More Related Content Similar to The Foolproof Formula to Product-Market Fit (20) More from Traction Conf (20) 2. © GrowthX Academy© GrowthX Academy
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Intro to GrowthX What’s your next
market milestone?
Who are you
customers?
How do you acquire
customers today?
How do you attract
them?
How do you qualify
them?
How to talk them? SLC + the Role of the
first Market Developer
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Agenda
4. © GrowthX Academy #AccelerateOTT
Why We Launched GrowthX
4© GrowthX Academy #AccelerateOTT
70% of funded startups fail before break
even or next round of funding and 80% of the
reasons are related to markets and people.
Source: CBInsights
...yet many founders remain product focused
7. GrowthX Academy trains individuals who want to level-up or transition into a career in Sales and
Business Development, Growth Marketing or UX Design. Each program is an immersive,
experience located onsite at Galvanize in San Francisco.
Our world-class instructors are entrepreneurs, founders, business owners and investors who teach
the skills, mindsets and frameworks necessary in today’s competitive environment.
Our Programs
Sales & Business
Development
Growth
Marketing
UX
Design
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8. Designed for students that can fully-immerse
themselves in an intensive 12-week program
that meets during the daytime at our San
Francisco campus.
Program Options
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Daytime Program
12 Weeks
Designed for students that are still working
full-time. This 20-week program is offered on
nights and weekends featuring a hybrid
online and in-person option at our San
Francisco campus.
Nights & Weekends Program
20 Weeks
● Full-Time
● In-Person
● Daytime Classes
○ Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm
● Part-Time
● Hybrid In-Person and Online
● Nights and Weekends Classes
○ Tuesday-Thursday 6:00pm-9:00pm
○ Saturday 9:00pm-5:00pm
10. © GrowthX Academy
Technology expensive and complex
Product talent sparse
RISK: Product
The Past
Technology/cost complexity reduced
Product talent plentiful
RISK: Market
Today
vs.
Early-stage capital must produce product-market fit
The Age of Applied Technology
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12. © GrowthX Academy
Business accelerators only perpetuate the problem by helping founders
build their product and raise money, at the expense of helping them market
their product and make money.
Founders remain product-focused
The Problem
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16. © GrowthX Academy
Resource Review
Market Discovery
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Market Results
Phase 1: Market Foundation
The MXP is designed to help
companies develop, test and
validate hypotheses at every
stage of the market
development process.
That means less time and
capital is required to learn
whether and when a company
can achieve product-market
fit.
The Scientific Method
Phase 2: Market Development
Test
Learn
Measure
Validate
No Yes
Scale
Iterate
Hypothesize
Market Acceleration Program
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17. © GrowthX Academy
Market Acceleration Program
The Market Readiness Assessment (MRA) is a self-assessment document given to MXP
companies at the beginning of the engagement. Assessment categories include:
● COMPANY INFO
● CUSTOMERS
● MARKETING
● SALES
● TEAM/RESOURCES
● PRODUCT READINESS AND RESPONSIVENESS
Market Readiness Assessment
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19. © GrowthX Academy
Reverse Engineer
Your Funnel
Determine Your
Next Market
Milestone
Companies
Qualified
Conversations
Opportunities
WINS
Market Acceleration Program
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20. © GrowthX Academy
Market Acceleration Program
Resource Review
Market Discovery
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Market Results
Goal
● Create a roadmap of people, processes and technologies necessary to create and support a functional learning
organization.
Focus
● Resource Review Mapping and Planning: Review the current market development team and skill sets. Preliminary
recommendations to maximize sales throughput and effectiveness.
● Marketing & Sales Process Analysis: Review the current marketing and sales processes. Preliminary recommendations to
optimize by removing any blockers, friction points or bottlenecks that can be eliminated through simple process change.
● Current Marketing & Sales Technology Stack: Review the systems, tools and rules in place today to effectively manage
the market outreach programs. Preliminary recommendations as to whether they should be maintained or replaced.
Outcomes
● A roadmap of the people, processes & technologies required to create and support a functional learning organization.
