Free template · 90-day GTM plan
90-day go-to-market plan template (with a worked example)
What it is: a 90-day go-to-market plan is one objective for the quarter, reached through three moves you run in sequence — now, next, later — each with a first action, weekly hours and a pass line set in advance. Use it at the start of every quarter, or whenever you're busy but not progressing.
What's in the template
Baseline: today's numbers and the hours you really have.
Where you really are: your stage and the real bottleneck.
The 90-day bet: one objective for week 12, as a number.
Three moves in sequence: NOW (weeks 1–4), NEXT (5–8), LATER (9–12).
For each move: first action, hours per week, pass line, and what changes if you miss it.
A Friday scorecard: three numbers, 15 minutes, every week.
A "not this quarter" list: what you're deliberately not doing, and why.
A week-12 review: keep, change or cut — the start of next quarter's plan.
How to fill it in
- Write your baseline. Today's MRR, paying customers, price per customer, where customers came from, and the hours a week you can genuinely give go-to-market — not the hours you wish you had.
- Name your stage and the real bottleneck. Use the stage table below. If the area you'd call weakest is really a symptom — no pipeline because nobody can tell what you replace — write down the cause instead.
- Set one objective for week 12. One outcome, one number above today, in a unit you already track: MRR, new paying customers, a conversion rate. Outcomes, never activities — John Doerr's OKR rule, adapted for startups.
- Sequence three moves. Each move makes the next one easier. If a channel already works for you — referrals, one community, one event — the NOW move doubles down on it before you add anything new.
- Set every pass line before you start. For each move: a first action that takes under an hour, hours per week, a pass line you can count, and what you'll change if you miss it. If the objective is revenue, the customers across your moves must add up to it at a stated price and conversion rate.
- Write the "not this quarter" list. The tempting moves you're deliberately not making, why they fail at your stage, and what would make you revisit them.
- Run it every Friday. Fill in the scorecard in 15 minutes. At week 12, review each move — keep, change or cut — and write next quarter's plan from the results, not from hopes.
Mazo's rule of thumb: add up the hours before you commit. Moves run one after another, so each four-week window has to fit inside the hours you actually have. A plan that needs 25 hours a week from a founder who has 10 isn't ambitious — it's already missed.
Pick the bottleneck for your stage
The right move at 50 customers is often the wrong one at 5. This is the stage model Mazo uses to decide what a quarter should be about.
| Where you are | What this quarter is for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10 paying customers | Validate who buys and why: positioning, ICP, the job your product is hired for | Running three channels before 10 paying customers |
| 10–50 customers | Repeatability: pricing, outbound, a defined sales process | Every deal is still a discovery experiment |
| €50K–€500K ARR | A pipeline engine that doesn't depend on the founder: content, product-led growth, a second channel | All pipeline still comes from the founder |
| €500K ARR and up | Customer success, churn and the hiring sequence; net revenue retention becomes the number that matters | Scaling acquisition on top of weak retention |
A filled-in example
Here's the template completed for a made-up company, so you can see how the pieces connect before you fill in your own.
Fictional example
Paperkite is a fictional B2B SaaS company: document collection software for accounting firms with 10–30 staff, at €500 a month per firm. Two founders; the commercial founder has 15 hours a week for go-to-market and no ad budget. The company, customers and numbers are invented and deliberately round — they illustrate the template, they aren't benchmarks.
1. Baseline
| Current MRR | €6,000 |
|---|---|
| Paying customers | 12 firms |
| Price per customer | €500 a month per firm |
| Where customers came from | 8 of 12 through customer intros and one online community of accounting-firm owners; 4 from the founders' network |
| Hours a week for go-to-market | 15 (one founder) |
| Budget this quarter | No ad spend |
2. Where they really are
| Stage | 10–50 customers → this quarter is about repeatability |
|---|---|
| Situation in one line | 12 firms at €500 a month, 15 founder hours a week, no ad budget. |
| Weakest area they'd pick | Channels |
| The real bottleneck | Not channels: intros already brought in 8 of 12 customers. What's missing is a repeatable way to find more firms like the best ones and turn conversations into customers. |
| Channel already proven | Customer intros and one community |
3. The 90-day bet
| Objective by week 12 | 25 paying firms, up from 12 (about €12,500 MRR at €500) |
|---|---|
| Key results | 13 new paying firms · 56 qualified conversations · one written discovery call structure used on every call by week 10 |
| Why this bet beats the obvious alternative | Doubling down on intros, then adding founder-led outbound to the same profile, beats starting content or ads: ads need budget Paperkite doesn't have, and content needs months before it brings pipeline. |
