A Strategist’s Go-To-Market Strategy Guide — rational vc

When it comes to your product, produce a simple user engagement story and show the technical apparatus that drives the back-end of that user’s journey. This helps show the technology the start-up is using, and critically, why the start-up is using it. 

A Value Proposition includes a concise outline of the start-up’s solution and product, and fundamentally the market or societal problem it aims to solve. It also highlights other key considerations such as the team and the financials. 

Founders typically experience the market problem themselves, hence why they come up with a solution. Therefore, if founders can find people like themselves from their own circles, that’s a good starting point. From there, let Metcalfe’s Law of networking effects take it forward. But this can be slow.  My favourite way is to combine that initia... See more

Founders typically look past the fact that their user base growth is due to a free / very cheap product or in other words, their market penetration pricing. Founders that find the right product-market fit early on, will typically translate the value of the service to the customers very well. And as such the customer’s perception of value relative t... See more

It’s trial and error or it’s working with people you already know and trust in a business context. Cliché as it sounds, you’re not going to find the right team, if you don’t know yourself – but that’s way too philosophical for this memo. Understand how you work and how you like people to perform under pressure. Set the culture of the business upfro... See more

A start-up’s method of achieving its ambition needs to consider three vital components: 1.  Who the target customers are, 2.  Through what channels will the start-up target the customers, 3.  In what timeframe will the start-up reach target customers.

Value proposition components: (i) Problem, (ii) Solution / Product, (iii) GTM Plan (target customers, channels, timeline), (iv) Size of the prize (market $ value), (v) Financials (prices, revenues, costs, margins), (vi) Team