Listen now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple.
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Maja Voje is the author of Go-To-Market Strategist and founder of Growth Lab, both of which build on her experience with 400+ launches across hundreds of companies.
Here’s some of my takeaways from this week’s episode…
1/ 🎯 Early Customer Profile > Ideal Customer Profile
• Your first 50 customers won't be your ideal ones - and that's OK
• Focus on finding customers with: burning pain points, willingness to pay now, adjacency to ideal customers, and low barriers to entry
• Start with segments you can actually access and understand, then move upmarket
2/ 🧪 Test, Don't Guess
• Run actual experiments instead of endless analysis
• Use ads to test messaging even before website traffic
• Test one variable at a time (positioning, pricing, etc.)
• When in doubt, talk to 5-10 customers
3/ 💰 Price for Value, Not Competition
• Capture 20-30% of the value you create
• Start with competitor benchmarking if needed
• For AI products, benchmark against human alternatives
• Don't waste time finding the "perfect" price before having customers
4/ 🎥 Social Proof is Your Best Bet
• Real customer testimonials matter more than ever in the AI era
• Record testimonials at events when possible
• Focus on showing authentic enthusiasm and results
• Use this as your first major testing variable
5/ 🔄 Seven Go-to-Market Motions
• Inbound (content, organic)
• Paid acquisition
• Outreach/sales
• Community building
• Account-based marketing
• Product-led growth
• Events/partnerships
6/ 📞 Cold Outreach Still Works
• Use data enrichment for mass personalization
• Reference specific details about prospects
• Start with warm outreach on LinkedIn
• Focus on adding value before pitching
7/ 🎮 Make Products "Perfect Enough"
• For AI products, go beyond bare MVP
• Focus on core value delivery
• Ensure first impression drives retention
• Test with high-touch onboarding initially
8/ 📈 When to Add New Channels
• When seeing diminishing returns in primary channel
• When introducing new products/price points
• When entering new market segments
• Consider hiring experts vs learning yourself
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Where to find Maja Voje:
Maja’s free GTM checklist: https://gtmstrategist.com/gtm-checklist
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/majavoje/
X: https://x.com/majavoje
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In this episode, we cover:
00:00 Introduction to Go-To-Market Strategies
01:39 Shifts in Go-To-Market Approaches
07:14 Identifying Product-Market Fit
12:16 Understanding Customer Profiles
16:54 Case Study: Loom's Customer Profile
23:17 Overcoming Analysis Paralysis
31:13 The Power of Cold Outreach
42:19 Pricing Strategies for Startups
47:13 Proof of Product-Market Fit
53:06 Handling Failure and Learning
56:38 Structuring Experiments for Results
01:01:32 When to Level Up Growth Strategies
01:05:12 Lightning Round: Quick Decisions
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Obligatory disclaimer: I've worked at YouTube and Google for about a decade in various marketing teams. Nothing I say in my personal spaces is necessarily endorsed by them.
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