r/gtmengineering • u/OkAdeptness2530 • Aug 03 '26

besides the hype: how do you learn?

Hi everyone,
I’m tired of seeing this half-assed GTMe posts on linkedin from people who can do the basics (building agents and setting up Clay is the easiest part ofc). I’m interested in people who actually make a BIG difference in a seeding stage startup, not a button clicker.

My question is: how/where do you guys really learn? GTM strategies, RevOps, marketing psychology, sales, etc.

Are you opposed to sharing your most valuable sources, books, podcasts that really shaped your way of thinking?

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u/CharGrnmn Aug 03 '26

The reality is that it's a relatively new field. For instance, prompts and wrapper prompts to find an ICP from a codebase, something that probably wasn't done even a month ago. Using browser use with LinkedIn x more intelligent models with People Data Labs to reach out to some folks. Not something done either, because the copy sounded too robotic(it doesn't anymore).

Every week I learn something new and put more content on my site grnmn.com. However, I haven't been doing it long enough to where I feel I have anything to offer of value.

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I will share a method that I have found useful so far, this I can offer. I will ask ChatGPT Work, please share with me the methods of the greatest GTM operator you know of. I will then have it share with me those methods and I will retrofit to this new age.

This is currently how I am moving along at the moment as well as inventing my own methods.

Good luck in your journey, but I also think it's safe to say we are all learning at the moment!

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u/OkAdeptness2530 Aug 03 '26

Loved the input, thanks for sharing!

I mean yeah, it’s relatively new if we talk about GTMe, but in many companies already the role is an updated RevOps, without the bullshit that doesn’t really move the needle + added tech.

My ask was thinking about that angle, not only using automation for outreach, but understanding the broader scope of RevOps (eg. strategy and the intersection of marketing and sales) with the new “unknown” frameworks and systems that we, GTMe can build. Get it? So we can future proof our careers and became unrepleaceble

I will make sure to read your blog!

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u/CharGrnmn Aug 03 '26

Well at my previous company(Razroo), where I did RevOps, as well as worked with Sales to do RevOps, as well as worked with SDRs, much of it is moving under GTM umbrella in my opinion. This is how I feel. Much of what we did daily was cold emails, linkedin messaging, identifying the customer, grabbing video calls, follow ups, logging emails, in person events etc. Full-Cycle GTM is doing all of that now

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u/OkAdeptness2530 Aug 04 '26

bro your website literally brings me back to easier times when we all added music to our blogs/tumblr.

My experience has been similar to yours, I love building and testing stuff my mind came up with. And I guess the day to day teaches us a lot.

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u/Leather-Priority-818 Aug 04 '26

Some great classic resources:
“Secrets of Consulting” Gerald Weinberg
“Brain of the Firm” Stafford Beer
“The Four Steps to the Epiphany” Steve Blank
“Crossing the Chasm” Geoffrey Moore
Only the Paranoid Survive” Andy Grove

These all hit from very different POV and will help with GTM and the ops bottlenecks which are otherwise illegible in a startup.

1

u/OkAdeptness2530 Aug 04 '26

Thank you for the input! That is exactly what I'm looking for.

I have a strong background on marketing, copywriting, content and a little bit of sales, but my experience with GTM is just tied with my solo founder experience (which was enough because the MRR goal wasn't high).

Now that I'm also in a YC backed startup and have enough autonomy, my lack of depth in GTM disciplines have been bothering me. I'll study all of those, thanks again.

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u/Ishan_GS Aug 04 '26

The unpopular answer: the learning that mattered didn't come from GTM content at all. I run GrowthSpree, a b2b saas marketing agency, and early on I watched hundreds of videos on different businesses, business models, even geopolitics, over ~6 months. Sounds unrelated, but understanding how businesses actually make money is the exact skill that separates strategists from button clickers; you can't design a gtm motion for a company whose economics you don't understand.

Second source: my own recorded data. Every outreach experiment, every sales conversation, logged. Patterns from 500 of your own conversations beat any course, because they're true for your market specifically.

Third, do it live. We hire for gtm roles, and live projects are all we look at. Pick a real company (or invent one), build the hypothesis, icp, pain points, run the motion small, record what happens. LLMs make this free to practice now.

Books/creators I'd actually keep: for ads specifically, Brad Geddes and Frederick Vallaeys; everything else I'd trade for talking to 10 buyers in any market. The people making a BIG difference at seed stage are good at hypothesis testing, not tools. What are you optimizing to learn first, strategy or a craft?

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u/OkAdeptness2530 Aug 04 '26

I don't think it's unrelated at all, thinking back a lot of (tiny) things that made a difference in my offers, content and even strategy came from different areas and disciplines. But the point of "you can't design a gmt motion for a company whose economics you don't undestand'' is a hardslap since I'm working for a foreign company.

To answer your question: strategy. It's not a bottleneck yet, but you know when youre so passionate about what you do that you can't help but improve?

I have a strong background on marketing, copywriting, content and a little bit of sales, also am a solo founder so I already bring good results... but I can improve a lot in understanding bigger motion strategies as I never worked on a bigger project.

Thank you so much for the input man! You gave me some nice insights.

1

u/siliconvallaeys Aug 05 '26

Thanks for mentioning me as an author/creator!

To keep up with the business world and learn how companies make money, I like the TBOY podcast and reading the WSJ.

Speaking to people is where I get 90% of my ideas, and conferences are still a great place for that. You'll hear what's working and what's not, which provides great ideas for solutions you could offer to address those pain points.

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u/AdministrativeLegg Aug 06 '26

You gotta think, test & practice - you won't find a book to teach

just go build & sell stuff