I've seen more startups fail from a lack of customers than from a lack of features. As engineers, we're wired to solve problems with code. We believe a superior product will win on its own merits. But a product without distribution is just a well-architected hobby project.
The good news? A Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy isn't some mystical marketing art form. It's a system. And as an engineer, you're uniquely qualified to design, build, and optimize systems.
This guide will show you how to think about GTM like a developer: a series of loops, inputs, and outputs that you can build, measure, and iterate on.
Part 1: Reframe the Goal—It's Distribution, Not "Marketing"
Forget the vague notion of "marketing." Your goal is to build a reliable distribution channel. Think of it as an API for your product: you put in effort (content, outreach, ads) and get out a predictable result (signups, demos, customers).
Your job is to find the one or two channels that are most efficient and scalable for your specific product and customer.
Part 2: Your First 10 "Real" Customers
Your friends, family, and ex-colleagues don't count. Your first 10 real customers are strangers who use your product because it solves a painful problem for them, not because they know you.
How to find them? Go to their "watering holes."
Where do your ideal customers hang out online to talk about the problems you solve?
- For Developers: Hacker News, specific subreddits (r/devops, r/reactjs), niche Discord communities, GitHub discussions.
- For Designers: Dribbble, Behance, Figma communities.
- For Marketers: LinkedIn groups, specific Slack communities, marketing Twitter.
Your Action Item:
- Identify the top 3 watering holes for your target customer.
- Spend a week just listening. Don't sell. Identify the recurring pain points and the language people use to describe them.
- When you see a relevant problem, offer genuine help. Not a sales pitch.
Example (What I did for an API product):
"I saw a developer on Hacker News struggling with a problem our API solves. I didn't link our product. I wrote a 3-paragraph response explaining how to solve it manually, and at the end, I said, 'I actually built a small tool to automate this if you want to try it.' That developer became our first paying customer."
Part 3: The Engineer's Sales Pitch (It's Not a Pitch)
The idea of "selling" makes most founders cringe. So don't sell. Help.
You have more credibility than any salesperson because you built the product. Use that to your advantage.
The "Helpful Expert" Framework:
- Find someone with a problem. (See Part 2).
- Offer a solution. Your goal is to be helpful, not to close a deal.
- Show, don't tell. Instead of a sales deck, do a 15-minute screen share where you solve their actual problem with your tool.
- Ask for feedback, not money. End the call with, "Was this useful? What would make it a no-brainer for you to use?" Their answer is your product roadmap and your pricing strategy.
This isn't a sales call; it's a user research session that might end in a sale.
Part 4: Build a Simple Content Flywheel
You don't need a massive blog. Turn your work into your marketing. Every bug fix, feature update, and integration is a piece of content.
The Developer's Content Strategy:
- Write a Technical "How-To" Post: Solve a specific, niche problem related to your product's domain. Example: "How to Reduce Next.js Cold Starts by 70% on Vercel."
- Mention Your Product Casually: At the end of the article, mention how your product solves this problem automatically.
- Share It in Watering Holes: Post your article where your target customers will find it genuinely useful.
- Add a Simple Email Capture: Use a simple form: "Get 3 more tips on improving Next.js performance."
- Connect the Flywheel: Your new users will give you ideas for the next feature, which becomes the next "how-to" post.
This is a system: Build → Write → Share → Listen → Build.
Part 5: Measure What Matters
You can't optimize what you don't measure. As a developer, you live by metrics. Apply the same discipline to your GTM.
Your GTM Dashboard (at minimum):
- Visitors: How many people are discovering you? (e.g., from your blog post).
- Signups (Conversion %): How many visitors start using the product?
- Activation Rate: How many signups complete a key action (e.g., create their first project)?
- Paying Customers (Conversion %): How many activated users convert to paid?
Your goal is to find the bottleneck and fix it. Is your blog not getting visitors? Share it more. Are visitors not signing up? Clarify your value proposition on the homepage.
Your First GTM System
Building a go-to-market strategy is just like building software. Start with an MVP, get user feedback, and iterate relentlessly. Your technical skills are your greatest asset—apply them to distribution, and you'll build not just a great product, but a great business.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Do I need a marketing co-founder? A: Not necessarily at the pre-seed stage. It's more important that you, the founder, learn the basics of distribution first. This will help you know what to look for when you do eventually hire a marketing lead.
Q: How much should I spend on ads or marketing? A: As close to $0 as possible initially. Founder-led sales and organic content are free and provide the most learning. Don't spend money on ads until you have a proven, repeatable funnel.
Q: What is the most common GTM mistake technical founders make? A: Waiting for the product to be "perfect" before talking to users. Your first users are not buying a perfect product; they are buying into your vision and your ability to solve their problem. Start selling from day one.