How to create a go-to-market plan: the momentum filter method

<p>You have a product. It works. You are ready to launch, but the typical Go-to-Market (GTM) plan feels like a 50-page binder designed for a Fortune 500 company. It asks for market sizing, competitor matrices, and channel roadmaps—all things you lack the time and budget to execute or even research properly.</p> <p>The conventional wisdom about GTM planning assumes you already have a well-oiled marketing machine. It’s advice for scaling, not surviving. For early-stage founders, a complex GTM plan is not a map; it is a delay mechanism. It guarantees inertia.</p> <p>The brutal truth: Your first GTM plan shouldn't seek perfection. It should seek immediate, profitable momentum. You aren't trying to capture the entire market; you are trying to capture the first ten paying customers who love your solution enough to tolerate the bugs.</p> <p>This is where we ignore the noise. We introduce the <strong>Momentum GTM Filter</strong>: a three-step decision framework that ruthlessly eliminates every marketing activity that doesn't generate immediate, high-quality customer feedback and clear revenue signals. It is a system built for builders who value execution over elaborate documentation.</p> <p>TL;DR: A founder’s go-to-market plan is not a document of intentions, but a concise test plan to validate your core pricing, positioning, and distribution hypotheses.</p> <p><em>Short on time? Scroll to The Go-to-Market Builder section for a simple copy-paste prompt.</em></p> <h2>How to create a go to market plan using the Momentum GTM Filter method in three steps</h2> <p>Most GTM plans fail because they treat marketing as a sequential checklist. But for a startup, marketing is about concurrent risk reduction. You need to validate what you sell, who you sell it to, and where you find them—all at once, with limited resources.</p> <p>The Momentum GTM Filter focuses on what you can launch and measure in the next 30 days, not the next year. It forces commitment to action over endless planning.</p> <h3>The Filter, Step 1: Commit to the Minimal Viable Customer (MVC)</h3> <p>Conventional GTM planning starts with broad market segmentation. You are told to define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) across demographics, firmographics, and psychographics. This is analysis paralysis waiting to happen.</p> <p>When you are pre-revenue, you don't need an ICP. You need an MVC: the smallest, most accessible group of users who desperately need your solution right now and have the budget to pay for it immediately. This is a behavioral segment, not a demographic one.</p> <p>For example, if you build a tool for managing cloud infrastructure costs, your MVC isn't "small tech companies." It's "CTOs at Series A-funded startups who just finished a round, noticed their AWS bill doubled, and are now frantically searching for a solution on Hacker News." They have a burning problem and capital in hand.</p> <p>Your job in the GTM is to target that acute pain. You are allowed to ignore anyone else for the next quarter. <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-define-your-target-audience">Defining your target audience</a> this narrowly allows you to focus your limited resources for maximum impact.</p> <p>Action: Spend 60 minutes writing a single, hyper-specific paragraph describing the MVC’s most painful, time-sensitive problem that your product solves. Stop generalizing.</p> <h3>The Filter, Step 2: Define Your Single-Sentence Wedge Position</h3> <p>The positioning section of a typical GTM plan is where good products go to die. It asks you to craft mission statements and value pyramids. You don't need poetry; you need a weapon.</p> <p>The Wedge Position is a one-sentence statement that drives a wedge between your product and the nearest existing solution, making your target customer feel slightly incompetent for still using the old way. It must be specific, outcome-driven, and slightly confrontational.</p> <p>Ask yourself: What is the sharpest, most painful difference between what we do and what people tolerate now? Your <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/positioning-strategy-for-founders">positioning strategy for founders</a> must be this direct.</p> <p>A Wedge Position Example: Instead of, "We offer better project management." Try, "We are the project management tool that prevents scope creep by automatically flagging budget violations before they happen." This isn't just a feature; it's a specific, measurable outcome that reframes the entire market.</p> <p>Permission to ignore conventional advice: Forget the fluffy "Value Proposition Canvas" for now. Boil it down to a single sentence that, when read aloud, makes your MVC nod and say, "Wait, why am I still dealing with that?"</p> <p>Action: Write three different Wedge Position sentences. Share them with three potential customers and ask which one makes them pause. The one that triggers a "tell me more" is your winner.</p> <h3>The Filter, Step 3: Implement the "Two Channel Blitz" Test</h3> <p>The distribution section of standard GTM documents demands a complex channel roadmap: SEO, paid ads, content marketing, partnerships, etc. This is how early-stage founders get spread thin and achieve zero results across eight different platforms.</p> <p>The Two Channel Blitz Test mandates focusing 90% of your GTM energy on just two channels for the first 30-90 days: one high-intent channel and one high-feedback channel.</p> <p>High-Intent Channel: Where customers are actively searching for a solution (e.g., specific forums, targeted LinkedIn groups, niche industry directories). You know they have the problem. Example: Posting a comprehensive "how-to-fix-this-exact-pain" guide on Reddit, tailored to your MVC.</p> <p>High-Feedback Channel: Where you can have direct, fast conversations to refine your messaging and pricing (e.g., 1-on-1 sales calls, in-person demos, or dedicated Slack channels). You need to hear the "Yes, but..."</p> <p>The key to <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/startup-marketing-fundamentals">startup marketing fundamentals</a> is not spreading your resources. It’s about creating a feedback loop. High-intent brings the problem; high-feedback clarifies your solution.</p> <p>Reframe: You are not launching a product; you are launching a testing engine. Every rejection, every stalled sign-up, is data that refines your <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-build-a-marketing-strategy">marketing strategy</a>.</p> <p>Action: Based on your MVC, name two specific communities or platforms (e.g., "The official Slack for SaaS developers" and "a specific Subreddit about B2B cold emailing"). Commit to daily activity in these two places for the next week.</p> <h3>GTM Measurement: The Velocity Metric</h3> <p>The typical GTM plan tracks vanity metrics like website traffic or impressions. These metrics don't matter if they don't convert. For your first GTM, focus solely on the Velocity Metric.