Get your first ten customers

No brand, no referrals, no budget. Work out who to talk to, what to say, and how to close.

4 steps, 16 questions underneath, read for leading a gtm team

1. 1
   Who you sell to

   Picking a customer worth chasing, and knowing early when a deal is not one.

   How do I get the team to actually use the ICP instead of nodding at a slide and then doing what they want? 4 → Should we sell to Indian SMBs, Indian enterprises, or skip India and go straight at US buyers? 5 → We are a marketplace with buyers on one side and sellers on the other. Which side is the ICP? 4 → We are winning in one segment. When is it right to add a second ICP, and how do I know we are not just bored? 4 →
2. 2
   Positioning and messaging

   Making a buyer understand in one sentence why you exist and why you are the one to pick.

   We are changing our positioning. How do I roll it out without breaking the pipeline mid-quarter? 4 → Do we need to create a new category, or should we position inside one that already exists? 4 → We have three products now. Do we message them separately or tell one platform story? 5 → We sell in India, the US and the Gulf. How much should the messaging actually change per market? 4 →
3. 3
   Outbound that works

   Cold email, cold calls, LinkedIn, sequences and lists. How to start conversations with people who have never heard of you.

   When do I hire SDRs, and how many AEs can one SDR feed? 4 → Should my outbound team sit in India while my buyers are in the US? 5 → We handed outbound to AI and reply rates fell. Where does AI actually help, and where does it backfire? 4 → We are going from two reps to ten. How do I scale outbound without it turning into spam? 3 →
4. 4
   Running a sales process and closing

   Discovery, demos, qualification, champions, procurement and the last mile to a signature.

   How do I turn random wins into a sales process someone else can run? 4 → When do I hire a VP of Sales, and what happens to me after I do? 3 → Security reviews keep stalling my deals. What do I actually need, and when should I get it? 4 → How do I put a deal desk and discount approvals in place without slowing everything down? 3 →