Building your Go-to-Market Strategy

In this edition of the Lendity In-Depth Expert Series, Pilar Ratti and Rafael Karamanian sat down with Amrita Gurney, Chief Marketing Officer, specialized in B2B SaaS companies, to tackle one of the biggest challenges early-stage founders face: acquiring their first 100 customers. From defining your ICP to building brand trust and navigating the role of AI in marketing, Amrita shares practical strategies that any startup can apply.

Please note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

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What Is a Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy?

Pilar Ratti: Let’s begin with the basics. Amrita, how would you define a go-to-market strategy? Many of our audience members are founders, and “GTM” is one of the countless acronyms you see in the world of marketing. How would you explain it in plain language?

Amrita Gurney: I like to keep it very simple. A go-to-market strategy is your game plan for launching your product into the market and acquiring customers. It’s how you take what you’ve built and bring it to the right people in a way that generates business.

Pilar Ratti: I really like that. And when you think about your first 100 customers, that definition helps frame why this strategy is so important. It bridges the gap between building a product and actually selling it.

Pilar Ratti: Now, even though the concept sounds simple, we know there are many moving parts. What would you say are the key components founders need to focus on when building their GTM strategy? Where should they start?

Amrita Gurney: Great question. I think there are five foundational questions every founder needs to answer:

1. Who are we selling to? This seems obvious, but a lot of early-stage founders are unclear. They want to sell to anyone who’s willing to pay, which is understandable. But being laser-focused on your ideal customer can actually make it easier to sell. It’s counterintuitive but true.
2. What are we offering? You might have a great product, but you need to position it clearly. What are you solving, and how are you different from other alternatives? Your messaging needs to reflect that.
3. Where will we reach them? Your distribution channels—whether it's social media, cold outreach, events, etc.—should align with where your customers are. But you can’t answer this without knowing your audience first.
4. How do we capture their attention? This is about messaging. Once you’re in front of a potential customer—either online or in person—what are you saying to grab their interest and get them to consider your product?
5. How will we measure success? You need to define what success looks like. Set clear goals and metrics so you can evaluate whether your strategy is working and iterate from there.

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Why GTM Strategies Often Fall Short

Pilar Ratti: I love that framework. So simple, yet so important. But even when founders know they need a GTM strategy, many still struggle to put it into action. Why do you think that is? What are some common pain points you’ve seen?

Amrita Gurney: There are a few big ones. First, it really depends on the background of the founding team. If the team is mostly technical or focused on finance, they often don’t have the experience—or sometimes even the awareness—of what a go-to-market strategy entails.

Second, there’s this persistent myth that a great product sells itself. You hear quotes like, “We didn’t need marketing,” from big success stories like Slack. But if you look closely, that’s rarely the full truth. Marketing was happening—it just looked different.

And third, a lot of founders believe that building a GTM strategy is some huge, complex, six-month project. That belief alone can paralyze them. In reality, you can start small—put something together in a few weeks and evolve it as you learn. It doesn’t need to be perfect.

Rafael Karamanian: That’s so true. Founders often try to keep their strategy broad so they can experiment. But that makes it difficult to define what’s actually working. How do you recommend they strike the right balance between focus and flexibility?

Amrita Gurney: I see that a lot too. Founders often keep things broad to show investors there’s a large TAM. But companies like Tesla or Slack started with focused segments. Your ICP today doesn’t have to be forever—it will evolve. And it should.

Also, writing down your assumptions gives you a reference point to reflect and iterate. I’ve seen teams create a two- or three-page doc or a 10-slide deck that gets revisited quarterly. It doesn’t need to be a huge strategy manual.

Pilar Ratti: And getting it out of your head is huge. Founders often know their strategy, but their team doesn’t. When you write it down, it aligns everyone and gives you a foundation to adapt from.

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Founders Should Own GTM Early On

Rafael Karamanian: Are there specific parts of GTM strategy that founders should never delegate too early?

Amrita Gurney: Absolutely. In the beginning, founders or the founding team should be able to answer all of these questions. Even if you bring in experts, you still need alignment at the top. At early-stage startups I’ve joined—sometimes as the 15th or even 10th team member—it was always the leadership team that owned the strategy together.

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Hiring Your First Marketer and Timing it Right

Pilar Ratti: So once you’ve created the initial GTM strategy, when is the right time to hire a marketer? Should that happen in the first 10 hires? And what kind of marketer should you look for first?

Amrita Gurney: This is such a tough decision, and it really depends on your strategy. If your go-to-market approach is content-heavy, events-based, or relies on thought leadership, then having someone with marketing expertise is essential early on.

Sometimes founders are good at marketing—if that’s the case, great! They can delay the hire and bring someone in for a complementary skill set. But often, I see companies waiting too long. They think marketing isn’t urgent, but later realize they needed it six months ago.

