pm-gtm-plan

Start by confirming validated demand: real customers who paid, used the product repeatedly, and whose buying reasons you can explain. Then diagnose your maturity stage and do only that stage's work, such as founder-led direct selling at Level 1, before adding channels or partnerships.

A launch plan is a fixed one-time checklist of announcements and campaigns. A GTM strategy is a living system of five interlocking components (customers, channels, pricing, timing, partnerships) that is revisited as the company grows and the market shifts.

Add a second channel only after mastering one primary channel, as a tested experiment layered on a proven motion. Running multiple channels with limited resources runs all of them poorly, and a second channel should start before the first shows strain.

Use direct channels for high-ticket, complex, relationship-driven sales where learning and margin control matter. Add indirect channels like resellers, affiliates, or marketplaces only after the direct motion is understood and demand is proven, since distributors require existing demand.

Common causes are stage-skipping (applying a mature company's playbook too early), ignoring timing conditions like seasonality and B2B budget cycles, funnel-forcing buyers on the company's schedule, and using partnerships as a shortcut to fix a broken sales motion.