Get Set GTM: Rattle
In our first part of the Get Set GTM series, we have Sahil Aggarwal from Rattle. Rattle is a sales tool used by companies like Rippling, Terminus, Miro, WordPress, Clearbit, and many more.
In this blog we will cover:
1/ GTM Mindset that founders should have in the 0 to 1 journey
2/ Pitfalls to avoid in the early stages
3/ Approach to hiring your GTM team
4/ Metrics to track
5/ Tools that Rattle used in their journey
So let’s dive right in
The GTM Mindset
Here are three things from Rattle’s journey that every founder should think about while approaching GTM:
As a founder, you’re not just building a product, but also a brand
- Both are critically important and need to scale hand-in-hand
- Try to portray yourself bigger than you actually are
- Brand scales non-linearly (Name, Identity, Design all of it)
Build your GTM team where you want to sell.
- In most cases, if your target customer sits in the US. Make sure your GTM team operates out of the US
- Rattle Hired their entire sales team in the US, every single one
Logos. Logos. Logos.
- Social proof is what scales, make sure you win top logos, and top logos early.
- You can’t always control the top of the funnel, so ensure you have solid control over the bottom-of-the-funnel.
Let’s deep-dive into actually how to go execute all 3 aspects mentioned above:
1/ Brand
When building the brand for your company. The easiest heuristic to have is to think about the companies you really admire. For Rattle, it was the likes of Airtable.
Don’t approach your brand as a pure bottoms-up activity, rather think at every step, what would Airtable do to build that brand/ reputation, and then go do that.
Invest in design — Don’t have to do it right away, but make sure when the time comes (this could be after $200K ARR)
Look Bigger than you are — At large events get the booth that the top companies get. It is an additional 30–40% on the entry-level option, but the brand impact is non-linear. Give free merch to be remembered.
2/ Build GTM Teams where you want to sell
In outbound sales, it is important to build relationships, and doing that online is possible (but really tough), and being in the same location as your customer definitely helps.
3/ Logos
Getting your first set of customers (logos), especially in the first stage of your journey can be really challenging. Here are some approaches and short hands that you can leverage:
- Sahil & the founding team would reach out to 100+ folks on Linkedin
- And follow up on email to convert that lead
- This two-pronged approach helped convert a large chunk of the pipeline
An important thing to note is, do not sound salesy in the reachouts. Talk about the customers' problem, be honest that you’re a small company, and make sure that the friction to try out the product is minimal.
Invest in tech stack early to make these reachouts plausible, and use Slintel (+ others), Salesloft, and Sales Navigator to automate and do these reachouts efficiently.
Bonus: Always evaluate your GTM execution as how would the world/ you think about it 5 years from now. Pushes one to be exceptional & innovative.
Pitfalls to Avoid in 0 to 1 GTM
Brand
Don’t outsource it. Don’t avoid it.
Doing one thing well
You don’t have to nail 5 different GTM motions. Do one, but do it really well
Team in just India
We have covered some of this before, but building the right GTM culture is critical
Don’t try to chase revenue on Day 0
Getting customers to pay without trying the product only validates the need for that particular problem to be solved; it does not validate that your solution actually works
Don’t try to win customers on pricing
Be the aspirational tool, not the compromised solution
Don’t underestimate the importance of leveraging logos to build trust
Do your best to make sure that the top logos in the funnel convert. Go above and beyond to make that happen
Don’t tap into your network
High chances of finding false positives (not helpful in the long run)
Hiring your GTM Team
One thing that was absolutely a key to learn was:
- Hire the smartest people (the best in the world)
- Rattle literally hired folks who were customers of Rattle
- Pay what they would make otherwise. Don’t try to find a compromise.
The first person that they hired was a part of the sales team in the US (7–8 months after they started the GTM, post $150–200K in ARR)
Metrics to track in the 0 to 1 GTM journey
In the absolute first part of the journey. Optimize for Output Metrics
More important to get the ball rolling than optimizing for processes and systems.
For Example +ve Replies, Demos Booked, Demos Done, Dollar Booked
But post that, you can then focus on Input Metrics, now the focus has changed
Tools that really helped
One Takeaway
Win on product, brand and culture. Don’t avoid it. Don’t outsource it.
We will be covering more 0 to 1 GTM journeys in our Get Set GTM series. So stay tuned, and let's win at GTM.
