The Crucial Role of Go-To-Market Strategies for Startups in India

A company without a GTM is a ship without navigation!

7/17/20251 min read

A sign that reads market on top of a building
A sign that reads market on top of a building

Why Start‑ups Must Nail GTM Before Anything Else?

Ever heard the saying, “Build it and they will come”? Unfortunately, it rarely holds. In fact, 90% of startups fail, and 42% cite ‘no market need’ as the reason.

GTM = The Bridge to Real Customers

A Go‑to‑Market (GTM) strategy aligns your product, pricing, messaging, channels, and feedback loops. It answers:

  • Who is your ideal buyer?

  • What problem are you truly solving?

  • How will you reach your early adopters?

  • What metrics define success?

Why Launching Without GTM is Risky?
  • Blind spending: Startups dump money into sales hires, and ads before validating demand. In the UK, startups on average allocate 40% of seed funding to unproven sales strategies.

  • Product-market fit doesn’t equal traction: You may build something people need, but without GTM clarity, you won’t know it.

  • Investor red flags: Founders demonstrating a rock-solid GTM framework are far more likely to secure funding and scale efficiently.

The payoff

Enterprises with effective GTM execution enjoy a 50% greater chance of launch success, and organizations with data-driven GTM overlap see a 32% improvement in performance. For startups, this is not optional—it’s the difference between traction and tumble.

Sources: Elasticity / Stripe / Arisegtm / LinkedIn / The Economic Times / WinSavvy / Medium / Annarborusa