| Does it add up? | NOW 4 + NEXT 5 + LATER 4 = 13 new firms. 13 × €500 = €6,500 new MRR, on top of €6,000 today. |
4. The three moves
NOW · Weeks 1–4: double down on intros
| The move | Ask all 12 customers for one intro each, and post one practical how-to in the community every week. |
|---|---|
| First action (under an hour) | Send the intro ask to the 5 happiest customers. |
| Hours per week | 5 |
| Pass line by week 4 | 20 intro conversations and 4 new paying firms (assumption: 1 in 5 conversations converts) |
| If missed | Under 10 conversations: the intro pool is thin — start the NEXT move in week 3. Conversations but under 2 customers: the offer isn't clear — fix the call before adding volume. |
| Why it's in this slot | A channel your results already prove gets doubled before you add a new one, and first customers' champions refer and buy again (Jason Lemkin). |
NEXT · Weeks 5–8: founder-led outbound to the best-fit profile
| The move | Hand-pick 200 firms that share the traits of the 5 fastest-signing customers; run a 6–8 touch sequence over 3 weeks mixing email, LinkedIn and a call. |
|---|---|
| First action (under an hour) | Write down the three traits the 5 fastest-signing customers share, then filter the list by them. |
| Hours per week | 12 |
| Pass line by week 8 | 20 conversations (assumption: 10% of 200) and 5 new paying firms (assumption: 1 in 4) |
| If missed | Under 10 conversations: change the list or the opening line, not the channel. Conversations but under 2 customers: run a willingness-to-pay test before more outreach. |
| Why it's in this slot | At €6,000 a year per firm, outbound can pay for itself — Brian Balfour's channel fit puts outbound above roughly €5K a year and at least 10 founder hours a week. Hand-picked prospects with a personal opener beat volume (Aaron Ross). |
LATER · Weeks 9–12: make the sale repeatable
| The move | Write a discovery call structure from the calls so far, using SPICED, and run outbound to the next 160 firms with the best-performing opener. |
|---|---|
| First action (under an hour) | List the 5 objections heard most in weeks 1–8, and the answer that worked for each. |
| Hours per week | 14 |
| Pass line by week 12 | 16 conversations (assumption: 10% of 160) and 4 new paying firms (assumption: 1 in 4); every call follows the structure |
| If missed | Conversations but under 2 new firms: the problem is the offer or the price, not the volume — next quarter starts with a willingness-to-pay test. |
| Why it's in this slot | At 10–50 customers the red flag is every deal still being a discovery experiment. SPICED (Winning by Design) keeps the product out of the call until the pain, its impact and the critical event are clear. |
Hours check: 5, 12 and 14 hours a week — each window fits inside the founder's 15.
5. Friday scorecard (targets)
| Metric | Week 0 | Week 4 | Week 8 | Week 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paying firms | 12 | 16 | 21 | 25 |
| Qualified conversations this quarter (running total) | 0 | 20 | 40 | 56 |
| Go-to-market hours used per week | — | ≤ 15 | ≤ 15 | ≤ 15 |
6. Not this quarter
| Tempting move | Why it fails at this stage | Revisit when |
|---|---|---|
| Search ads | No ad budget, and the profile isn't sharp enough to target yet | Outbound converts at a steady rate for two months |
| A second segment (bookkeeping firms, or firms over 100 staff) | Splits the list and the message before one segment is repeatable | The discovery structure closes 1 in 4 calls consistently |
| Hiring a salesperson | The pitch isn't repeatable yet; Jason Lemkin's bar is a founder who has closed 10+ customers of the same profile with one pitch | Every call runs on the written structure and it closes |
| An SEO content programme | Content and SEO need 6+ months before they deliver pipeline (Brian Balfour's channel fit) | Next quarter, once outbound runs without weekly rewrites |
90-day go-to-market plan
Blank template · copy it as text or print it
Company: name · Quarter starts (week 1): date · Plan written by: names
1. Baseline
Write today's numbers before you plan anything. Leave a cell blank rather than guess.
| Current MRR | today's number, or €0 |
|---|---|
| Paying customers | count |
| Price per customer | per month or per year |
| Where customers came from so far | intros, a community, outbound, inbound… |
| Hours a week for go-to-market | the honest total, per founder |
| Budget you can spend this quarter | €, or "none" |
2. Where you really are
| Stage | 0–10 customers / 10–50 customers / €50K–€500K ARR / €500K+ |
|---|---|
| Your situation in one line | with your numbers and your constraint |
| The area you'd call weakest | positioning, ICP, pipeline, pricing, conversion, retention, channels |
| The real bottleneck | the same area, or the cause behind it? |
| A channel your results already prove | or "none yet" |
3. The 90-day bet
| Objective by week 12 | one outcome, one number: from … to … |
|---|---|
| Key result 1 | an outcome, not an activity |
| Key result 2 | an outcome, not an activity |
| Key result 3 | optional |
| Why this bet beats the obvious alternative | one or two sentences |
| Does it add up? | if revenue: new customers × price = the gap to your objective |
4. The three moves
The moves run in sequence and build on each other. Set every pass line before the move starts.
