| name | go-to-market |
| description | Plan and execute go-to-market from pre-launch waitlist through first 100 customers—B2C tactics from Lenny Rachitsky's research, B2B motion selection, Product Hunt playbook, and the Racecar Growth Framework. Use when launching a product, choosing growth channels, or planning initial customer acquisition. |
Go-to-Market Strategy
Core Principle
Distribution beats product. The best product nobody hears about loses to the average product with great distribution every time.
Pre-Launch → First 100 Customers
The Acquisition Ladder
Stage 1: Personal network (customers 1-10)
→ Founders selling 1:1, leveraging existing relationships
Stage 2: Community seeding (customers 10-30)
→ Targeted communities, content in niche forums, early adopter programs
Stage 3: Channel discovery (customers 30-100)
→ Test 2-3 channels, find the one that works, double down
Stage 4: Channel optimization (customers 100-1,000)
→ Systematize the winning channel, add one more
B2C Growth Tactics (Lenny Rachitsky Research)
From studying 40+ successful companies:
| Growth Channel | Example Companies | How They Started |
|---|
| Word of mouth | Slack, Dropbox, Figma | Built something people couldn't stop talking about |
| Virality (built-in) | WhatsApp, Venmo, Calendly | Product is better when you invite others |
| Content / SEO | HubSpot, Zapier, Canva | Created tools/content people search for |
| Paid acquisition | DoorDash, Instacart | Unit economics supported paid from day 1 |
| Community | Notion, Loom, dbt | Invested in user communities before scaling |
| Sales | Salesforce, Workday | High-touch enterprise from the start |
| Partnerships | Ramp, Plaid | Integrated into existing workflows |
The First Channel Test
Spend 2 weeks on each of 3 channels.
Track: CAC, conversion rate, time to first value.
Kill channels where CAC > target within 2 weeks.
Double down on the channel with lowest CAC and fastest conversion.
B2B Motion Selection
Product-Led Growth (PLG) vs. Sales-Led
| Signal | PLG | Sales-Led |
|---|
| ACV | < $5K/year | > $25K/year |
| Buyer | End user | Executive / committee |
| Decision speed | Days | Weeks to months |
| Try-before-buy | Expected | Not always possible |
| Expansion | Usage-based upgrades | Contract negotiations |
Decision Framework
Can a user get value in under 5 minutes without talking to anyone?
├── YES → Product-Led Growth
│ Examples: Slack, Notion, Figma
│ Playbook: Free tier → team adoption → enterprise upgrade
│
└── NO → Sales-Led (or Sales-Assisted PLG)
Examples: Salesforce, Snowflake
Playbook: Targeted outbound → demo → POC → contract
Product Hunt Launch Playbook
Pre-Launch (2 Weeks Before)
- Build a "hunter" relationship (top hunters get more visibility)
- Collect 200+ upvotes worth of supporters — email list, community, friends
- Prepare assets: 5 images, 240-char tagline, first comment with story
- Have a special launch offer ready
Launch Day Timing
- Launch at 12:01 AM PT (Product Hunt resets daily at midnight PT)
- Post your "maker comment" immediately — tell the origin story
- Respond to every comment within 15 minutes for the first 4 hours
- Notify your supporters between 7-9 AM PT (prime upvote window)
- Share on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and communities throughout the day
Post-Launch
- Day 2-3: Follow up with everyone who engaged
- Week 1: Email all upvoters with exclusive offer
- Week 2: Write a "lessons learned" post (content from launch → SEO)
Racecar Growth Framework
Three Growth Components
KICKSTARTS — One-time pushes that spike growth
→ PR hits, Product Hunt launch, conference talks, viral content
→ Valuable but not sustainable alone
ENGINES — Repeatable growth loops
→ SEO → content → traffic → signups (content engine)
→ User invites → new users → more invites (viral engine)
→ Revenue → paid ads → customers → revenue (paid engine)
TURBO BOOSTS — Optimizations that multiply existing engines
→ Conversion rate optimization
→ Referral program improvements
→ Onboarding flow tightening
Apply the Framework
Most startups over-invest in kickstarts and under-invest in engines.
Priority order:
1. Get one engine working (even at small scale)
2. Use kickstarts to feed fuel into the engine
3. Apply turbo boosts once the engine is proven
Anti-Patterns
| GTM Theater | Real GTM |
|---|
| "We'll grow organically" | Choosing a specific channel and testing it |
| Launching on Product Hunt with no preparation | 2 weeks of community building first |
| Testing 10 channels simultaneously | Testing 3, killing 2, doubling down on 1 |
| "Our product is so good it sells itself" | Great products still need distribution |
| Waiting until the product is "ready" | Launching when it solves one problem well |
Power Move
"Map out a 90-day GTM plan for [product] targeting [customer segment]. Identify the top 3 channels to test, design a 2-week experiment for each, and define the Racecar Growth Framework components: kickstarts for launch, the engine I should build first, and turbo boosts for month 3."
The agent becomes your growth strategist — building a repeatable acquisition engine, not just a launch moment.
