Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cernio.gadulabs.com/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Cernio — Go-To-Market Strategy
Version: 2.0
Date: 2026-04-03
Author: Aleks Özkuyumcu (Founder) + Claude Opus 4.6
Basis: Handbook Ch. 85-100, BIZ-5 (Market Sizing), founder GTM resources (zero-budget bootstrap)
Constraint: $0 marketing budget until revenue. Channels must be organic/free.
1. GTM Philosophy
Start narrow, go deep, then expand. The platform works globally — the GTM doesn’t.
Phase 1 → Turkish B2B exporters (founder network, DOSE contacts)
Phase 2 → EU exporters (English PLG, LinkedIn, trade fairs)
Phase 3 → US + global (SEO flywheel, referrals, partnerships)
2. Pre-Launch Assets (Unique Advantage)
| Asset | Size | Quality |
|---|
| Digitized business cards (DOSE Chemicals + DOSE Textile) | ~3,000 contacts | Mixed — many irrelevant (suppliers, domestic, non-B2B) |
| Estimated relevant (B2B exporters/importers) | ~1,200-1,500 | Warm — met at trade fairs, some are acquaintances |
| Reachable via email | ~960-1,200 | Valid email addresses |
Founder Network
| Resource | Capacity |
|---|
| Personal acquaintances (can pitch 1-on-1) | 30-50 people |
| LinkedIn Pro membership | Organic outreach, 100-150 DMs/month |
| Industry knowledge (chemicals/textiles) | Credible demo/pitch at trade fairs |
Free Tier as GTM Weapon
The new Free tier design (C model: discovery open, contact gated) is specifically designed for GTM:
Email warm lead → "Try Cernio free — find distributors for your product"
→ User signs up, runs 5 discoveries
→ Sees 125 ranked companies with types and scores
→ Wants to find the purchasing manager → MUST upgrade to Pro ($49)
3. Channel Strategy (Zero-Budget)
Channel 1: Warm Email Campaign (Months 1-6)
Target: DOSE fair card pool (1,200-1,500 relevant contacts)
| Step | Action | Tool | Timeline |
|---|
| 1 | Segment cards: exporter vs supplier vs irrelevant | Manual + AI classify | Month 1-2 |
| 2 | Create email sequences (3-email drip) | Brevo/Resend free tier | Month 2 |
| 3 | Batch 1: Close acquaintances (50 people) — personal email | Gmail | Month 2-3 |
| 4 | Batch 2: Known contacts (200-300) — semi-personal | Brevo | Month 3-4 |
| 5 | Batch 3: Fair contacts (500-800) — cold-ish | Brevo | Month 4-6 |
“Hi [name], I’ve been building something I think you’ll find useful. It’s an AI tool that finds distributors and buyers for your products in any country — in about 30 seconds. I’d love to show you. Can I send you a free login?”
Email template (fair contacts):
“Hi [name], we met at [fair] (DOSE Chemicals). I’ve since built an AI platform that helps exporters find buyers worldwide. It’s free to try — enter your product and a target country, and you’ll see ranked potential buyers in seconds. [Link]”
Expected: 15-20% signup rate → 180-300 signups → 5-10% paid → 9-30 paying customers over 6 months.
Channel 2: LinkedIn Organic (Ongoing)
Strategy: Content + targeted outreach from founder’s personal profile.
| Activity | Frequency | Expected Results |
|---|
| Content posts (discovery stories, export insights, behind-the-scenes) | 3-4x/week | Build audience, 500-2K followers in Y1 |
| Targeted DMs to export managers | 10-15/day (LinkedIn Pro limit) | 5-8% conversion to signup |
| Comment engagement on export/trade groups | Daily | Visibility, inbound interest |
| Connection requests to ICP (export managers, founders) | 20-30/day | Network growth |
- “Found 12 distributors in Poland in 15 minutes” — discovery stories
- “3 things about the German chemicals market” — export intelligence
- “Building an AI tool for exporters — week 5 update” — founder journey
- “Top 5 countries importing Turkish [product] (2026 data)” — data insights
Expected: 2-5 signups/month → 1-3 paying customers/month after warmup period.
Channel 3: PLG Self-Serve (Growing Over Time)
Design: Website → signup (no credit card) → first discovery (free) → WOW moment → upgrade prompt when trying to reveal contacts.
| Month | Monthly Organic Visitors | Signups | Activations | Paid |
|---|
| 1-3 (beta) | 100-200 | 10-20 | 5-10 | 0-1 |
| 4-6 | 200-500 | 20-50 | 10-25 | 1-2 |
| 7-12 | 500-1,500 | 50-150 | 25-75 | 2-5 |
| Y2 avg | 2,000-5,000 | 200-500 | 100-250 | 5-15 |
| Y3 avg | 5,000-15,000 | 500-1,500 | 250-750 | 15-45 |
Channel 4: Personal Pitches (Month 1-3)
Founder personally demos to 30-50 acquaintances.
| Action | Volume | Conversion |
|---|
| 1-on-1 video/in-person demo | 30-50 people | 40-60% try, 15-25% pay |
| Expected paid customers | | 4-12 |
4. Activation Strategy
North Star Metric
“First discovery search completed and at least one result viewed”
This must happen in the first session (ideally within 3 minutes of signup).
