Go-To-Market Actions: Do Whatever It Takes to Get Customers

12 proven ways by unicorn companies and how to apply them NOW

In this Substack post, you will learn:

• What did 100 unicorn companies do to get their first clients

• How to differentiate between Go-to-Market Actions and Motions

• Examples of how 12 successful companies selected and executed their GTM actions in a way that creates value

Let’s hop on an exciting adventure to see how companies find clients on their go-to-market missions.

---

Before there are GTM Motions, there are GTM Actions

In 2022, Ali Abouelatta wrote a legendary Substack post 100 Unicorns: 12 different GTM Motions, widely used to plan the launches of new products even today.

Ali analyzed 100+ tech unicorns extensively and systemized them into 12 proven categories that worked then. However, much has changed since then—the renaissance of AI, spam filters, new communities, and some channels declining—so I say it is time for a facelift.

Before we dive into how these teachings can be implemented in 2025 and beyond, let’s define some basics. Here are two concepts that you need to understand before implementing this framework:

1. Actions instead of Motions: Go-to-market motions are predictable and scalable ways to get customers into the product. They are playbooks that you use to grow your company so you no longer have to worry about where your next client is coming from, but you can rely on a steady and sufficient inflow of leads in your business. Some tactics described here apply only for launches or one-off campaigns. For that reason, I prefer to call them Go-to-Market Actions (= do whatever is mission-critical to get customers) instead of GTM Motions.

2. Product-Market Fit (PMF) is a spectrum. Following the First Round Capital’s 4 Levels of Product-Market Fit framework, PMF comes in different stages. While scrappy GTM Actions such as warm outreach with a hook (for example, intros from your investors or clients) play a massive role in the nascent stage of PMF (how to secure first five customers), they fade off as you gain more traction. Eventually, everyone runs out of their “contact list deals” and needs to start predictably and scalably selling to “strangers”. While you can continue to use GTM Actions post-PMF to get spikes, consider that these tactics wear off. If you are launching on Product Hunt every month, the audience is likely to become saturated. The holy grail of the go-to-market stage (post-PMF) is to find at least one repeatable and predictable GTM Motion - a general, more complex set of repeatable activities for acquiring customers. Yes, you can continue to add fuel to the fire with GTM Actions as you are searching for new product-market fits (opening new markets, adding new products, testing a new channel) on your go-to-market journey.

Next, we will discuss every GTM Action proposed, and I will share more recent examples. Much has changed since “Airbnb scraped Craigslist and sent out many cold outreach emails to get first customers in 2010”.

How to find first customers in 2025 and beyond 12 GTM Actions with examples

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

These categories of GTM Actions are valid to this date.

The “HOW we apply them” changed.

Some channels got saturated, some tactics were abused and no longer work, the customer preferences and customer journey changed, and tech changes such as AI renaissance and rigid spam control by FAANG companies demanded refinements in executing these principles.

Today’s unicorns went through this journey 10-20 years ago. Now, you cannot compare yourself with companies 100,000 times bigger than you in traction.

Learn from the trenches NOW.

I will present recent examples of fast-growing B2B SaaS companies from my network on the go-to-market mission.

#1 Building in public

RB2B is a tool that helps you identify visitors on your website to run more informed sales and marketing decisions and actions. They grew to $4 million ARR in 40 weeks post-launch.

Their CEO, Adam Robinson, has built a LinkedIn audience of 100K+ followers and shares content 3-5x a week. The lion’s share of this content is videos of him explaining what they did to grow RB2B and sharing lessons learned with the audience, including pivots in business strategy.

RB2B CEO is one of the rising star content creators on LinkedIn. He shares all the milestones of their go-to-market journey - including this recent product update due to high churn (source).

Insights from the trenches of building in public are invaluable content for many entrepreneurs on LinkedIn, so Adam’s content gets lots of reach - spreading the word about RB2B at the same time.

#2 Produce discoverable content

Userpilot is the all-in-one tool for product, UX, customer success, and marketing teams, with analytics, in-app user onboarding and engagement, and in-app surveys.

They have dominated the SEO game in our space. Lusine Sargsyan, Demand Generation Manager at Userpilot, explains their content strategy: “Userpilot does product-led SEO, starting from the bottom of the funnel - focusing on the products in the market and the products' features, the problems they are solving for the target audience, then going more and more upfunnel with content relevant to the target audience.”

