of competition). Many factors to consider!

GTM at an early-stage venture is hard to describe - it's probably almost never described as GTM, and is almost universally not led by a marketer.

With anything prior to Product-Market-Fit, and even for a good while afterward - the act of positioning the solution, speaking with prospects and users, establishing the value drivers, and driving revenue is such a valuable learning exercise for the rest of the business that you can expect that Founders, CEOs, CPO and Head of Engineering may be either driving or heavily involved in those motions.

While it's true at all stages of maturity, the GTM Motion is most valuable when it is doing the two most important jobs:

1. Selling what we built successfully, and
2. helping us build what we sell.

The best strategy to unlock that is by being disciplined about testing hypotheses, proving or disproving assumptions, and iterating our product or distribution strategy as a result of that learning.

The difficulty tends to come later as you try to scale that discipline, with all of the complexity that comes with bigger teams, bigger targets, more complexity, and less alignment of intent.

GTMs at earlier stage organizations are more about creating moments of virality and making strategic use of limited resources. Whereas at later stage organizations it is more about thoroughly sequencing resources across audiences, and mitigating risks.

If you’re launching a new app or company for the first time, you’ll need to:

• identify one customer group who will love your product, and evangelize it on your behalf to create moments of virality

• identify the most effective channels to use your limited budget in that will reach customers with the highest intent to take the action you need them to take

• find low cost ways to get research insights that helps inform how you take the product to market - asking customers through word of mouth, using low cost tools like survey monkey, low cost A/B tests on social media platforms, etc.

This is a very different exercise from GTMs for mature companies, it's more about being thorough - prioritizing audiences to target, identifying distinctions in messaging and risk mitigation for each, and sequencing the messaging and channels to reach audiences.

GTM for the first product is quite different than the other. At startups, while launching the very first product into the market, there is a high risk of customer dissatisfaction, lack of trust and high expectation of value out of it. 

Hence, It is extremely important to get fundamentals right for your GTM strategy, which include:

1) Interviewing and connecting with potential customers

2) Identify the problem in the market, connect with people and feel the market vibes.

3) Validate your product by pre selling/giving free trials

4) Identify your target group and understand their pain points

5) Detailed information on competitors and identify the segment you want to play.

6) Stress more importance on customer feedback and product led growth.

With the above pointers taken care of, right GTM strategy can be created for your first product.