Recap of No Fluff, No Complexity: Build Your GTM Strategy in 8 Steps on One Slide

Misalignment isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it hides behind busy calendars, high output, and good intentions. But when go-to-market teams are chasing different goals, solving the wrong problems, or growing in opposite directions, it shows up as missed numbers, unclear strategy, and burnout.

In this session from the Demand XChange, Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder and CEO of GTM Partners, breaks down what go-to-market alignment really looks like—and why most teams don’t have it. Drawing on original research and years of working with executive and GTM teams, he unpacks the frameworks, questions, and rhythms that separate high-functioning organizations from the ones constantly in pivot mode.

Whether you’re scaling fast, stuck in a plateau, or trying to get your team rowing in the same direction, this session gives you the tools to stop playing defense and start making progress on purpose.

Identifying go-to-market misalignment

If your GTM strategy feels messy, reactive, or like you’re constantly starting from scratch, you’re not alone. According to Sangram, you might be overcomplicating the chaos. “There are only 15 go-to-market problems,” he shared. “You don’t have to invent a new one.” That might sound overly simplistic, but in practice, it’s freeing.

Sangram’s team at GTM Partners mapped out these 15 problems as part of a comprehensive research effort. They now use them to help executive teams align on what their real GTM challenge is. 

The problem is that most teams aren’t aligned at all. One executive thinks the issue is product-market fit. Another says sales enablement. A third is worried about customer retention. And while each may be partially right, Sangram’s point is clear: If your leadership team isn’t solving the same problem, you’re not solving anything at all.

If you want to fix your strategy, start by aligning on what’s broken

This clarity-first mindset showed up again and again throughout the session. At one point, Sangram shared how they onboard new clients by running them through the “one-slide GTM diagnostic” built around those 15 problems. Everyone from marketing to product to RevOps is asked to choose the single most important problem to solve. It sounds simple—but it usually reveals massive misalignment.

That insight alone reframes why so many GTM strategies break down. It’s not always execution. It’s not always resources. Sometimes it’s just that no one agreed on the goal in the first place.

Key takeaways:

• GTM breakdowns often stem from a lack of internal alignment, not a lack of talent or tools.
• There are 15 universal go-to-market problems—chances are, at least one of them is holding you back. No need to invent one.
• Getting your executive team to agree on the same problem is the first real step toward strategic focus.

Identifying where growth actually happens

Not all growth is good growth—and not all markets are worth your time. In the session, Sangram drills into a deceptively simple but game-changing question: Where can you grow the most? Not “where can you grow,” not “what’s your TAM,” but where does your company have the highest potential to win, right now?

He points to HubSpot as a prime example. Despite being a billion-dollar company with 150,000+ customers, they’ve captured less than 10% of their total market. That’s not a weakness—it’s a strategic choice. Instead of chasing a wider total addressable market (TAM), they stayed focused on SMBs. Why? Because that’s where they knew they could grow the most. This is the power of a strong total relevant market (TRM) strategy: identifying your true opportunity zone and relentlessly focusing your GTM around it.

When you chase everything, you dilute everything

Sangram challenges GTM leaders to stop spreading themselves thin in the name of growth. Real scale comes from narrowing in, not broadening out. If your team hasn’t clearly defined where your biggest upside is—and aligned your GTM motion around it—you’re not optimizing, you’re guessing. Chances are, you’re wasting resources trying to win in the wrong places.

Key takeaways:

• TAM ≠ your true opportunity. Get clear on your TRM.
• Growth should be intentional, not opportunistic. Ask, “where can we grow the most?”
• Doubling down in the right market beats expanding into the wrong one.

Building alignment into the rhythm of your team

Clarity. Alignment. Trust. According to Sangram, these aren’t just soft skills—they’re the most important factors in hitting your revenue goals. In recent research, 68% of GTM leaders said if their executive team had alignment, they were confident they’d meet their goals. That’s a huge number, and it points to a painful truth: Most teams aren’t misfiring because of bad strategy—they’re misfiring because they’re out of sync.

Sangram breaks this down through the lens of the “dreamer, doer, driver” trifecta. Every organization needs all three. Dreamers set the vision, doers make it real, drivers keep things moving. Without rhythm between those roles, you get meetings without movement, goals without grounding, and teams burning calories just trying to stay on the same page. Real alignment isn’t accidental—it’s operational.

When your team isn’t aligned, neither are your metrics

If your team doesn’t share a clear understanding of your ideal customer profile (ICP), net retention rate (NRR) targets, or gross margin goals, it’s not a strategy problem—it’s a leadership one. Sangram pushes leaders to think beyond goals and focus on shared understanding, because you can’t scale what’s ambiguous. You can’t drive performance if no one’s sure where the road leads.

Key takeaways:

• 68% of GTM leaders say clarity, alignment, and trust are key to hitting targets.
• The “dreamer, doer, driver” trifecta helps teams operate with rhythm, not chaos.
• Strategy without alignment is just guesswork. Get your exec team in sync first.

In other words…

If your team is dealing with inconsistent pipeline, unclear priorities, or constant finger-pointing, it’s not a tactics issue, it’s a clarity and alignment issue. 

Sangram’s session gives you a framework for diagnosing your team’s pain points, aligning your leadership team, and building a GTM rhythm that actually scales.

He reminds us that growth doesn’t come from more activity. It comes from solving the right problems in the right order with the right people on the same page. If your current strategy feels like it’s held together with duct tape and optimism, this session is your chance to pause, recalibrate, and lead with intention.