Why Your Go-To-Marker (GTM) Experience Can Make You a Top Contender for A&D Startups
If you’re an executive aiming to transition into a startup or growth-stage company within Aerospace & Defense, here’s the hard truth:
Most of these companies don’t want generalists. They want specialists, particularly those who can execute a Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy that scales a real product.
In my work with Aerospace and Defense (A&D) startups and small businesses, I constantly hear the same thing from founders and CEOs:
“We need someone who’s done this before. Someone who’s taken a new hardware product to market, built the channels, landed the first deals, and created repeatable revenue.”
So what does this mean for you?
Why GTM Experience Matters:
- Execution over ideas. These companies aren’t hiring for strategy decks, they’re hiring you to build revenue.
- No time for training. Most are moving fast with limited resources. If you haven’t launched and scaled A&D tech before, you’re a risk they can’t afford.
- Product-centric environments. If your background is mostly SaaS, services, or enterprise operations without a strong connection to product delivery, you may need to reframe how you present your experience.
How to Market Your GTM Background:
- Tell a Clear GTM Story. Show how you took a product from prototype to market. Talk about your role in customer validation, pricing, sales structure, and early wins.
- Use Metrics. Did you grow revenue from $0 to $10M? Reduce the sales cycle by 40%? Secure the first military contract? Use those numbers.
- Highlight the Mess. Startups are chaotic. If you’ve built teams, closed deals with no brand backing, and navigated DOD procurement hurdles, say so. That experience is gold.
- Avoid Big Co. Lingo. Words like “cross-functional synergy” and “global alignment” sound out of place. Focus on building, fixing, selling, and executing.
- Industry Relevance is Key. A&D buyers and government contracting are a world of their own. If you’ve worked with primes, integrators, or on SBIR/STTRs, make that clear.
Bottom Line: If you’re an executive who’s built GTM engines in real-world A&D settings, you’re incredibly valuable to the right companies—but only if you frame your story around revenue, execution, and speed.
Company leaders, am I on target?
Senior Executives, are you positioning your experience to land a leadership role in a startup?
As always, feel free to reach out with any questions you have on this.
Have a great week!
David
