7 Questions Investors Will Ask About Your GoToMarket Strategy Prepared for the InnovateEDU Bootcamp at Emerson College by Katie Martell

1. Saturday, February 11, 2017 Katie Martell @ InnovateEDU
7 Questions Investors Will
Ask About Your GTM Strategy
And How Not to F*ck it Up

2. @KatieMartell
Emerson IMC
AAF (Century Council), EmComm, troublemaker
8+ years startup marketing
NetProspex (12-125 employees + exit)
Version 2.0 Comms (TechCrunch, 25+ product launches)
Aberdeen Group (30+ y/o brand/product overhaul)
Entrepreneur
Cintell co-founder, CMO (MassChallenge finalist, $1M raised)
On-demand marketer, blogger, speaker
Many early-stage companies + big tech brands
Engagio, Allocadia, MarketingProfs, Building Engines, Mirakl,
Influitive, Evergage, MarcomCentral, Aptitude Research Partners,
CabinetM, Codeship,Verndale, Influitive, RedSwan5

3. 1. It’s Saturday
2. Boston rocks for startups
3. Tangible vs theoretical
4. Resilience (this sh*t is hard)
3
Why you’re awesome

4. *This slide is using Font Awesome
Today:
1. Kickstart your GTM plan
2. What investors look for
3. Entrepreneur fails
your date herestörre - a multipurpose PowerPoint template 4

6. No product-market fit.
The #1 reason
startups fail to
launch?

7. What many think GTM is:
your date here större - a multipurpose PowerPoint template 7

8. A GTM Strategy
is a blueprint.
It’s an action plan.
Like a business
plan, but specific to
marketing and
sales.
8

9. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
9
7 Questions to Answer:

10. 1. Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
10
7 Questions to Answer:

11. …it’s easy to lose sight of
who this is all for in the first place.
In a world
of more…

12. Most companies are the
center of their own universe.

13. “The aim of marketing is to know
and understand the customer so
well the product or service fits him
and sells itself.”
- Peter Drucker

14. The startup that
understands their
buyers best, wins.

15. Entrepreneur fail #1
They don’t know their buyer.
(This is about empathy.)

16. Clearly define your buyer (s):
 Profile (demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioristic)
 Personality (e.g. “Big Five”)
 Pain points (what is preventing them from reaching goals?)
 References / influences / watering holes
 A day in the life
 Jobs to be done
16
1) Who is the customer?

23. TAM
SAM
SOM
TAM
Total available market
Total market demand for product
or service
SAM
Serviceable Available Market
Segment ofTAM that is within your
geographical or other reach
SOM
Share of Market
portion of the SAM that you can
capture with existing resources

24. TAM 1.9 Billion
SAM 532 Million
SOM 10.6
Million
TAM
Total available market
Trips booked worldwide (1.9 Billion)
SAM
Serviceable Available Market
Budget and online (532 Million)
SOM
Share of Market
Trips with airbnb (10.5 million)

26. 26
You need to find a market that is LARGE
ENOUGH to grow in, and who have the
PAIN that motivates them to take action
(buy), and have the FUNDS to do it.

27. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
27
7 Questions to Answer:

28. Entrepreneur fail #2
Vitamin, not a painkiller.
“nice to have” vs “need to have”

29. 2) What problem do you solve?
29
REMEMBER,
YOU ARE HERETO
SOLVE A PROBLEM.

30. 3 big motivators
30
PAIN FEAR GAIN
something I
currently experience
and need to get
away from (most
compelling)
A future pain I want
to avoid
A future state that I
see as better that I
personally want to
attain
!

32. 32
Buyers are 3X more
likely to move away
from pain than
move towards
potential gain.
- Tim Riesterer

33. 33
Gain is a leap
of faith

34. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
34
7 Questions to Answer:

35. TRUTH BOMB:
35
Often, your biggest
competition is the status quo.
(The way things are.)

36. Entrepreneur fail #3
Misinterpret your true “competition”

37. your date here större - a multipurpose PowerPoint template 37

38. Hint:
38
DON’T UNDERESTIMATE
THE STATUS QUO
(Nobody actually likes change.)

39. If you do have competition:
39
Learn as much as you can about them.
 Company information (mission, organization, size, growth, funding)
 Target audience (size, definition)
 Pricing
 Products and services
 Distribution / partnerships
 Messaging
 Product feature comparisons
 How they go-to-market (events they’re at / influencers they work
with / publications they’re in)
 Strengths & weaknesses

40. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
40
7 Questions to Answer:

41. Entrepreneur fail #4
Unclear / inconsistent brand + value proposition

42. 42
4) What is your brand promise?

43. 43
Today, consumers are more likely than ever
to be swayed by emotion rather than logic.

