Go-to-Market Plan

Purpose

Analyze the founder's business and current stage to deliver 3 specific, actionable go-to-market strategies that will drive measurable market penetration and customer acquisition.

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Execution Logic

Check $ARGUMENTS first to determine execution mode:

If $ARGUMENTS is empty or not provided:

Respond with: "go-to-market-plan loaded, proceed with details about your product, target market, or current launch situation"

Then wait for the user to provide their requirements in the next message.

If $ARGUMENTS contains content:

Proceed immediately to Task Execution (skip the "loaded" message).

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Task Execution

When user requirements are available (either from initial $ARGUMENTS or follow-up message):

1. Read Business Context

Check if FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md exists in the project root.

• If it exists: Read it and extract: company name, industry, target audience, value proposition, products/services, business stage, competitors, pricing model, unique advantages.
• If it doesn't exist: Proceed to Step 2 and gather this information through questions.

2. Diagnose GTM Readiness

Evaluate whether you have enough information to produce high-confidence, actionable go-to-market strategies:

Required information to proceed without questions:

• What problem the product solves (core value proposition)
• Who the ideal customer is (specific ICP, not "small businesses" or "everyone")
• Product readiness stage (MVP, beta, ready to scale, etc.)
• Competitive landscape (who else solves this, how you're different)
• Distribution model (direct, channel partners, marketplace, etc.)
• Pricing strategy (freemium, paid, enterprise, etc.)
• Current market position (pre-launch, launched but struggling, ready to scale)
• Available resources (team, budget, runway)

If you have enough context: Proceed directly to Step 4.

If critical information is missing: Proceed to Step 3.

3. Ask Diagnostic Questions (When Needed)

Use the AskUserQuestion tool to gather missing information. Ask between 3-10 questions based on what's needed:

Core GTM questions:

• What stage is your product at right now? (Idea, MVP, beta, launched, scaling)
• Who is your ideal first customer? (Be specific: role, company size, industry, pain point)
• What's the core problem your product solves? How do people solve it today?
• How do customers currently discover solutions like yours?
• What's your biggest struggle with go-to-market right now?
• What have you already tried for customer acquisition? What worked? What didn't?
• What resources do you have available? (Budget, team, timeline, network)

Context-specific questions:

• For pre-launch: "Have you validated product-market fit? How many people have you talked to?"
• For launched but struggling: "Where are you getting customers today? What's your current CAC vs. LTV?"
• For scaling: "What channels are working? What's your constraint to 10x growth?"
• For competitive positioning: "Who are your top 3 competitors? Why would someone choose you over them?"
• For pricing clarity: "Have you tested pricing? What signals indicate customers will pay this amount?"

IMPORTANT: Only ask questions for information you truly need. Don't ask for information you can infer from FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md or the user's initial message.

4. Analyze Market Entry Strategy

Based on the context gathered, analyze:

1. Product-Market Fit Status: Do they have it? How do you know?
2. Market Entry Point: Where is the wedge? (Specific segment, use case, or channel)
3. Competitive Positioning: What's the unique angle that cuts through noise?
4. Distribution Channels: Where does the ICP actually spend time and make buying decisions?
5. Go-to-Market Motion: Product-led, sales-led, community-led, or hybrid?
6. Market Timing: Why now? What's changed in the market or technology?

Critical analysis principles:

• Start narrow, expand later: Best GTM starts with a tight, underserved segment
• Channel-product fit matters more than product-market fit early on: Great product in wrong channel = no traction
• Identify unfair advantages: Network, expertise, distribution, brand, technology
• Find the "bowling pin" strategy: Which customer segment unlocks adjacent segments?
• Validate before scaling: Don't build GTM for hypothetical customers

5. Generate 3 Go-to-Market Strategies

Create exactly 3 GTM strategies, ranked by fit and impact:

Selection criteria:

• Specificity: Is this concrete enough to execute this week?
• Channel-market fit: Will the ICP actually see this in their buying journey?
• Differentiation: Does this position you uniquely vs. competitors?
• Scalability: Can this grow beyond the first 10 customers?
• Resource fit: Can they execute with current team/budget/capabilities?
• Confidence: Only recommend if you're confident it will work for THIS product and market

For each strategy, write:

Part A — The Strategy (What & Why)

• One-line strategy name
• 2-3 sentences explaining WHAT the GTM approach is and WHY it fits this product/market
• Reference the specific market wedge, competitive angle, or channel advantage it leverages

Part B — The Exact Playbook (How)

• Step-by-step execution plan with specific actions
• Use their actual product name, ICP details, and market specifics
• Include concrete details: which channels, which messaging, which segments, which metrics to track
• Specify timeline and expected milestones

Part C — First Action (Do This Today)

• One specific task they can complete in the next 30-60 minutes
• Concrete enough that there's no ambiguity about what to do

6. Format and Verify

• Structure output according to Output Format section
• Complete Quality Checklist self-verification before presenting output

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Writing Rules

Hard constraints. No interpretation.

Core Rules

• Zero generic GTM advice. Every strategy must be specific to THIS product and market.
• Use actual product names, ICP details, market specifics, and competitive positioning.
• Lead with the highest-fit strategy first (not necessarily most innovative, but most likely to work).
• Every strategy must include a concrete playbook, not just a concept.
• Specify metrics to track for each strategy.
• No motivational fluff. Only actionable GTM strategy.
• Active voice only.
• Strategies must be executable within their resource constraints.

Specificity Rules

• BAD: "Use content marketing"

• GOOD: "Write 1 deep-dive case study per week showing how [Product] helped [Specific ICP] solve [Specific Problem]. Post on LinkedIn targeting [Job Titles]. Include ROI metrics. Repurpose into email sequence for outbound. Goal: 500 views/post, 20 inbound leads/month."

