How to develop a go-to-market strategy

In our previous whitepaper, “How to Validate Ideas and Build New Businesses,” we summarized our venture building process. In it, we described how leveraging the Design Thinking and Lean Startup methodologies leads to new ideas that can be developed and brought to market quickly. 

However, statistics show that 90% of all startups fail, and 95% of innovation projects of corporates and Mittelstand companies never reach substantial acceptance in the market. The main reason for that is (corporate) startup teams lack the ability to develop and execute a Go-to-Market strategy effectively.

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Definition and Building Blocks

There is no general definition of the Go-to-Market strategy to begin with. Some sources focus on marketing and sales activities exclusively, while others include the value proposition and target customers. From our experience developing Go-to-Market strategies for different use cases, we have learned it is essential to factor in the product and customer dimension into strategic thinking when launching new products or services. That is why we follow a more holistic approach when we execute Go-to-Market strategies at wattx.  

Before we dive deeper into the WHO, WHAT and HOW, we want to introduce how crucial a company’s vision, mission, and values are in developing a Go-to-Market strategy.

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Vision:

A vision statement describes the desired future position of your company.

Mission: 

A mission statement defines your company’s business, the objectives, as well as the approach to reach those objectives.

Values:

Your company values are the beliefs, philosophies, and principles that drive the collaboration culture in your business.

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At wattx, we believe that the concept of vision, mission, and values is very important for individuals within the company who prefer to have a sense of purpose and goals to work towards. In an ideal situation, your Go-to-Market strategy reflects your company's vision and mission, aligns with your employees' expectations and ensures successful strategy execution. Once you are aware of this alignment, you work on the WHO, WHAT, and HOW. We will tell you how.