A well-built go-to-market strategy can shape the growth trajectory of an early-stage company. Yet too often, founders rush into selling without laying the right foundation. The most effective strategies are not reactive. They are intentional, coordinated, and built with scale in mind. Chrisley Ceme, a go-to-market strategist with experience across industries from restaurant tech to SaaS, shares his approach to building strategies that drive sustainable growth and prepare companies for long-term success.
From Restaurant Tech to Go-To-Market Expertise
Chrisley’s path into go-to-market strategy started in an unexpected place: the restaurant industry. He first developed his skills while helping launch Paired, a platform he describes as “similar to Uber, but for restaurant staff, including dishwashers, waiters, and other roles.” In an industry known for high turnover and frequent no-shows, there was a clear need for fast and reliable staffing solutions. That experience taught him how to spot real market pain points and design targeted solutions that meet those needs.
After supporting Pared’s launch in Philadelphia and D.C., Chrisley began working with early-stage companies across a variety of industries. “Go-to-market essentially is about identifying your product’s value to the market and understanding what the market is asking for in terms of messaging,” he explains. His approach focuses on aligning product value with market demand before entering the execution phase, ensuring that every move is both strategic and timely.
Defining the Market Fit
For founders just getting started, Chrisley emphasizes two foundational elements that should be in place before launching any go-to-market strategy. “For starters, you want to have a clear understanding of your ICP and who you need to be talking to,” he says. This means digging deeper than surface-level demographics to truly understand your ideal customer profile and their specific pain points.
The second key element is validating real market demand. “You also want to know whether your product or service is actually solving a need that the people in your target market need addressed,” Chrisley explains. While these ideas may sound straightforward, he points out that many founders skip over them in the excitement of building and go straight into selling. Taking the time to define these fundamentals can make all the difference when it comes to long-term growth.
Three Ways to Actually Accelerate Growth
When it comes to accelerating growth through structured go-to-market strategies, Chrisley recommends three key practices:
Use Data, Not Gut Feelings
Stop making changes based on hunches. “You want to be measuring all the success and failures, if there are failures that you are having, and then figure out what’s the reasoning for those,” Chrisley explains. Whether the issue is messaging, targeting, or product fit, data will reveal the underlying cause. Many founders pivot too quickly without taking the time to understand what went wrong. By tracking everything in your CRM or even a basic spreadsheet, you can base your decisions on facts instead of assumptions.
Align Your Teams or Watch Customers Leave
Marketing, sales, and customer success must work together. “You want to make sure marketing, sales, customer success, if there is that, are all aligned,” Chrisley states. Marketing should message what customers actually want. Sales can’t over-promise what you can’t deliver. Customer success needs to follow through on commitments. When these teams are misaligned, customers churn quickly. Get this right and you’ll “drastically mitigate churn” while creating opportunities for upsells.
Build Content That Validates Your Claims
Content isn’t just marketing fluff. “You absolutely want to have content. Content is king everywhere that makes sense where your audience is,” he emphasizes. When prospects receive cold outreach, they check your website and LinkedIn to validate your claims. Your content must prove what you’re promising in campaigns. Focus on platforms where your audience spends time and create content that backs up your messaging. This builds trust before sales conversations even begin.
Building Your SaaS Structure
Every company has unique needs, but some elements of a go-to-market strategy apply across the board. Content is one of them. “You absolutely want to have content. Content is king wherever your audience is active,” Chrisley emphasizes. Whether it’s LinkedIn, a company website, or platforms like Substack, your content should meet your audience where they are. There’s a strategic reason behind this content-first approach. “What I see happening is that once people get a cold email that is of some interest, they’re clicking on the signature to go to the website or LinkedIn page to validate,” he explains. Your content needs to support and reinforce whatever claims you’re making in outbound campaigns.
Beyond content, Chrisley recommends using multiple outbound channels and lead magnets. He calls this creating “that Amazon shopping cart effect”, building enough touchpoints so you can follow up through newsletters, white papers, or webinars. The goal is to stay top of mind for when prospects are ready to take action. AI tools can help with repetitive tasks, but they’re not a silver bullet. “What I’m currently seeing is people using AI to attempt to shortcut the go-to-market process and have an AI SDR just reaching out to everybody in your ICP,” Chrisley notes. This creates more noise on platforms like LinkedIn without necessarily driving better results.
His solution calls for human oversight. “I do believe that leaders need to have more human management over these AI tools so that you’re not becoming part of the white noise,” he says. Companies need people who understand how to prompt effectively and manage these tools with intention. “You almost need a middle manager for your AI tools so that they’re not making mistakes.” The tools will continue to improve, but thoughtful human oversight remains essential for successful execution.
Follow Chrisley Ceme on LinkedIn for practical go-to-market insights shaped by real startup experience. You can also learn more about the work he does here and aesopco.com