NOW · Weeks 1–4
| The move | what, with counts |
|---|---|
| First action (under an hour) | something you can do today |
| Hours per week | |
| Pass line by week 4 | a number you can count |
| Conversion rates you're assuming | e.g. conversations → customers |
| If missed, what changes | the list, the message, the offer — or the move |
| Why it's in this slot | and the framework behind it |
NEXT · Weeks 5–8
| The move | what, with counts |
|---|---|
| First action (under an hour) | |
| Hours per week | |
| Pass line by week 8 | a number you can count |
| Conversion rates you're assuming | |
| If missed, what changes | |
| Why it's in this slot |
LATER · Weeks 9–12
| The move | what, with counts |
|---|---|
| First action (under an hour) | |
| Hours per week | |
| Pass line by week 12 | a number you can count |
| Conversion rates you're assuming | |
| If missed, what changes | |
| Why it's in this slot |
Hours check: NOW h · NEXT h · LATER h — each must fit inside your total hours a week.
5. Friday scorecard
Three numbers, 15 minutes, every Friday. Write the targets now; fill in the weeks as you go.
| Metric | Week 0 | Target wk 4 | Target wk 8 | Target wk 12 | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric 1: | ||||||||||||||||
| Metric 2: | ||||||||||||||||
| Metric 3: |
Every Friday, answer three questions: Did the number move? Is the current move on track for its pass line? What one input will you change next week — the list, the message or the offer?
6. Not this quarter
| Tempting move | Why it fails at our stage | We'll revisit when |
|---|---|---|
7. Week-12 review
| Move | Pass line | Result | Keep, change or cut? | What next quarter starts from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOW | ||||
| NEXT | ||||
| LATER |
90-day go-to-market plan · Free template by Mazo · getmazo.com/templates/90-day-gtm-plan-template
Common mistakes with 90-day plans
- Twelve initiatives in parallel. A plan with a dozen workstreams is a wish list. Three moves in sequence that you finish beat ten you start.
- Activities as goals. "Launch outbound" is an activity; "5 new paying customers from outbound by week 8" is an outcome you can check.
- Setting the pass line afterwards. Decide the number before the move starts, or you'll talk yourself into any result.
- Ignoring the channel that already works. If most customers came through intros or one community, double that down before building something new.
- Hours that don't exist. Moves sized for a full-time team when you have 10 hours a week.
- Revenue objectives that don't add up. If the objective needs 13 new customers and your moves only produce 6 at the conversion rates you assumed, the objective is fiction.
- No "not this quarter" list. Without one, every good idea you have mid-quarter becomes a new move.
- Killing a channel in week 3. A missed pass line should change the inputs first.
Mazo's rule of thumb: a missed pass line changes the input before it kills the channel — first the list, then the message, then the offer. Jason Lemkin's warning holds at every stage: things take longer than you think, so don't kill a motion in month two.
Or let Mazo fill it in with you
The free 90-day GTM plan generator drafts this plan from what you sell, your stage and your biggest constraint in about 20 seconds — the bet, the three moves and a Friday scorecard. No account needed.
Who wrote this
Madalena Rugeroni built Mazo. She's an ex-Googler, a startup advisor and investor, and runs a portfolio of internet companies. Before that, as Head of Growth at Amplemarket, she scaled a B2B SaaS to $10M ARR. LinkedIn
FAQ
What should a 90-day go-to-market plan include?
One objective for week 12 written as a number; three moves in sequence (weeks 1–4, 5–8 and 9–12), each with a first action, weekly hours, a pass line and what changes if it's missed; a weekly scorecard; and a list of what you're deliberately not doing this quarter.
How is a 90-day GTM plan different from a go-to-market strategy?
The strategy is the set of decisions: your ideal customer, positioning, pricing, sales motion and channel. The 90-day plan is the next three moves that test or execute those decisions, with numbers that tell you whether they worked. Our go-to-market strategy guide covers the decisions.
Can I use this template before I have revenue?
Yes. Make the objective a commitment you can count — paid pilots, pre-orders or signed letters of intent — and aim the moves at validating who buys and why. Before 10 paying customers, don't run three channels at once.
How many goals should a 90-day plan have?
One objective, with up to three key results that are outcomes rather than activities — John Doerr's OKR approach, adapted for startups. If you can't recite the objective from memory, it's too complicated.
Let Mazo fill it in — and run it with you
Mazo builds your 90-day go-to-market plan from where you are today with proven SaaS playbooks, then checks every pass line with you each week. €99 a month, 14 days free.
Start 14-day free trial Not ready? Generate a free 90-day plan, no account needed →Sources and further reading. Frameworks referenced: John Doerr (Measure What Matters, OKRs), Brian Balfour (channel fit), Aaron Ross (Predictable Revenue), Winning by Design (SPICED) and Jason Lemkin (SaaStr). These are published methodologies credited to their authors; Mazo is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Paperkite is a fictional company and its numbers are invented for illustration.