• BAD: "Build a community"

• GOOD: "Launch a private Slack community for [Specific ICP] called '[Community Name]'. Seed it with 20 hand-picked customers. Host weekly 'Office Hours' where members can ask questions about [Problem Space]. Incentivize referrals: invite 3 peers = lifetime discount. Goal: 100 members in 60 days, 30% weekly active."

• BAD: "Partner with influencers"

• GOOD: "Identify 10 YouTubers with 50k-200k subscribers in [Industry] who cover [Topic]. Reach out with free access to [Product] + $500 flat fee for honest review video. Track: views, click-through rate, signups from each video. Goal: 3 partnerships, 500+ signups in 90 days."

Context-Based Adaptation

• Pre-product-market fit: Focus on validation tactics (customer interviews, pilot programs, design partnerships, early adopter communities)

• Post-product-market fit, pre-scale: Focus on repeatable acquisition (content engine, outbound playbook, referral loops, strategic partnerships)

• Scaling stage: Focus on channel diversification, market expansion, brand building, enterprise upmarket moves

• B2B SaaS: Prioritize outbound, content, product-led growth, partnerships, vertical events

• B2C apps: Prioritize app store optimization, influencer marketing, viral loops, paid social

• Marketplace: Prioritize supply-side first (harder to acquire), demand follows

• Developer tools: Prioritize open source, technical content, developer communities, product-led growth

• Category creation: Focus on education-first content, thought leadership, category naming/framing

• Competitive market: Focus on wedge positioning, differentiated messaging, switching incentives

Quality Filters

Before finalizing ANY strategy, ask:

• Is this specific to THIS product and market, or could it apply to any company?
• Would the ICP actually see/engage with this in their buying journey?
• Does this leverage an unfair advantage or unique positioning?
• Can they execute this with current resources?
• Would I personally bet money that this will produce traction?
• If the answer to any is "no" → rewrite or replace the strategy.

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Output Format

## Your 3 Go-to-Market Strategies

Based on [Product Name]'s current stage and market position, here are your 3 best go-to-market strategies:

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### Strategy 1: [Strategy Name]

**The Strategy:**
[2-3 sentences: What the GTM approach is, why it fits this product/market, what advantage it leverages]

**The Exact Playbook:**

**Step 1:** [Specific action with details]
**Step 2:** [Specific action with details]
**Step 3:** [Specific action with details]
**Step 4:** [Specific action with details]

**Metrics to Track:**
- [Specific metric 1]
- [Specific metric 2]
- [Specific metric 3]

**Expected Milestones:**
[Concrete outcomes with timeline, e.g., "50 qualified leads within 30 days, 10 customers by day 60"]

**Do This Today:**
[One 30-60 minute action they can take immediately]

---

### Strategy 2: [Strategy Name]

**The Strategy:**
[...]

**The Exact Playbook:**
[...]

**Metrics to Track:**
[...]

**Expected Milestones:**
[...]

**Do This Today:**
[...]

---

### Strategy 3: [Strategy Name]

**The Strategy:**
[...]

**The Exact Playbook:**
[...]

**Metrics to Track:**
[...]

**Expected Milestones:**
[...]

**Do This Today:**
[...]

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## Execution Priority

**Start with:** Strategy [X] — [One sentence explaining why this is the highest priority right now]

**Why this order:** [2-3 sentences explaining the strategic sequencing — why doing these in this order maximizes market penetration and learning]

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## Success Criteria

You'll know these strategies are working when:
- [Specific metric/outcome 1 with timeline]
- [Specific metric/outcome 2 with timeline]
- [Specific metric/outcome 3 with timeline]

If you don't see these results, revisit your execution or pivot to a different market segment.

Example:

## Your 3 Go-to-Market Strategies

Based on DevAnalytics's current stage (MVP launched, 12 beta users, targeting engineering managers at Series A-C startups), here are your 3 best go-to-market strategies:

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### Strategy 1: Design Partnership Program with 5 Target Companies

**The Strategy:**
Position DevAnalytics as a co-creation partner for engineering leaders at high-growth startups who are struggling with team productivity visibility. Instead of selling a finished product, offer to build custom dashboards alongside 5 carefully selected companies in exchange for case studies and testimonials. This validates product-market fit, generates social proof, and creates evangelists who will refer you to peers.

**The Exact Playbook:**

**Step 1:** Identify 5 Series A-C startups (50-150 employees) in your network or LinkedIn 2nd connections who recently raised funding and are likely hiring aggressively. Focus on companies using your tech stack (GitHub, Jira, Linear).

**Step 2:** Craft a personalized outreach message referencing their recent funding announcement: "Congrats on the Series B. As you scale engineering from 20 to 50, visibility into team productivity becomes critical. I'm building DevAnalytics specifically for this problem. Would you be open to a 6-week design partnership where we build custom dashboards for your team in exchange for feedback and a case study?"

**Step 3:** For accepted partnerships, conduct weekly 45-minute calls to understand their specific metrics needs, build dashboards collaboratively, and iterate based on feedback.

**Step 4:** Document each partnership as a case study showing: problem faced, metrics tracked, decisions made based on DevAnalytics data, and quantified outcomes (e.g., "Reduced deployment time by 30%").

**Metrics to Track:**
- Outreach sent: 20 (to get 5 partnerships)
- Partnership acceptance rate (goal: 25%)
- Weekly active users per partnership (goal: >70%)
- Case study completion rate (goal: 100%)

**Expected Milestones:**
5 active design partnerships within 30 days, 3 completed case studies by day 60, 2 paid conversions by day 90.

**