Fractional Sales Leadership
Learn More
Case Study

Building a GTM Engine for Pre-Revenue FinTech

A FinTech AI startup with zero customers and no brand awareness shifted from spray-and-pray cold outbound to a network-first, thought leadership-driven go-to-market strategy to break into the conservative banking industry.

50-100
Customer discovery interviews
Network-first
GTM motion established
Content
Creator hired for thought leadership
Multi-prong
Strategy beyond cold outbound

The Challenge

Pre-revenue, no brand awareness, and selling into a conservative industry

A FinTech AI startup had built a powerful fraud detection platform targeting banks and credit unions. The technology was real and differentiated. But the company had zero customers, zero brand awareness, and was trying to sell into one of the most risk-averse, compliance-heavy industries in the world.

  • The founding team was building out an ICP document and investing in outbound tooling to begin list-building and cold outreach.
  • Their instinct was to follow the standard startup playbook: build lists, blast emails, and hope for meetings.
  • Without a single customer reference, pilot, or recognizable brand, the response rates from cold outreach were going to be extremely limited.
  • The classic chicken-and-egg problem was in full effect: banks wouldn't engage without proven case studies, and the startup couldn't build case studies without bank customers.

The Approach

A parallel-path GTM strategy that prioritized network and thought leadership over cold outbound

After conducting a thorough initial discovery — assessing sales team structure, pricing, average deal size, ICP alignment, LTV/CAC ratios, and competitive positioning — I developed a multi-pronged strategy:

  • Reframed outbound expectations: The ICP document was well-researched, but I advised the team to treat it as a living document and avoid getting "married to it." Cold outbound should continue, but with realistic expectations — not as the primary growth lever.
  • Network-first selling: I recommended the team over-index on leveraging their personal network, accelerator relationships, incubator community, and industry contacts. At this stage, you need someone willing to take a chance on you — a partner who will pilot in exchange for helping shape the product roadmap.
  • Thought leadership as demand generation: People aren't responding to cold email — they are deluged by it. I advised the CEO and technical co-founder to invest heavily in content: LinkedIn posts, Twitter threads, Reddit engagement, panels, podcasts, and industry dinners. The goal was to be seen as a trusted expert, not just another startup pitching.
  • Customer discovery before scaled outbound: Rather than treating outreach as a sales motion, I recommended reframing it as a learning motion — conducting 50 to 100 prospect discovery interviews to surface pain points, then converting those findings into thought leadership content and case-based marketing.
  • Formalized the engagement: I helped shape a structured GTM advisory engagement covering all go-to-market and business development activities, giving the startup a clear scope and operating rhythm.

The Impact

From spray-and-pray to a targeted, insight-driven GTM motion

  • The startup hired a dedicated content creator and began building a consistent LinkedIn posting rhythm around fraud prevention, explainable AI, and their "collaborative defense" vision.
  • Outreach goals shifted from "book meetings" to "learn from the market" — conducting discovery interviews to uncover pain points that could fuel both product development and marketing content.
  • The team began planning LinkedIn webinars and micro-panels on topics relevant to their ICP, positioning the CEO as a thought leader rather than a vendor.
  • The ICP evolved as real market data came in, and the team explored adjacent verticals like call center operations to find faster paths to first revenue.
  • The company continued leveraging accelerator and incubator relationships for early pilots — following the network-first playbook rather than relying solely on cold outreach.

Client Feedback

"I really appreciate the time and thought you put into this- It's incredibly helpful. Based on your guidance, we're now shifting our outreach goal toward learning, conducting customer discovery interviews to uncover pain points, then turning those findings into thought pieces and case-based content. I truly value your strategic perspective and pragmatic approach."
— CEO, FinTech AI Startup

Key Takeaway

When you're pre-revenue with no brand, cold outbound is a necessary but insufficient lever. The highest-ROI activities for founder-led startups are network-driven — leaning on personal connections, accelerator communities, and thought leadership to earn trust and credibility before asking for the sale. A fractional sales leader's job at this stage isn't to run a sales team. It's to architect the entire go-to-market foundation and teach the founder how to sell from a position of expertise, not desperation.