May, 2023
We @BessemerVP did some work around GTM strategies with the help of our fabulous interns. The data surprised us. Contrary to popular belief, post IPO, the sales strategy that results in higher growth and for which the S&M spend is lower as a percentage of revenue, is "outbound".
However, this doesn't mean that outbound is efficient at the earlier stages. Usually, some distribution hack, such as channel partners or freemium, that helps companies iterate quickly to reach critical mass is important, upon which a subsequent outbound motion can be layered on.
Speaking of “outbound”, I came up with this framework to understand the correlation between market size, competition, market inertia, pipeline growth and win rates. If you’re an early stage company, you want to be on the lower right and subsequently move to the upper right.
@jasonlk has a great article on why it’s natural and even good to have low win rates in the early stages of a company’s lifecycle.