If you can’t hire full-time, hire a contractor or a fractional CMO to get things off the ground. Just make sure someone is owning your ICP definition, content strategy, and distribution efforts.

Rafael Karamanian: And if it’s a B2B SaaS company selling to enterprises—what’s the right team size or revenue level for that first marketing hire?

Amrita Gurney: Selling to enterprise requires credibility. Your brand, your website—they matter. At Float, even in the early days, we built a polished brand because we were handling business finances. If a company doesn’t look legitimate, enterprise buyers won’t even consider you.

So yes, you can bring in someone fractional or use agencies. I’ve joined teams as small as 10 people in that role.

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How to Meassure GTM Success

Pilar Ratti: Let’s talk about measurement. In B2B, especially, marketing’s impact on revenue is harder to track than sales. What’s the best way to measure GTM success and communicate marketing’s value?

Amrita Gurney: Inbound metrics are usually the easiest to track: website traffic, demo requests, conversions. Even simple analytics tools give you great insights.

Marketing should also have pipeline or revenue goals. I’ve always owned a number—even if it’s shared with sales. For brand initiatives, it’s more nuanced. We’ve run surveys to track brand awareness over time, or looked at cost-per-impression metrics. It’s not always perfect, but some things just take longer to show results.

You might only see the ROI on a brand campaign after 3–6 months, but it often pays off. It’s about setting expectations and allocating budget appropriately—maybe 10–20% of your GTM budget goes to brand, depending on stage and goals.

Rafael Karamanian: Any rule of thumb for budget allocation between brand and performance?

Amrita Gurney: I’ve typically used an 80/20 split. But I recently interviewed several CMOs at fast-growing companies and some are moving toward 50/50. Brand is becoming more critical—especially as paid channels get saturated.

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Building Brand Trust from Scratch

Pilar Ratti: For early-stage startups without customer logos or social proof, how do you build trust?

Amrita Gurney: Partner with reputable players who already have trust. That gives you credibility by association. Also, founders should be out there sharing unique perspectives. Thought leadership is incredibly powerful.

Even paid content can help—like publishing an article in a national newspaper. It’s all about associating your brand with credibility, even if it’s a paid placement.

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Choosing Tools That Scale With You

Pilar Ratti: Once the strategy is in place, how do you choose the right tools to support your execution?

Amrita Gurney: Don’t start with heavy, complex tools that require dedicated people to manage. Choose tools based on your team’s capacity. For example, at one startup, we went with Hubspot over Marketo because my team needed something they could use independently.

Look at who else is using the tool. Ask your network. Think about how long it will last you—12 to 24 months is a good range.

Also, validate processes manually before automating. If a manual campaign works well, then look for a tool to scale it.

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When GTM Needs a Reset

Rafael Karamanian: Have you seen companies outgrow their GTM strategy and need a reset?

Amrita Gurney: Yes. Take Brex—they started with SMBs and eventually had to shift. When customers consume more resources than the revenue they generate, that’s a sign to evolve.

Rafael Karamanian: Some founders knowingly start with unprofitable ICPs to gain industry insights and later move upmarket. What do you think about that?

Amrita Gurney: That can be a valid strategy—as long as you understand your unit economics and have a plan for scaling profitably. Just don’t do it blindly.

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Using AI in Marketing: What Works (and What Doesn't)

Using AI in Marketing: What Works (and What Doesn’t)

Pilar Ratti: AI is transforming marketing. What’s your take on using it without sacrificing personalization?

Amrita Gurney: I love AI for ideation, prototyping, and automating manual tasks. But I’m not a fan of using it end-to-end for creative work. You risk sounding like everyone else.

Use AI to assist, not replace your creativity. Prompt it well. Then add your voice in editing. People still crave originality and authenticity.

Rafael Karamanian: Do you see certain channels becoming less effective as AI-generated content becomes more common?

Amrita Gurney: Not yet, but we’re close. SEO content and outbound email will likely hit saturation first. For now, there's still opportunity—especially if you combine automation with thoughtful messaging.

Pilar Ratti: I see it too—emails and LinkedIn posts start sounding the same. Brands are losing their tone of voice.

Amrita Gurney: Exactly. AI is powerful, but it’s the human touch that builds trust. Look at people like Emily Kramer or Lenny Rachitsky—they may use tools, but their content is unmistakably theirs.

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Cultural Differences in Brand Voice

Rafael Karamanian: You mentioned differences in tone—do you think European companies communicate differently than American ones?

Amrita Gurney: Absolutely. European brands tend to be more understated. Swiss brands in particular—like the ones I follow—have a calm, polished tone. It’s part of their culture. American brands, in contrast, are often louder and more promotional. It reflects broader cultural values, and it shows up in company messaging, too.