Last week I had the opportunity to lead a Go To Market workshop for 18 robotics and hardware startups. It was a hands on and highly interactive 90 minute session with an exceptional audience at INNOVIT – Italian Innovation and Culture Hub.
As the structure for the session, I used the same three step framework that has guided me while bootstrapping new revenue streams at Fortune 100 companies and at early stage startups. It is the shortened version of the eighteen element foundation I teach in Marketing Plan for Tech Startups, and it works across every go to market motion from product led to sales led to hybrid.
First, describe your Ideal Customer Profile
We opened with the most important question.
Who exactly is your ideal customer?
In my experience, the more complex the product is, the more founders talk about features. To turn innovation into adoption and revenue, you need an outside in view.
- Who feels the most pain?
- Is the pain severe enough to demand action?
- Is the buyer also the user?
These answers determine your motion and your entire GTM strategy.
Our first exercise was the creation of personas. These are semi fictional representations of your ideal customer, grounded in market research and real user data when available. Personas help teams focus on the people who are most likely to try, buy, and champion the product.
Anchoring your GTM strategy in the needs and pains of ideal customers is essential for growth because “no company in its right mind tries to sell to everyone” – Philip Kotler, the father of modern marketing.
Startups win when they direct their energy toward the customers who value them most and can move quickly from awareness to decision.
Second, write your product Positioning Statement
With our ideal customer defined, we clarified the value of our products.
- What outcome do you deliver?
- Why is this outcome better than the alternatives?
- Can a customer understand the value instantly?
A common misstep in early stage companies is the desire to be a Swiss army knife. Broad promises lead to vague narratives that resonate with no one. Traction comes from simplicity, precision, and a tightly focused promise.
Brian Chesky nailed it: “Build something one hundred people love, not something one million people kind of like.”
Great positioning does not narrow your market. It accelerates your path to it. Iconic companies begin by winning the trust and enthusiasm of a narrow set of early adopters. That early concentration of love is what unlocks broader adoption later.
When founders commit to focused positioning, everything becomes easier. Messaging sharpens. Experiments run faster. Customers see the transformation you make possible and can picture their own success.
Finally, map your Customer Journey
With target segments and positioning in place, we mapped the customer journey. This means understanding each step people take as they discover your product, engage with it, and remain loyal over time. A clear journey reveals the questions customers ask at every stage and the confidence they need before moving forward.
This is also where demand generation begins. Demand generation is the discipline of finding and engaging customers whose problems align with your solution. It turns your strategy into motion and builds the path to consistent revenue.
Since launching Marketing Plan for Tech Startups, I have spoken with many founders, investors, and startup accelerator. Some founders still feel cautious about the word marketing. They associate it with tactical activity rather than revenue. In reality, effective marketing creates the conditions for predictable growth by aligning product value with customer urgency.
In the workshop, we mapped that path with precision:
- Awareness: “Is there a better way?”
- Consideration: “What are my best options?”
- Decision: “Why you? Why now?”
- Retention: “Is this still worth it?”
- Advocacy: “Will I recommend this to my peers?”
The marketer’s job does not end at conversion. In 2025, Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the metric that shows whether your go to market engine truly works, as demand generation experts and key contributors to Marketing Plan for Tech Startups Heidi Ramich and Kristi Berg McCutchen remind us.
We also discussed the emotional dimension of decision making. Baba Shiv from Stanford University Graduate School of Business notes that nearly 95% of decisions are rooted in emotion rather than logic. Emotion influences perceived risk and readiness to act.
When you understand those emotional triggers, your messaging gains clarity and your growth accelerates.
High performing GTM teams optimize the customer experience at every stage of the journey. They remove friction. They build trust. They create momentum from first impression to long term advocacy.
Thank you!
Huge thanks to Rochi Cairo Presepi, Leandro Agro, Carlo Rivis and Federico Zaninelli for hosting the GTM session and to Simone Morellato for helping me facilitate the workshop.
Shoutout to all the startup founders for being so open minded and engaged during the session: Erik Vendemiati Marco Sirini Alessandro Fadini Daniele Bernardini Riccardo Roggeri Margherita Ferragatta Federico Zaninelli Clara Bernasco Narinder Kumar Alex D’Elia (acme) Leopoldo Lazzarin Jonathan Bizzi Michele Aiello Nicolas Lorenzo Zeoli Mario Viti Marcello Zerbetto Luca Licciulli Francesco Clemente Fabio Oscari Andrea Beggio
If you would like to bring a GTM workshop to your team, just let me know!
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