Hey y’all - founders love building.
We obsess over pixel-perfect UX, dreamy roadmaps, and that magical "aha!" moment.
But here’s the hard truth: a great product isn’t enough.

You could be holding a diamond — but if no one sees it, it’s just another shiny rock in the dirt.

That’s where most startups quietly fail… not because of the product, but because they had no plan to get it into real hands.

In this deep dive, we’re going beyond launch hype and diving into the engine behind sustainable startup growth:
Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy.

Today I am breaking Down:

• The Problem Most Founders Overlook

• What GTM Really Means (And What It’s Not)

• Real-World Case: Superhuman’s Waitlist to Wavelength

• Founder Lessons

Your Product Isn’t the Hero — Your GTM Strategy Is

The Problem Most Founders Overlook

Founders obsess over their product.
They hire the best engineers.
They polish every feature.
They launch… and then… crickets.

Why?

Because they skipped the one question every investor, customer, and co-founder is silently asking:

Enter the real MVP: your Go-To-Market Strategy.

What GTM Really Means (And What It’s Not)

GTM isn’t a launch date.
It’s not just marketing.
It’s not just sales.

A great GTM strategy answers three questions before you write another line of code:

1. Who exactly is this for?
   (Hint: “startups” or “millennials” is not a real segment.)

2. Where do they already hang out?
   (Slack groups? Twitter? Local meetups? Niche Subreddits?)

3. How will you earn their attention and trust?
   (Cold DMs? Freemium hook? Content? Community?)

Real-World Case: Superhuman’s “Waitlist to Wavelength” GTM

Superhuman didn’t just launch an email app.
They built an experience — and used their GTM like a spotlight.

They created scarcity with a waitlist.
Then built anticipation through onboarding interviews.
They used that time to refine their ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) and turn early adopters into product advisors.

Their product wasn’t “launched.”
It was curated.
And that made users feel like insiders — not just customers.

 Founders Lessons

• Start GTM planning before product planning.
  What’s the hook that makes someone stop scrolling?

• Be insanely specific about your early customer.
  Not “tech professionals.” Try:
  “Design-focused founders working remote who live in Notion and hate Gmail.”

• GTM is a living system — not a one-time slide.
  Your message, channels, and motion will evolve as your users evolve.

• Treat marketing like product.
  Test, iterate, and talk to users. You’re not pitching. You’re debugging.

To sum-up

A great product with a weak GTM is like a Ferrari with no fuel.

If you can’t deliver it to the right people, at the right time, with the right emotion — you’re not building a company, you’re building an expensive hobby.

What’s your favorite GTM play you’ve seen recently?
Or the worst one?