01
Nail the buyer's situation before anything else.
Not a persona template, what's true about their day right now, and what has to happen for them to act this month instead of next quarter.
The Straight Answer
GTM Strategy for Startups: The Complete Framework
A GTM strategy for a startup has one job an established company's plan doesn't: prove the model works before spending to make it bigger. That means picking one buyer situation, one channel and one positioning statement first, proving it in 90 days, and only then adding a second channel. Startups that jump straight to a multi-channel plan usually run out of runway before they find out which part of it actually worked.
If the definitions are new, start with what a go-to-market strategy is, then how to build one for a product launch, and use the 5-part GTM strategy checklist to audit what you already have.
The Framework
The Framework
02
Write one positioning statement, and test it in real conversations before it goes on a slide.
At this stage the real alternative it beats is usually a manual workaround or doing nothing, not a named competitor.
03
Pick one channel first, not 3.
Early teams don't have the budget or the hours to run 3 channels well. Choose the one where the ICP already spends time, prove it, then add a second.
04
Build the same narrative that also works for investors.
A clear GTM story is a fundraising asset, not a separate document. The same positioning that wins a customer should be the one that wins a term sheet.
05
Set 90-day proof points, not a dashboard.
A small number of leading indicators tied to the single channel bet, reviewed every 2-4 weeks, because early data moves fast enough that a quarterly review is already too slow.
06
Don't scale the channel until the small version actually worked.
The most common startup GTM mistake is putting budget behind a channel before message-market fit is proven at small scale, not after.
Building this alone is slower than it needs to be. I work directly with early-stage founders on exactly this, no account managers, no junior team.
Questions Founders Actually Ask
01
What's different about a GTM strategy for a startup versus an established company?
Sequencing and constraint. An established company can run several channels in parallel and course-correct with a big budget. A startup has to pick the one bet most likely to work, prove it fast, and treat runway as the real deadline, not the calendar quarter.
02
How much should an early-stage startup spend on GTM before raising?
Less than founders think, and sooner than founders think. Proving one channel works with a small, disciplined budget is worth more heading into a raise than a large spend across many channels with no clear signal on which one actually drove the result.
03
Should a pre-seed founder hire a GTM consultant or figure it out alone?
Depends on whether the gap is time or judgment. Founders can usually figure out the mechanics. What's harder to build alone is the outside judgment on which single bet to make first, since that call is easy to get wrong from inside the company.
04
What's the biggest GTM mistake early-stage founders make?
Building the plan around the product instead of the buyer's situation. A GTM strategy that starts with "here's what we built" instead of "here's who's stuck and why" usually produces a launch that explains features to people who were never going to buy in the first place.
Who This Is For
Early-Stage Founders
Pre-seed through Series A. If you are figuring out your first growth channel or preparing to raise, I help you get the GTM narrative right before the runway gets short.
I am Pedro Martheyn. Senior roles at Twitter and Publicis. Co-founder of 2 agencies in Canada. One of the first employees at SingleKey, where I helped build the company from zero. Six years as Lead Digital Marketing Instructor at BrainStation.
17+
Years in Growth and Performance Marketing
$81M+
Managed in Media Spend
$68.7M+
Raised by Founders I've Worked With
Background
GTM as a fundraising asset
I have participated in fundraising rounds and sat in diligence rooms with founders across every stage. A clear GTM is a fundraising asset, not an afterthought. I help you build the narrative and the numbers that close investors.
If you want the same senior involvement without a full-time hire, that is what a fractional GTM consultant actually does.
Next Step
Tell Me Where You're Stuck.
If you are building this plan now, or running one that has stopped working, reach out directly and I will get hands-on with it. Thirty minutes, no deck, no pitch, just a senior read on the bet you are about to make.