Go-to-market,
from first principles
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product sells itself.” — Peter Drucker
GTM Basics is a free, open explainer of go-to-market from first principles — ICP, motions, funnel, and the economics that make growth repeatable.
Part of the GTM World Model. Every concept links to the model's terms, equations, and company teardowns.
Written for founders and operators learning how go-to-market actually works — clear, rigorous, and citable.
Start here
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Customer and problem
Define the outcome buyers need and the accounts that fit.
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Activation and retention
Follow value from first use to continued use.
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Economics
Check what a customer contributes against the cost to acquire and serve them.
v3.3 essentials
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Buying groups
A user, champion, approver and budget owner may be different people. Map who influences the decision and what each needs to accept.
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Retention cohorts
Follow customers who started together through activation, repeat use and renewal. An aggregate rate can hide a weakening new cohort.
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Contribution economics
Compare revenue with the costs to acquire, onboard and serve a customer on the same cohort and time basis; keep cash timing visible.
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AI agents: costs and permissions
Count inference, data, review, failures and maintenance per accepted outcome. Give agents only the actions, data access and spend authority the task permits.
See it in practice
Fictional worked exampleOne GTM plan, worked through
Follow a software company from buyer problem to positioning, motion, activation, retention and contribution. See the assumptions, trade-offs and finished plan.
Read the example → Evidence guideHow to judge a GTM claim
Tell an accounting identity, an assumption, an observed relationship and a causal finding apart — and know which decision each can support.
Read the guide →Browse
Fundamentals
Core go-to-market concepts from first principles — ICP, motions, funnel, economics.
Browse → 2 notesNotes
Practical notes and explainers — sourced, structured, and built to be cited.
Browse → 219 termsGlossary
Every GTM term, each a self-contained citable definition.
Browse →