Viable’s Three-Phase GTM Evolution: From Investor Networks to Content Engine

Building a go-to-market strategy for a new enterprise category isn’t about finding the perfect approach – it’s about evolving through the right phases at the right time. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Daniel Erickson revealed how Viable progressed from initial investor introductions to a scalable content engine.

Phase 1: The Investor Network Foundation

The first phase of Viable’s GTM strategy leveraged their investor relationships, which Daniel considers “probably the best way to sort of get your flywheel going.” This approach wasn’t just about easy introductions – it was about building credibility through association.

The investor network phase helped Viable accomplish three critical objectives:

1. Getting initial validation from respected enterprises
2. Learning how to sell to large organizations
3. Understanding the true scope of enterprise feedback challenges

This phase revealed that “80% of data that is collected by companies today is unstructured text” – an insight that would shape their entire go-to-market narrative.

Phase 2: Targeted Outreach

With initial validation from investor-introduced customers, Viable moved to systematic outreach. The key was “specifically looking at the companies that were working already with us and then trying to figure out like, okay, who is the actual buyer here, who are the users, what’s our best way in.”

This phase focused on three key elements:

1. Identifying the right buyer personas within organizations
2. Understanding the buying process from existing customers
3. Developing repeatable outreach strategies

The transition trigger from Phase 1 to Phase 2 came when they could articulate clear patterns in successful deals. They discovered that product teams were their primary buyers because “Product tends to be the team that needs these insights from those other teams.”

Phase 3: The Content Engine

The most scalable phase of Viable’s GTM evolution came through content marketing, achieving “about 50% month over month increase in website traffic just from our content initiatives.” This wasn’t just about creating more content – it was about addressing the education challenge inherent in category creation.

As Daniel explains, “When you’re creating something new and you’re on sort of the forefront of what’s possible, you don’t have all of that sort of framework built out for you within your target customers.” Content became their primary tool for market education.

Knowing When to Transition

Each phase transition was triggered by specific signals:

Phase 1 to Phase 2 Triggers:

• Clear understanding of buyer personas
• Repeatable sales process with investor-introduced customers
• Ability to articulate customer pain points in their language

Phase 2 to Phase 3 Triggers:

• Proven ability to reach and close customers outside investor network
• Clear content themes emerging from sales conversations
• Established framework for explaining category value

Building for Category Creation

What makes Viable’s GTM evolution particularly interesting is how it aligned with their category creation goals. “There are certain investors out there that are looking for category creators because category creators tend to be, if not winner take all, winner take most for these things,” Daniel notes.

Each phase built on the previous one:

• Phase 1 established credibility and initial proof points
• Phase 2 developed repeatable sales processes and buyer understanding
• Phase 3 created scalable market education

Future Evolution

The content engine isn’t the final phase – it’s the foundation for what Daniel calls “generative analysis,” focused on “tying company goals back to customer feedback and helping you use customer feedback to achieve those company goals.”

Framework for Founders

For founders building enterprise AI companies, Viable’s evolution offers a clear framework:

1. Start with credibility through association
2. Use early wins to develop systematic outreach
3. Scale through content once you can articulate clear value
4. Let each phase inform and strengthen the next
5. Align GTM evolution with category creation goals

The meta-lesson? Go-to-market strategy isn’t about finding one perfect approach – it’s about evolving through the right phases at the right time, using each phase to build the foundation for the next.