Organic content presents 77% of Userpilot’s traffic. Overall, they have 2850+ content assets that bring them over 200,000 monthly traffic.

#3 Warm outreach [sell relationship or credibility]

Tella is an Amsterdam-based startup backed by Gradient Ventures and Y Combinator. They develop a platform that allows you to record, edit, and share videos for demos, presentations and tutorials. Think Loom on editing steroids that make your video stand out. I use it for my video sales activities and courses.

As with all companies in the Y Combinator, Tella knew from day one how important it is to talk to users. I had the pleasure of speaking with the founder of Tella Grant Shaddick as a user of their solution, and he blew my mind with his customer discovery skills. Now I asked him to record us a Tella video of how they got their first customers 🤠

#4 Cold outreach [with a hook 🪝]

Lemlist is a cold email outreach tool that revolutionized email prospecting when it launched in 2018. When they had to find their first customers, it was only natural for them to “eat their own dog food” - using their own product to find customers with tailored, highly personalized cold emails that stood out in crowded inboxes.

By leveraging customization, like including recipient names and other relevant information, their emails didn’t feel generic—they felt personal, relevant, and worth a response. This strategy didn’t just showcase Lemlist’s capabilities; it turned recipients into customers who could envision the tool's value for their own outreach needs.

One critical factor in Lemlist’s success was their mastery of the hook. The first few words of an email often determine whether it gets read or sent straight to the trash. Lemlist used bold, intriguing openers designed to grab attention immediately. Whether it was referencing a recipient's recent achievement, posing an unexpected question, or highlighting a specific pain point, these hooks worked because they were authentic and relevant.

Lemlist’s killer feature: they even personalized images - like writing a prospect’s name on a coffee cup (source)

By focusing on personalization and starting with a bang, Lemlist turned cold emails into warm leads and ultimately built the foundation for their growth.

Guillaume Moubeche, co-founder of Lemlist, explained more on how they bootstrapped their go-to-market journey in my GTM Strategist Podcast:

#5 Fish on forums and online communities

Forums and communities on social media (like Reddit, Discord, and Facebook groups) can be a goldmine for user insights and finding early customers. You can tip into the communities when developing a product and share the MVP to find your first users.

This can be especially useful if your product caters to developers who look for tips or help in communities like Stack Overflow or on subreddits. Here is an example of how Tom Redman from Convex directed the discussion in the thread under their launch post on r/programming subreddit with more than 6 million members (thanks to Jakub Czakon for providing this example):

Source: https://www.markepear.com/example/great-reddit-post-from-convex

#6 Embed yourself in the community [authentically]

Usersnap, part of the saas.group family, is an intuitive platform for product teams to collect and act on user feedback across the entire development lifecycle. Trusted by over 2,000 organizations, including Canva, Microsoft, BBC, Erste Bank, and Redhat, Usersnap helps connect directly with their target audience to discover the right problems, validate solutions during delivery, test before launch, and announce features & get feedback for adoption and iteration post-launch.

Usersnap has long worked closely with communities, but their CEO and CPO Shannon Vettes took this to an entirely new level. Here is her advice on how to build authentic relationships with communities:

Tip 1: Deeply give a crap, or you won’t be genuine.

Caring generates authenticity! I connect with product builders because I am one. We all wrestle with the same question: “Am I building the right thing?” Confidence is key, and poor choices can have lasting impacts.

Tip 2: Be legit, or they will quit.

Earn your stripes before you talk about them. It’s painfully obvious to me when someone hasn’t lived through what they are talking about - mastery is critical. I didn’t start publishing content until I was well over 10 years into product building because your audience is a b***sh** detector.

Tip 3: Share your struggle so they don’t have to.
The most valuable thing you can give to your community is in sharing how to avoid the struggle. Give away your hard-won advice to win rapport and trust. Don’t ask for something in return, just give because you want all the boats to rise with your tide. In my top 5 posts, I often shared things I did wrong, or mistakes I learned from to help others avoid them - and those were the most popular posts by far.

Tip 4: Go outside!