Phase 1: Market Foundation
Marketing & Sales Process Review Marketing & Sales Process Review
Market Resource Review, Mapping and Planning Talent Roadmap
Marketing & Sales Technology Stack Review Initial Marketing & Sales Stack Assessment
Stage Resource
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Goal
● Understand current customer lifecycle and prioritize to establish the foundation for retention and growth.
● Understand the current customer profile(s), how they’re are acquired, the resulting acquisition costs (CAC) and projected
lifetime value (LTV).
● Understand and define customer acquisition channels, pricing strategy and data acquisition in preparation for Market
Outreach.
Market Acceleration Program
Market Discovery
Resource Review
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Market Results
Phase 1: Market Foundation
Discover Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) ICP Prioritization
Current Account Mapping and Pipeline Review Current Accounts + Pipeline Document
Prioritize Current Pipeline Stack Ranking Pipeline Document
Review Current Customer Journey Customer Journey Map
Review Current UX/UI UX/UI Wireframe (Cargo Chief Example)
Business / Pricing Models Initial Pricing Model Hypothesis
Define Customer Acquisition Strategy Customer Acquisition Strategy
Create Data Acquisition Strategy Data Acquisition Framework
Stage Resource
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Focus
● Current Account Mapping and Pipeline Review: Create comprehensive account and pipeline lists by interviewing
relevant team members, reviewing existing databases, spreadsheets, and email archives.
● Discover Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs): Define ICP(s) and determine the first profile(s) to execute against by
conducting a thorough review of all customer account data, identifying patterns, analyzing revenue potential and
likelihood of winning business.
● Prioritize Current Pipeline: Review the current opportunity pipeline based on new ICP(s) hypotheses. Then conduct a
strategic account review of high priority opportunities.
● Review Current Customer Experience: Review lifecycle of current customer experience, including UX design and
onboarding, by customer segments and product type.
● Business/Pricing Models: Review unit economics to develop rational hypothesis for investable CAC/LTV.
● Define Customer Acquisition Strategy: Based on ICP(s) above, determine what customer acquisition models will be
tested during initial market outreach (e.g. no-touch, light-touch inside, high-touch inside, channel, outside, outside team).
● Create Data Acquisition Strategy: Based on ICP(s) develop recommendations for sourcing prospect data and budget.
Create a process to keep the funnel full.
Outcomes
● A prioritized map of the current customer(s) lifecycle(s).
● A deep understanding of current ideal customer profile(s) (ICP), customer acquisition model(s), average acquisition costs
(CAC) and projected lifetime value (LTV).
Market Acceleration Program
Phase 1: Market Foundation
Market Discovery
Resource Review
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Market Results
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23. © GrowthX Academy
Market Acceleration Program
Phase 1: Market Foundation
Goal
● Develop initial messaging hypothesis designed to attract relevant ICP(s) for each use case.
● Develop a comprehensive market messaging map that aligns messaging to customer acquisition strategy.
Focus
● Conduct Current Customer Interviews: Where appropriate, conduct detailed interviews of current customers to
understand “why they bought” and “how we’re different”.
● Develop Initial Unique Value Proposition (UVP) and Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Frameworks: Develop UVP
(i.e., what we do for them) and USP (i.e., what we do) for each ICP and use case for use in market messaging.
● Develop Initial Attraction Framework: Develop messaging to generate interest and a desire to want to learn more for each
channel to be leveraged during market outreach.
Outcomes
● Initial messaging hypotheses that attract relevant ICP(s) for each use case.
● A comprehensive market messaging map aligning messaging to customer acquisition strategy.
Develop Initial UVP & USP Frameworks UVP / USP Documentation
Conduct Current Customer Interviews Customer Interview Framework Guide
Develop Initial Attraction Framework Market Message Map
Market Discovery
Resource Review
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Market Results
Stage Resource
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Market Acceleration Program
Instrumentation
Phase 1: Market Foundation
Goal
● Implement tools necessary to support the marketing and sales process and measure / validate results.
Focus
● Define Marketing and Sales Funnel: Define and map the integrated marketing and sales funnel, the exit criteria at each
stage and user roles and responsibilities.
● Implement Marketing and Sales Stack: Implement chosen CRM, email outreach, and other marketing and sales
automation tools.
● Validate tracking: Ensure tracking of unit economics through the entire customer lifecycle.
