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)

DOSE Contact Pool

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

This is a rare bootstrap advantage — most solo SaaS founders start with 0 contacts. Cernio starts with 1,200+ warm leads from a decade of trade fair networking.

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)

The Free tier is a sales tool, not a product tier.

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

Email template (acquaintances):

“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

Content pillars:

“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

This is the highest conversion channel — but limited and non-scalable. Use it for first 10 customers and case studies.

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

Tracking Tools (Zero Budget)

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

Execution: No booth. Visitor badge + laptop + 30-second pitch. Target: 5-15 qualified leads per fair.

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)

Overview

Business

Handbook

Strategy

Design

Reference

Go-To-Market Strategy

Cernio — Go-To-Market Strategy

1. GTM Philosophy

2. Pre-Launch Assets (Unique Advantage)

DOSE Contact Pool

Founder Network

Free Tier as GTM Weapon

3. Channel Strategy (Zero-Budget)

Channel 1: Warm Email Campaign (Months 1-6)

Channel 2: LinkedIn Organic (Ongoing)

Channel 3: PLG Self-Serve (Growing Over Time)

Channel 4: Personal Pitches (Month 1-3)

4. Activation Strategy

North Star Metric

Activation Funnel

Activation Design Principles

KPIs

5. Retention Strategy

Core Retention Loop

Anti-Churn Triggers (Automated)

Retention KPIs

6. Metrics & KPIs Dashboard

North Star Metric

Metric Hierarchy

Tracking Tools (Zero Budget)

7. GTM Timeline

8. Trade Fair Strategy (Budget-Dependent)

Phase 1: Zero Budget (Y1)

Phase 2: Revenue-Funded (Y2+, when MRR > $3K)

Document Dependencies

Overview

Business

Handbook

Strategy

Design

Reference

​Cernio — Go-To-Market Strategy

​1. GTM Philosophy

​2. Pre-Launch Assets (Unique Advantage)

​DOSE Contact Pool

​Founder Network

​Free Tier as GTM Weapon

​3. Channel Strategy (Zero-Budget)

​Channel 1: Warm Email Campaign (Months 1-6)

​Channel 2: LinkedIn Organic (Ongoing)

​Channel 3: PLG Self-Serve (Growing Over Time)

​Channel 4: Personal Pitches (Month 1-3)

​4. Activation Strategy

​North Star Metric

​Activation Funnel

​Activation Design Principles

​KPIs

​5. Retention Strategy

​Core Retention Loop

​Anti-Churn Triggers (Automated)

​Retention KPIs

​6. Metrics & KPIs Dashboard

​North Star Metric

​Metric Hierarchy

​Tracking Tools (Zero Budget)

​7. GTM Timeline

​8. Trade Fair Strategy (Budget-Dependent)

​Phase 1: Zero Budget (Y1)

​Phase 2: Revenue-Funded (Y2+, when MRR > $3K)

​Document Dependencies

Cernio — Go-To-Market Strategy

1. GTM Philosophy

2. Pre-Launch Assets (Unique Advantage)

DOSE Contact Pool

Founder Network

Free Tier as GTM Weapon

3. Channel Strategy (Zero-Budget)

Channel 1: Warm Email Campaign (Months 1-6)

Channel 2: LinkedIn Organic (Ongoing)

Channel 3: PLG Self-Serve (Growing Over Time)

Channel 4: Personal Pitches (Month 1-3)

4. Activation Strategy

North Star Metric

Activation Funnel

Activation Design Principles

KPIs

5. Retention Strategy

Core Retention Loop

Anti-Churn Triggers (Automated)

Retention KPIs

6. Metrics & KPIs Dashboard

North Star Metric

Metric Hierarchy

Tracking Tools (Zero Budget)

7. GTM Timeline

8. Trade Fair Strategy (Budget-Dependent)

Phase 1: Zero Budget (Y1)

Phase 2: Revenue-Funded (Y2+, when MRR > $3K)

Document Dependencies