In-person events are the unsung hero of community building. Personal connections form stronger bonds than virtual ones. Can’t find an event? Create one. Pitch sponsors, find a venue, and bring your audience together. Leading events like Women in Product has been deeply rewarding for me and Usersnap.

Tip 5: Follow up, but not to sell something.

Nurture your connections over time. A simple “How’s it going?” a month or two after meeting shows you care. But if you follow up with a sales pitch, you’ll erode trust immediately. Keep it genuine, and relationships will flourish.

#7 Launch somewhere (& get online buzz)

Tally, a form-building tool, is a remarkable example of launching a self-serve product in a legacy-dominated market, previously served mainly by Google Forms and Typeform.

Bootstrapped by two founders, Tally prioritized simplicity and a generous free plan to attract over 250,000 users and reach $100K in monthly recurring revenue (MRR). By focusing on product-led growth and engaging actively with their community, they built a loyal user base that became their strongest advocates.

Tally differentiates by offering unlimited submissions for free and charging only for advanced functionalities, combined with an intuitive form builder that works like a text document. Its success underscores the power of user-centric design and organic growth.

Co-founder Marie Martens explains that Product Hunt launches were a very important part of their growth. They first rocked it in 2021 and for the launch of Tally 2.0 in 2023, it again brought them lots of additional online buzz and new users.

Tally’s MRR growth in their first year (source)

#8 Full blown PR

With all the hype around generative AI and large language models (LLMs), the media is hungry for stories about “the next big thing”.

Perplexity, an LLM-powered search engine, is leveraging this trend by strategically using public relations (PR) to grow its presence and compete in the generative AI and search engine space. The company has embraced a high-profile approach, engaging with media and tech communities to highlight its innovative features, such as real-time search capabilities, source citations, and recently even shopping. These capabilities position Perplexity as a credible alternative to Google, especially for users seeking concise, sourced answers and advanced query handling.

Their PR campaigns have amplified both their strengths and their controversies. For example, initial criticism around content attribution was turned into an opportunity to showcase transparency improvements by incorporating source credits and partnerships with news organizations.

For Perplexity, embracing media interest and doubling down on PR is an important driver of user adoption. Their ability to position themselves as a disruptor while maintaining credibility through clear messaging has allowed them to remain relevant despite competition from giants like Google and OpenAI.

Perplexity’s product updates get tons of media coverage (source)

#9 Influencers

Cello is a German B2B SaaS startup that raised 6.3 million € in seed funding. They help you launch referrals on autopilot - for your own product’s users, partners, influencers, and affiliates. In 2024, they have really been dogfooding 🐶.

Their head of marketing and people Philipp Neusser explains:
“As an early-stage company, you can create amazing content, but getting people to actually see it is the hard part. That’s why we work with all-star influencers who have a great product/ target audience fit. They help get our content out there - like featuring it in their Substack - and it also adds trust when people see their known faces on our website. It’s awesome for building brand awareness and, over time, brings in those high-value customers we’re after."

They worked with various top-notch B2B influencers, including Elena Verna, Aakash Gupta, Kyle Poyar, Maxim Poulsen and Kate Syuma, and created lots of long-term content assets with them. Here are some of Cello’s ballpark figures for content collaboration with tier-one influencers:

• Impressions: 60k

• Engagements: 780

• Unique Visits: 360

• Total Leads: 10

• Total Qualified: 4

Thanks so much for the transparency. 🤘

#10 Grab attention [on the streets]

Especially if your message is locally relevant, it makes sense to think beyond digital and consider grabbing attention on the streets, like with billboards or even more guerilla tactics.

These campaigns can have spillover effects in the form of viral posts, and Head of Growth at Rows.com, Henrique Cruz, is a grand master of virality.

When Rows launched their next-generation spreadsheet software in 2022, they bought two digital billboards as close as possible to the Google and Microsoft HQs.

Their goal was to position Rows as the real alternative to Google Sheets and Excel. An important part of the campaign was then to share it on social media.

Physical-to-digital campaign by Rows resulted in lots of social media coverage - as well as 5k new sign-ups (source)

Two years later, the team still hears from new customers about how they first became aware of Rows with this billboard campaign.

