go-to-market-plan

What this skill does

# Go-to-Market Plan

## Purpose
Analyze the founder's business and current stage to deliver 3 specific, actionable go-to-market strategies that will drive measurable market penetration and customer acquisition.

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## Execution Logic

**Check $ARGUMENTS first to determine execution mode:**

### If $ARGUMENTS is empty or not provided:
Respond with:
"go-to-market-plan loaded, proceed with details about your product, target market, or current launch situation"

Then wait for the user to provide their requirements in the next message.

### If $ARGUMENTS contains content:
Proceed immediately to Task Execution (skip the "loaded" message).

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## Task Execution

When user requirements are available (either from initial $ARGUMENTS or follow-up message):

### 1. Read Business Context
Check if `FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md` exists in the project root.
- **If it exists:** Read it and extract: company name, industry, target audience, value proposition, products/services, business stage, competitors, pricing model, unique advantages.
- **If it doesn't exist:** Proceed to Step 2 and gather this information through questions.

### 2. Diagnose GTM Readiness
Evaluate whether you have enough information to produce high-confidence, actionable go-to-market strategies:

**Required information to proceed without questions:**
- What problem the product solves (core value proposition)
- Who the ideal customer is (specific ICP, not "small businesses" or "everyone")
- Product readiness stage (MVP, beta, ready to scale, etc.)
- Competitive landscape (who else solves this, how you're different)
- Distribution model (direct, channel partners, marketplace, etc.)
- Pricing strategy (freemium, paid, enterprise, etc.)
- Current market position (pre-launch, launched but struggling, ready to scale)
- Available resources (team, budget, runway)

**If you have enough context:** Proceed directly to Step 4.

**If critical information is missing:** Proceed to Step 3.

### 3. Ask Diagnostic Questions (When Needed)
Use the AskUserQuestion tool to gather missing information. Ask between 3-10 questions based on what's needed:

**Core GTM questions:**
- What stage is your product at right now? (Idea, MVP, beta, launched, scaling)
- Who is your ideal first customer? (Be specific: role, company size, industry, pain point)
- What's the core problem your product solves? How do people solve it today?
- How do customers currently discover solutions like yours?
- What's your biggest struggle with go-to-market right now?
- What have you already tried for customer acquisition? What worked? What didn't?
- What resources do you have available? (Budget, team, timeline, network)

**Context-specific questions:**
- For pre-launch: "Have you validated product-market fit? How many people have you talked to?"
- For launched but struggling: "Where are you getting customers today? What's your current CAC vs. LTV?"
- For scaling: "What channels are working? What's your constraint to 10x growth?"
- For competitive positioning: "Who are your top 3 competitors? Why would someone choose you over them?"
- For pricing clarity: "Have you tested pricing? What signals indicate customers will pay this amount?"

**IMPORTANT:** Only ask questions for information you truly need. Don't ask for information you can infer from FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md or the user's initial message.

### 4. Analyze Market Entry Strategy
Based on the context gathered, analyze:

1. **Product-Market Fit Status:** Do they have it? How do you know?
2. **Market Entry Point:** Where is the wedge? (Specific segment, use case, or channel)
3. **Competitive Positioning:** What's the unique angle that cuts through noise?
4. **Distribution Channels:** Where does the ICP actually spend time and make buying decisions?
5. **Go-to-Market Motion:** Product-led, sales-led, community-led, or hybrid?
6. **Market Timing:** Why now? What's changed in the market or technology?

**Critical analysis principles:**
- **Start narrow, expand later:** Best GTM starts with a tight, underserved segment
- **Channel-product fit matters more than product-market fit early on:** Great product in wrong channel = no traction
- **Identify unfair advantages:** Network, expertise, distribution, brand, technology
- **Find the "bowling pin" strategy:** Which customer segment unlocks adjacent segments?
- **Validate before scaling:** Don't build GTM for hypothetical customers

### 5. Generate 3 Go-to-Market Strategies
Create exactly 3 GTM strategies, ranked by fit and impact:

**Selection criteria:**
- **Specificity:** Is this concrete enough to execute this week?
- **Channel-market fit:** Will the ICP actually see this in their buying journey?
- **Differentiation:** Does this position you uniquely vs. competitors?
- **Scalability:** Can this grow beyond the first 10 customers?
- **Resource fit:** Can they execute with current team/budget/capabilities?
- **Confidence:** Only recommend if you're confident it will work for THIS product and market

**For each strategy, write:**

**Part A — The Strategy (What & Why)**
- One-line strategy name
- 2-3 sentences explaining WHAT the GTM approach is and WHY it fits this product/market
- Reference the specific market wedge, competitive angle, or channel advantage it leverages

**Part B — The Exact Playbook (How)**
- Step-by-step execution plan with specific actions
- Use their actual product name, ICP details, and market specifics
- Include concrete details: which channels, which messaging, which segments, which metrics to track
- Specify timeline and expected milestones

**Part C — First Action (Do This Today)**
- One specific task they can complete in the next 30-60 minutes
- Concrete enough that there's no ambiguity about what to do

### 6. Format and Verify
- Structure output according to **Output Format** section
- Complete **Quality Checklist** self-verification before presenting output

---

## Writing Rules
Hard constraints. No interpretation.

### Core Rules
- Zero generic GTM advice. Every strategy must be specific to THIS product and market.
- Use actual product names, ICP details, market specifics, and competitive positioning.
- Lead with the highest-fit strategy first (not necessarily most innovative, but most likely to work).
- Every strategy must include a concrete playbook, not just a concept.
- Specify metrics to track for each strategy.
- No motivational fluff. Only actionable GTM strategy.
- Active voice only.
- Strategies must be executable within their resource constraints.

### Specificity Rules
- **BAD:** "Use content marketing"
- **GOOD:** "Write 1 deep-dive case study per week showing how [Product] helped [Specific ICP] solve [Specific Problem]. Post on LinkedIn targeting [Job Titles]. Include ROI metrics. Repurpose into email sequence for outbound. Goal: 500 views/post, 20 inbound leads/month."

- **BAD:** "Build a community"
- **GOOD:** "Launch a private Slack community for [Specific ICP] called '[Community Name]'. Seed it with 20 hand-picked customers. Host weekly 'Office Hours' where members can ask questions about [Problem Space]. Incentivize referrals: invite 3 peers = lifetime discount. Goal: 100 members in 60 days, 30% weekly active."

- **BAD:** "Partner with influencers"
- **GOOD:** "Identify 10 YouTubers with 50k-200k subscribers in [Industry] who cover [Topic]. Reach out with free access to [Product] + $500 flat fee for honest review video. Track: views, click-through rate, signups from each video. Goal: 3 partnerships, 500+ signups in 90 days."

### Context-Based Adaptation
- **Pre-product-market fit:** Focus on validation tactics (customer interviews, pilot programs, design partnerships, early adopter communities)
- **Post-product-market fit, pre-scale:** Focus on repeatable acquisition (content engine, outbound playbook, referral loops, strategic partnerships)
- **Scaling stage:** Focus on channel diversification, market expansion, brand building, enterprise upmarket moves

- **B2B SaaS:** Prioritize outbound, content, product