</p> <p>The Velocity Metric is the speed at which a prospect moves from initial contact to first payment. It is a combination of quantity and speed. If you are generating 10 leads but they take 90 days to close, your GTM plan is failing. If you generate 3 leads and they close in 3 days, you have momentum.</p> <p>You can achieve a small win today by simply defining what "Fast" means. For a $50/month SaaS product, maybe "Fast" is 7 days from first site visit to paid subscription. Everything you do—your ad copy, your demo script, your pricing—must be optimized to reduce that time. This is more actionable than maximizing funnel volume.</p> <h2>The Go-to-Market Builder Prompt</h2> <p>Use this prompt to generate the foundation of your Momentum GTM plan by prioritizing the fastest paths to validation.</p> <p>Copy-Paste Prompt:</p> <pre> Act as a hyper-focused GTM strategist for an early-stage startup. My product is [YOUR PRODUCT], and it solves [THE SINGLE MOST PAINFUL PROBLEM] for my Minimal Viable Customer (MVC), who is [DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MVC AND THEIR BEHAVIOR]. I currently use [COMPETITOR/STATUS QUO]. Generate the following three deliverables:1. Wedge Position: A single, outcome-driven sentence that makes my MVC question why they are still using the status quo. 2. Two-Channel Blitz: Identify one High-Intent Channel and one High-Feedback Channel where I should dedicate 90% of my time for the next 30 days. Be specific (e.g., "r/sysadmin," not "Reddit"). 3. Velocity Metric Target: Propose a target timeframe for conversion velocity (from first contact to first payment) and list the single biggest blocker in the conversion process I need to eliminate.Do not use metaphors. Focus on tactical execution. </pre> <p>Example Output:</p> <p>1. Wedge Position: Stop manually reconciling payment data; our tool automatically locks your books within 12 hours of the month's end, guaranteeing you pass an audit without touching a spreadsheet.</p> <p>2. Two-Channel Blitz: High-Intent Channel: The "Fintech Founders" private Slack channel. High-Feedback Channel: Weekly one-on-one "compliance consultation" calls with prospects identified on LinkedIn.</p> <p>3. Velocity Metric Target: 10 days. Biggest Blocker: Pricing page complexity. Simplify to 2 clear tiers.</p> <p>This is one of countless interconnected prompts within the LiftKit system designed to make GTM feel like a clear, deterministic system.</p> <hr> <h2>FAQ</h2> <p>The path to GTM success is often paved with confusion. Here are common questions early founders face when trying to simplify their launch.</p> <h3>Q: How is this different from a <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/marketing-plan-vs-strategy">marketing plan vs strategy</a>?</h3> <p>A: A marketing plan outlines all the activities (content, ads, social media, etc.). The GTM plan, especially at the startup stage, is the initial deployment strategy focused only on achieving product-market fit signal and early revenue. Your GTM is phase one; the broader marketing plan is phases two through ten. GTM is about the first 30 days; the strategy informs the next 3 years.</p> <h3>Q: Should I wait until my product is perfect to launch my GTM?</h3> <p>A: No. Your GTM should launch when your product is minimally viable and solves a single, urgent problem for your MVC. Waiting for perfection is a fatal mistake. The GTM is a learning phase. If you wait, you miss crucial feedback that informs what "perfect" actually looks like. <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/marketing-strategy-for-startups">Marketing strategy for startups</a> is always a moving target.</p> <h3>Q: My product is complex. How can I possibly use only two channels?</h3> <p>A: The complexity of your product means you must be ruthless about where you spend attention. Focusing on a "Two Channel Blitz" allows you to achieve fluency in your messaging. You get ten times the data from two intense, targeted channels than from passively listing on ten different directories. The GTM goal is to validate your core hypothesis, not to scale distribution immediately. Once the hypothesis is validated (you have paid users), you can think about <a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-choose-marketing-channels">how to choose marketing channels</a> for broader scale.</p> <hr> <h2>Start running operator-grade marketing in under an hour.</h2> <p>LiftKit is the only strategy-first AI marketing system built for founders. It distills the same Fortune-500 frameworks used at Apple, Stripe, and McKinsey into a simple, actionable playbook you can run in under an hour.</p> <p>Stop tinkering with tactics. Start operating with strategy.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://getliftkit.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get LiftKit</a></strong></p> <h2>Keep learning</h2> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/frameworks" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Frameworks</strong></a>: Learn proven mental models to diagnose, prioritise, and scale marketing outcomes.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/channels" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Channels</strong></a>: Understand which acquisition paths actually work and how to deploy them strategically.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/messaging" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Messaging</strong></a>: Build positioning, angle, and copy that converts without guesswork.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/strategy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Strategy</strong></a>: Make smarter decisions using operator-grade prompts and structured thinking.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/tools" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Tools</strong></a>: Use AI, automation, and practical templates to move faster.</p> <p><a href="https://learn.getliftkit.com/research" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Research</strong></a>: Tap into market insights, psychology, and patterns that drive effective marketing.</p> <script type='application/ld+json'> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "How to create a go-to-market plan: the momentum filter method", "description": "How to create a go to market plan using the Momentum GTM Filter method in three steps", "articleSection": "learn", "keywords": "how to create a go to market plan, go-to-market, launch, strategy", "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "LiftKit" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "LiftKit" }, "url": "https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-create-a-go-to-market-plan", "mainEntityOfPage": "https://learn.getliftkit.com/learn/how-to-create-a-go-to-market-plan" } </script>