Find your go-to-market starting point (and what to do next)

Recently, I was working with three different founders in my portfolio — each in a different industry, each building something thoughtful and mission-driven.

All three were feeling stuck.

Despite their intelligence, effort, and customer conversations…nothing was clicking. Marketing experiments were inconclusive. Sales felt inconsistent. Product feedback was vague. As I coached them through this, a pattern emerged: they were all stuck for the same reason.

• They weren’t actually clear on: whom they solve what problem for.

• Worse? They did not even realize this was their blocker.

The reason clarity on this one question matter is that it informs how you position your solution as an obvious choice, and determines your go-to-market playbook: where and how you’ll find, engage, and convert strangers into dream customers, on repeat.

Basically, if you don’t have clarity on this question, you’re going to keep spinning your wheels.

And in my experience helping over 80 founders design their go-to-market strategy and land their first customers, this is the most common hidden blocker.

Many founders think they have clarity on whom they serve and what problem they solve, but when we look closely, both the "who" and the problem definition are far too general.

I have realized this stems from the reality that it is deeply difficult to know if you are answering that question clearly enough.

How to Know If You're Actually Clear

So how do you know if you’re actually clear? Here’s the gut check:

✅ You can describe who you serve in one sentence
✅ You can describe what problem you solve in one sentence
✅ You're seeing consistent new paying customers who:

• Share similar characteristics and pain points

• Buy for the same core reasons

• Require the same messaging and sales approach

• Find you the same way, on repeat

If you're not seeing that pattern yet, you don't have clarity. That's okay.

This type of clarity is what I call a replicable happy paying customer segment. It is not sufficient to have 10 customers. Instead, we want 10 who are similar to each other, buying from you for the same reason, and finding you the same way. That replicability is critical, and it will only come from clarity.

Clear vs. unclear examples for illustrative purposes:

The 4 Most Common Starting Points

Now that you know what clear vs. unclear looks like. Pause to do a self-assessment. Which of the following four is your current starting point?

Let’s walk through what each starting point looks like — and how to move forward from there.

Starting Point 1: Both Clear (WHO + WHAT are clear)

What this looks like: You know exactly who you serve and what specific problem you solve for them. You have conviction about both your customer and their primary pain point. That conviction comes from consistent early adoption from similar types of people for the same use case.

Examples:

• Slack: Helped modern teams streamline internal communication and escape email chaos.

• Airbnb: Offered budget travelers access to affordable, local lodging.

• Uber: Gave urban professionals a faster, more reliable alternative to taxis.

Your next focus:
Double down on finding your go-to-market playbook - how to find, engage, and convert strangers into your dream customers. Run micro-tests until you see consistent traction with one playbook.

How to go deeper:

• Test sub-segments within your market for higher-urgency variations.

• Refine your positioning to be more specific about the exact pain you solve.

• Scale what's working with consistent messaging and playbooks.

Starting Point 2: Customer Clear (WHO is clear, WHAT is general)

What this looks like: You're committed to a specific customer type but aren't yet sure which of their pain points to focus on.

Examples:

• QuickBooks: Focused on small business owners (non-accountants), then narrowed in on bookkeeping before expanding.

• Mindbody: Targeted wellness studios but tested whether to solve scheduling, payments, marketing, or client management, and landed on scheduling.

Your next focus: Run research-sales calls to iteratively test positioning aligned with each problem you want to solve to see which one converts.

How to test effectively:

• Map all possible pain points your customer faces.

• Rank by urgency, frequency, willingness to pay, and other criteria you know.

• Run 10-100 iterative research-sales calls and track willingness to pay.

• Test specific problem-focused messaging.

• Transition conversations to sales.

Starting Point 3: Problem Clear (WHAT is clear, WHO is general)

What this looks like: You know what problem you solve, but you're unsure who values it most. Multiple segments could benefit, but they differ in urgency, willingness to pay, and how they buy.

Examples:

• Calendly: Scheduling without email ping-pong. Target market could have been salespeople, recruiters, or consultants.

• Figma: Real-time design collaboration. Could serve freelancers, agencies, or enterprises.

• DocuSign: Electronic signatures. Used by legal, HR, sales, real estate.
  

Your next focus: Run research-sales calls to discover which customer segment your problem resonates with deeply enough to result in consistent happy paying customers.

How to test effectively:

1. List potential segments who could have this problem.

2. Revisit your list to make sure you’re being clear and specific.

3. Prioritize using a decision framework (urgency, access, willingness to pay).

4. Run research-sales calls for each as outlined under starting point 3.

Pro tip: You have two options:

1. Pick one segment and see if you can reliably reach and convert them to (in)validate it.

2. Pick 2–3 segments to compare side by side, but know this is more work. Each segment needs its own tailored positioning and playbook on how you find and engage them. Most founders underestimate this. I usually recommend picking one to start so you can discover how specific each segment’s needs really are.

Starting Point 4: Exploring Both (WHO and WHAT are general)

What this looks like: You have a broadly applicable solution. You may see scattered interest but no clear pattern. Every customer conversation feels different, and no two buyers look alike.

Examples:

• Airtable: Can be used for project tracking, CRMs, content calendars, or inventory management.

• Notion: Can be a doc tool, database, or wiki across teams, individuals, and industries.

Caution: These tools became successful later. But most early-stage founders who stay here get stuck. Unless you already have strong distribution or funding, it's far better to lock in either your customer or your problem so you can learn faster.

Your next focus: Lock in either customer or problem and follow the steps for that starting point scenario.

How to get unstuck:

• Create a matrix of possible customers vs. problems.

• Identify the most promising 3–5 combinations.

• Choose one dimension to lock in and test from there.

What to Do Next

Depending on where you are, here’s what to do:

Both Clear

• Focus: Double down on your GTM playbook.

• How: Run micro-tests until you see consistent traction.

Customer Clear

• Focus: Iteratively test positioning to see which one converts.

• How: Run research-sales calls.

Problem Clear

• Focus: Discover the customer with whom your problem resonates.

• How: Run research-sales calls to find consistent traction. If not, pivot.

Exploring Both

• Focus: Lock in either customer or problem.

• How: Use the exercises above to narrow in and take the next step.

Want help figuring this out faster?

Here are three ways I can support you:

• GTM Design Pack — a self-guided version of my go-to-market framework

• Founder-Led Marketing Club — high-touch coaching in a small group setting

• 1:1 GTM Booster — private support for founders who want direct guidance