Activation Funnel
Signup → Industry/product selection → Target country → "Find Buyers" → Results →
→ Free user: Views companies, types, scores → Hits contact paywall → Upgrade prompt
→ Pro user: Views companies → Reveals contacts → Saves lead → Sets follow-up
Activation Design Principles
- Remove every friction point before first search. No onboarding wizard, no tutorial videos. Product/country → search.
- Pre-fill intelligently. Suggest industry based on company name. Show top export markets for that industry.
- Show real, impressive results. Never placeholder data. The first search must return genuinely useful companies.
- Contact paywall is the conversion trigger. “These 25 companies look amazing — who do I contact?” → Upgrade.
KPIs
| Metric | Target (Y1) | Target (Y2+) |
|---|
| Signup → first search | > 50% | > 70% |
| First search → second search | > 30% | > 50% |
| Free → paid conversion (90 days) | > 5% | > 8% |
| Time to first search | < 3 minutes | < 2 minutes |
| Activation rate (search + view results) | > 40% | > 60% |
5. Retention Strategy
Core Retention Loop
Discovery → Save leads → Set follow-up → Return to check status →
→ New market needed → New discovery → Lead list grows → More follow-ups
Anti-Churn Triggers (Automated)
| Trigger | Action | Timeline |
|---|
| No login for 7 days | Email: “3 new companies matching your profile” | Week 1+ |
| Leads saved but no contact revealed | Email: “Ready to reach out? Reveal contacts now” | Day 3+ |
| Discovery done but no leads saved | Email: “Your top 5 matches are waiting” | Day 1+ |
| Trial expiring (if time-limited promo) | Email: “Your discovery results expire in 3 days” | Day 11+ |
Retention KPIs
| Metric | Target |
|---|
| Week 1 retention | > 60% |
| Month 1 retention | > 40% |
| Month 3 retention | > 30% |
| Monthly active rate (paid users) | > 70% |
6. Metrics & KPIs Dashboard
North Star Metric
Weekly Active Discoveries — number of discovery searches run by paid users per week.
This metric captures:
- Product engagement (users are actively using the core feature)
- Revenue health (more discoveries = more value = less churn)
- Data moat growth (every search enriches the buyer graph)
Metric Hierarchy
| Level | Metric | Target |
|---|
| North Star | Weekly Active Discoveries (paid users) | Growing 5-10%/week |
| Revenue | MRR | See BIZ-3 projections |
| Acquisition | New signups/week | Growing |
| Activation | % signups who run first search in session 1 | > 50% |
| Revenue Conversion | Free → paid (90-day window) | > 5% |
| Retention | Month 1 paid user retention | > 85% |
| Referral | % users who refer (future) | > 10% |
| Expansion | % users who upgrade plan or buy credits | > 15% of paid base |
| Metric Type | Tool | Cost |
|---|
| Product analytics | PostHog (free tier, 1M events) | $0 |
| Revenue/subscription | Lemon Squeezy dashboard | $0 |
| Error tracking | Sentry (free tier) | $0 |
| Email analytics | Brevo/Resend dashboard | $0 |
| User behavior | Built-in activity logging (export_ai_ai_job_runs) | $0 |
7. GTM Timeline
| Month | Phase | Key Actions | Expected Outcome |
|---|
| Apr-Jul 2026 | Pre-launch | Build Ring 1 (auth, billing). Segment DOSE card pool. Prepare email templates. | Product ready for beta |
| Aug 2026 | Beta launch | Invite first 10 users (personal network). Daily feedback. | 10 free beta users |
| Sep 2026 | Beta expand | Batch 1 email (50 acquaintances). LinkedIn content starts. | 30-50 free users, feedback |
| Oct 2026 | First revenue | Enable paid plans. Convert top beta users. | 2-5 paying customers |
| Nov-Dec 2026 | Warm outreach | Batch 2-3 email (300-800 contacts). LinkedIn DMs ramp up. | 10-15 paying customers |
| Jan-Mar 2027 | PLG optimization | Improve onboarding based on data. Content flywheel building. | 15-25 paying, growing organic |
| Apr-Jun 2027 | Y2 acceleration | SEO content, first case studies, possible first trade fair visit. | 40-60 paying |
| Jul-Dec 2027 | Growth mode | EU expansion, Team plan launch, referral program. | 80-120 paying |
| 2028 (Y3) | Scale mode | US expansion, partnerships, possible first hire. | 200-300 paying |
8. Trade Fair Strategy (Budget-Dependent)
Phase 1: Zero Budget (Y1)
No trade fair attendance. Instead:
- Leverage DOSE’s existing fair contacts (email campaign)
- Monitor exhibitor lists from upcoming fairs → LinkedIn outreach to exhibitors
- Post-fair content on LinkedIn (insights from fair agendas/news)
Phase 2: Revenue-Funded (Y2+, when MRR > $3K)
| Fair | Industry | Location | Estimated Cost | Why |
|---|
| Turkchem | Chemicals | Istanbul | $500-1,000 (local) | Founder domain, low cost |
| ChemSpec Europe | Specialty chemicals | Europe (rotating) | $2,000-3,000 | ICP concentration |
| Automechanika | Auto parts | Istanbul/Frankfurt | $2,000-4,000 | Large exporter attendance |
Document Dependencies
| Related | Document |
|---|
| Customer acquisition model | BIZ-5: ROI & Market Sizing |
| Revenue projections | BIZ-3: Financial Projections |
| Competitive positioning (for pitch) | BIZ-9: Competitive Positioning |
| Handbook GTM chapters | docs/handbook/06-go-to-market.md (Ch. 85-100) |