44. Your buyers care about
WIIFM
What’s in it for me?
44
It’s not all about you:

45. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
45
7 Questions to Answer:

46. 3 numbers to know
your date here större - a multipurpose PowerPoint template 46
1. Price
2. Customer acquisition cost
3. Lifetime value

47. Pricing model: The $100M question
47
When you eventually become a $100 million dollar company, what will your customer
base look like?
Will it be:
1 customer paying you $100 million dollars a year
10 customers paying you $10 million a year
100 customers paying you $1 million a year
1,000 customers paying you $100,000 a year
10,000 customers paying you $10,000 a year
100,000 customers paying you $1000 a year
1,000,000 customers paying you $100 a year
10,000,000 customers paying you $10 a year
100,000,000 customers paying you $1 a year

48. Customer acquisition numbers
48
CAC
Customer
acquisition
cost
What is your cost going to be to acquire a
customer?
Entire cost of sales/marketing functions
(salaries, marketing programs, etc) and
divide it by the number of customers.
E.g.
$1m total marketing spend
1,000 customers
CAC = $1,000

49. Customer acquisition numbers
49
LTV
Lifetime
value
What is the lifetime value of a customer?
Gross margin associated with the customer.
Net of all installation, support, operational
expenses.
• If your product is a one-time fee, this is
simple.
• For businesses that have a recurring
revenue model, take monthly recurring
revenue and divide it by monthly churn
rate (% by which customers stop
subscribing to a service)

50. Entrepreneur fail #5
Too expensive to acquire new customers
compared to their value.

51. One simple rule:
51
The CAC must be less than the LTV.
YOU HAVETO acquire customers for less
money than they will generate in value over
the lifetime of your relationship.
Don't skip this.
CAC < LTV

52. One simple rule:
52
• VC will dig into this and they will call you
out.Your business model does not work
unless CAC is less than LTV.
• Recover CAC in < 12 months
• CAC less than LTV by 3X – 5X
CAC < LTV

53. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
53
7 Questions to Answer:

54. Entrepreneur fail #6
Overly optimistic about how easy it will be to acquire
customers. “If we build it, they will come.”

55. Diffusion of innovation.
your date here större - a multipurpose PowerPoint template 55
How new ideas / technology spreads.

56. 7) How will you acquire customers?
56
• Or, how will you distribute your product?
• Draw on learnings from research you did in
step one.
• Tactics should be:
 Cost-effective
 Relevant
 Tested and continually optimized (lean)

57. Be prepared at each stage:
your date here större - a multipurpose PowerPoint template 57
Awareness
Consideratio
n
Purchas
e
Awareness of the problem. Your job is to help
them understand they have a problem. Educate
them.They’re looking for help to solve their
problem – so talk about their problem.
Understanding / engagement with your
solution. How do you differentiate against the
competition, or the status quo?
Late-stage. What success have others had with
a solution like yours? (case studies).Can I try
the product before I buy?
Post-sale: How can you continue to make me
successful? How can I advocate on behalf of
your brand?

58. Big list o’ tactics to consider
58
• Partner programs (with programs who offer complimentary products/services, using joint
marketing and co-branding)
• Inbound + SEO strategy (links on other sites, keyword analysis)
• Direct mail (yes it still works!)
• Thought leadership (bylines / speaking / be a trusted advisor in your field)
• Content marketing to attract leads
• eBooks
• Webinars
• blogging
• Podcast
• Infographics
• Targeted email / nurture program
• High-conversion website
• Influencers (paid and free)
• Referral channels (incentivize existing users to be advocates)
• Live events
• Social media (highly targeted paid ads + content sharing)
• Professional associations
• PR + content amplification

59. Big list o’ tactics to consider
59
• Partner programs (with programs who offer complimentary products/services, using joint
marketing and co-branding)
• Inbound + SEO strategy (links on other sites, keyword analysis)
• Direct mail (yes it still works!)
• Thought leadership (bylines / speaking / be a trusted advisor in your field)
• Content marketing to attract leads
• eBooks
• Webinars
• blogging
• Podcast
• Infographics
• Targeted email / nurture program
• High-conversion website
• Influencers (paid and free)
• Referral channels (incentivize existing users to be advocates)
• Live events
• Social media (highly targeted paid ads + content sharing)
• Professional associations
• PR + content amplification
Tactics should be:
 Within budget
 Relevant to your buyer
 Tested and continually optimized

60. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
60
7 Questions to Answer:

61. Entrepreneur fail #7
They do not plan for growth.

62. Have a game plan
62
What are your goals at each stage of your life-cycle?

63. 1.Who is the customer?
2.What is the problem you’re solving?
3. How are they solving it today?
4.What is your brand promise?
5.What are your customer acquisition numbers?
6.What tactics will you use to acquire customers?
7.What are your goals?
63
7 Questions to Answer:

64. Easy, right?
Told you this stuff was hard.
Do it anyway. Just, do it right.

65. katie@katie-martell.com