Early Stage Founders
Building your base and intermediate camps before the ascent
When climbing a mountain, the main camp you set up at the foot of the mountain is called the base camp and is the main hub for accommodation, resources, communications and help. Depending on the mountain and the route, climbers may also establish intermediate camps higher on the mountain to rest, acclimatise, and stage further ascents.
Founders need a staged growth plan
As founders of a tech start-up ourselves, we experienced the need for a base camp, and the impacts of not having one early on. We navigated around this by iterating our business plan, building a solid base camp and restarting our ascent. This experience inspired us to build the SUM Framework, to capture knowledge and practical options to navigate the journey in a consistent way and to ensure the stages that follow integrate with earlier ones.
Think of each stage, from ideation through to each investment stage (seed, series A, etc.) as a set of camps that have been built in advance to ease the journey. When planning the journey we can help with the necessary thinking, as well as build a detailed plan of activities, required resources and determine the funding needs to implement them. We base this thinking around your specific idea, the experience and make up of the founding team, your investments to date and any other personal views and expectations you have as founders.
Our startup focused products & services
Our core products are shown below and include the GTM Accelerator which is focused on the earlier life of a company and includes these stages: ideation, Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A funding. Since most of our products are based on the SUM Framework we will scan the whole framework for your particular needs during our GTM Assessment engagement, but with more of a focus on the GTM Accelerator modules.
Our products for more advanced companies (typically post Series A funding) are GTM Growth and GTM Advance.
We offer the following products to early stage companies:
- GTM Assessment
This is a detailed assessment of your idea/business plan and what GTM progress you have made and what you need going forward. It’s therefore the natural start of our journey with you. This product has a low entry cost and will deliver a report with actional deliverables and a proposal for how we can deliver further GTM transformation and planned growth over time. - GTM Accelerator
This is our main product offering focused on early stage companies. It is based on the SUM Framework and focused on elements that are typically needed in early stages up to Series A. GTM Accelerator implements a strong platform for growth post Series A funding, with repeatable and reliable GTM processes and revenue forecasting to support future investment rounds. - GTM-as-a-Service
This offering enables you to access any of our GTM Solutions for an agreed, fixed monthly amount. We understand that early stage can mean limited budget and this offering allows you to progress your GTM based on an agreed and affordable monthly payment for some key GTM areas that are a priority for your particular circumstances. It is still based on the GTM Accelerator product and aligns with what you need as an early stage start-up. - GTM BOSS
Our client portal has a wide range of powerful features to facilitate collaboration with our team on projects, as well as provide operational systems cover for early start-ups or where a particular project needs to be run outside of your company’s systems. - Consulting
We can engage on a project by project basis with our consulting offering which delivers against a specific documented scope of work and is generally offered on a fixed-fee basis if the scope is significantly detailed. - Fractional
We can provide a person on an agreed timetable (e.g. x days per week for y months) to deliver GTM leadership, sales team management, etc. This is ideal if you’re not sure how to proceed with GTM and you’re missing a founder with this experience. This person can provide ad-hoc guidance to the founding team, manage the pipeline and interact with customers and prospects, without the commitment to full-time employment.
Engagement options
An ascent needs a plan, a guide book with expectations, needs and actions for each stage. We produce this by performing a GTM Assessment with your key team members and then providing you with a prioritised GTM action plan, including immediate actions and remediations as well as proposals for future activities. The GTM Assessment is built around the SUM Framework ensuring the outputs from the process are future growth safe.
The Framework includes the dependencies for each module of work we undertake. While this ensures we’re not building without a solid foundation (or climbing on without a camp in sight), we will always work to your priorities – but in a safe and transparent process.
Option 1: let’s meet and size the project, potential costs and agree a plan.
Our first meeting is always free of charge, so there’s no reason not to engage us immediately if you have an urgent need. A face to face session with a whiteboard is ideal since it’s a good format for idea exchange and getting to know each other in a collaborative environment.
If you would like to book a free discovery meeting, request one here.
Option 2: let’s talk about the options, your needs and our services.
If you’re still not sure how we can help and would like a call first, please request one here. We’re happy to discuss any GTM issues and requirements and we can explain which of our GTM Solutions is the best place to start, or perhaps help with a specific GTM requirement via a consulting exercise or fractional engagement.
Option 3: just go straight to the assessment.
If you have an urgent need and want to accelerate our support we can move straight to a GTM Assessment. Fill in the form below and we will respond with a priced quotation (including our terms) and explain the assessment process, timetable and outputs.
Request a GTM Assessment
Let’s build a plan together
Please provide as much detail as possible, including:
- A website URL if you have one or your LinkedIn page.
- A summary of your business including stage of development, any current issues/blockers, your GTM strategy, which industries you operate in, etc.
- Your current and planned funding needs.
- Any other information or questions you have can be entered in the Message box.
We will provide more details by email and request any further information/documentation as necessary to allow us to provide a formal proposal for delivering the GTM Assessment.
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