Outcomes
● The tools necessary to support marketing and sales processes, and measure validate results.
Implement Marketing & Sales Technology Stack Marketing and Sales Stack Implementation
Define Marketing and Sales Funnel Marketing and Sales Process Map
Identify Key Metrics & Validate Tracking Financial Productivity Tracking
Market Discovery
Resource Review
Market Messaging
Market Outreach
Market Results
Stage Resource
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Market Acceleration Program
Resource Review
Market Discovery
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Market Results
Phase 2: Market Development
Goal
● Build a portfolio of marketing assets(e.g., demo decks, white papers, email and ad copy, collateral, etc.).
● Create a closed-feedback loop to test messaging across customer acquisition channel(s).
Focus
● Campaign Creation and Execution by Channel: Develop, execute, iterate and optimize outbound marketing campaigns to
drive inbound interest based on the hypothesized ICP’s.
● Create Conversational Framework: Develop a live conversation structure that converts pre-qualified interest into qualified
opportunities.
● Create Opportunity Framework: Develop process and supporting collateral to reduce friction at each stage and increase
funnel velocity and conversion rates.
● Initiate Pipeline Management: Develop a rules-based system to manage and coach the market development team against
a verified pipeline of forecasted new business opportunities.
Create Conversational Framework SPIN Interview Questions + BANT Qualification
Campaign Creation and Execution by Channel Outbound Marketing Campaign Tracker
Optimize Opportunity Framework Opportunity Stages and Supporting Collateral
Initiate Pipeline Management Systems, Tools, Rules for Pipeline Management
Stage Resource
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Market Acceleration Program
Phase 2: Market Development
Outcomes
● A portfolio of marketing assets (e.g., demo decks, white papers, email and ad copy, collateral, etc.).
● A closed-feedback loop to test messaging across customer acquisition channel(s).
Resource Review
Market Discovery
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Market Results
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27. © GrowthX Academy
Market Acceleration Program
Market Results
Phase 2: Market Development
Goal
● Measure and track market response to optimize messaging, outreach and conversion.
● Validate and document all hypotheses made at every step of the market development lifecycle.
● Prepare for scaling people, tools and processes.
Identify and Reduce Friction n/a
Measure Market Response n/a
Implement Product Feedback Loop Documented Product Feedback Loop
Validate and Document Product-Market Fit n/a
Talent Acquisition Framework n/a
Market Acceleration Playbook n/a
Resource Review
Market Discovery
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
Stage Resource
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Market Acceleration Program
Phase 2: Market Development
Focus
● Measure Market Response: Implement a process to pro-actively solicit and collect market feedback. Analyze results of
outreach to refine and optimize attraction, messaging, outreach, conversation, opportunity, and UX frameworks.
● Identify and Reduce Friction: Using feedback identify and reduce friction points in the funnel and increase sales velocity to
shorten sales cycles.
● Validate and Document Product-Market Fit: Validate and Document each hypothesis and phase of the Market
Development Lifecycle.
● Implement Product Feedback Loop: Develop a functioning product feedback loop between the market and product teams
to integrate and prioritize new product feature requests based on real time market feedback.
● Talent Acquisition Framework: A comprehensive recruitment marketing and employment brand strategy complete with
ideal candidate profiles, job descriptions and stage-relevant compensation/incentives structure for every human resource
required to scale each functional role within the market development lifecycle.
● Market Acceleration Playbook: Documentation and training for all systems, tools and processes to enable the marketing,
sales and customer success function to properly execute at scale.
Market Results
Resource Review
Market Discovery
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
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29. © GrowthX Academy
Market Acceleration Program
Phase 2: Market Development
Outcomes
● Optimized messaging, outreach and conversion methods based on measured and analyzed market response.
● Validated and documented hypotheses covering the market development cycle.
● A comprehensive recruitment marketing and employment brand strategy complete with ideal candidate profiles, job
descriptions and stage-relevant compensation/incentives structure for every human resource required to scale each
functional role within the complete market development lifecycle.
● Documentation and training for all people, processes and technologies to enable the marketing, sales and customer success
function to properly execute at scale.
Market Results
Resource Review
Market Discovery
Market Messaging
Instrumentation
Market Outreach
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