#11 Hack a distribution channel

I do not know what French companies eat for lunch 🥖 🇫🇷, but they are among the most subversive and out-of-the-box GTM thinkers. After some heavy thinking, I decided to invite Favikon’s cofounder and CEO Jérémy Boissinot to pitch in and explain how to hack the distribution on LinkedIn.

Favikon is an influencer marketing platform on which you can find, analyze and manage your relationships with influencers. Here is how they hacked LinkedIn:

“Our viral rankings have become a powerful growth engine for Favikon, creating a self-sustaining loop where creators share their achievements, driving organic visibility, while brands subscribe to discover super-niche influencers. This dual-sided strategy not only attracts aspiring creators eager to be featured but also monetizes their ambitions through subscriptions, all while providing actionable insights to brands. By addressing both discovery and visibility needs, we’ve built a platform that maximizes value for creators and brands alike, fueling continuous growth and engagement,” explained Jérémy.

#12 Create a super-fan by over-servicing one customer at a time

Command AI (prev. CommandBar) is an AI-powered user assistance platform. In merely 4.5 years, the team has raised $24.5 million, and in October, Command AI was acquired by Amplitude.

Their product is used by support, product, growth, and marketing teams and embeds into your company’s product. Gusto, Freshworks, Yotpo, Superhuman and, many others use Command AI.

Customer obsession is in the DNA of the company.

Their CEO and co-founder James Evans explains:

“We serviced early customers furiously. We fell into a bit of a trap of trying to be "cute" about it, though — we undertook a lot of brain damage trying to categorize our early customer's requests as "good" requests or not. Were they asking for features we expected to be able to generalize to our other customers and our market? This caused a lot of paralysis.

After a while, we stopped this approach entirely and agreed to just roll out the red carpet for every customer, and reassess quarterly whether we were building toward a coherent product or not. We tried to solve the problem with sales and not product. If we felt like a customer wasn't a good fit, we wouldn't sell to them. But if they were, once we onboarded them, we treated them like royalty 👑.”

The key to exponential growth: Create synergies among GTM actions

You were right all along. There is no magic bullet. It is all about the intelligent orchestration of these tactics. None of them skyrockets your business as a stand-alone action - together, they create epic strategies.

If I had to derive a formula from all these 12 case studies, here is my v01:

Do something extraordinary (attention-worthy)

⬇️

Magnitude it up (attract attention)

⬇️

Harvest attention (capture leads or demand)

⬇️

Push the momentum till it fades. 🌬️

I had quite a challenge selecting the stories for this post.

There were so many good cases.

I decided to use mainly the ones from my network because I could make sure that we are fact-checking the information with CEOs and growth leaders instead of ChatGPT 😏- yeah, call me old school 🤘

What’s next?

This week, I published a guest post on Behind Product Lines Substack. If you’re ready to move from GTM Actions to full-blown GTM Motions, you will find actionable tips on how to select the ones that will work for you. Read it here.

---

I hope you enjoyed this mega-post.

If you have more stories to share, please do so in the comments.

How did you or companies in your network get their first customers?

---

Are you ready to dive deeper and work on your Go-To-Market strategy and execution?

Discover my solutions that support your journey from launching to scaling:

• [BESTSELLER] 🏆 Ready to win: Tackle the most pressing Go-to-Market issues such as selection of ICP, positioning, how to get customers, build teams and select proven ways how to go to market. Book a 90-minute hands-on consultation with Maja, get personalized guidance, a Miro board, and reliable vendor contacts for further work.

  Want to bullet-proof your 2025 strategy? Book a session ($500)

• 🛰️ Explorer: Understand Go-To-Market and develop a winning GTM plan.
  Get best selling GTM Strategist book + 20 frameworks (workshops) + online course ($47). Tested by 7500+ companies

• 🚀 Doer: Leverage the 100-step GTM Checklist tested on 750+ launches with templates (emails, launch plans, posts, landing pages), which will guide you from getting ready to launch to an impactful launch and scaling stage.
  Get the Checklist ($97)

• 💫 Leader: Guide your team to successfully choose ICP (target market), pricing, positioning & selection of best GTM Motion (channels, tactics). GTM Bootcamp includes 5 hours of applicable videos and a personal Miro board.
  Get the Bootcamp ($347)