Dresma, an AI imagery platform, found its most effective growth channel by partnering with photography studios. These studios do the initial product shoot, then use Dresma's AI for post-production, creating a powerful co-selling motion. This channel accounts for over half of their $2M ARR, highlighting a potent, non-obvious GTM strategy.
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Instead of traditional marketing, Higgsfield's go-to-market strategy focused on creators who teach others how to use AI tools. By positioning their product as the best tool for specific use cases these creators teach (like product placement), they generated powerful, organic distribution and initial customer acquisition.
Rensprey, a rental software company, grew from $2M to $40M in revenue not through direct sales but through an innovative partnership strategy. Founder Michael Liccarelli created win-win situations for distribution partners, cracking a go-to-market motion that competitors couldn't figure out.
Video-gen startup Higgs Field achieved unprecedented hypergrowth by evolving beyond its initial base of casual content creators. The company now reports that 85% of its usage comes from social media managers who treat the platform as essential production infrastructure for their entire workflow.
The idea that GTM playbooks are broken is a dangerous myth. Veteran B2B leaders are successfully running top AI companies using the same fundamental plays (inbound, demos). The difference is adapting to new tools and overwhelming demand, not reinventing the core strategies that have always worked. The 2021 version is obsolete, but the fundamentals are not.
When in-product collaboration loops are weak, look for organic external sharing behaviors. Descript noticed users making YouTube tutorials, first encouraged them to add links, and then built a full affiliate program. This became a primary growth channel, driving over 25% of new users.
Instead of relying solely on paid ads, a niche e-commerce brand can partner with micro-creators in its vertical. This creates an ambassador network that provides both a powerful sales channel and predictive data on which products will perform best.
Outbound Sync founder Harris Kenney found traditional Salesforce and HubSpot agency partners were ineffective. His real growth came from a niche sub-segment: outbound 'growth agencies' using specific tools like Clay and Smartlead, proving the need to find your true, non-obvious partner fit.
The AI company generated 30-35% of its new ARR over the past year using an efficient Account-Based Marketing (ABM) stack. They use Apollo for data sourcing, Clay for data enrichment, and Smart Leads for sequencing email and LinkedIn outreach, supplemented by a small in-house orchestration tool. This offers a concrete playbook for lean teams.
The narrative that AI killed traditional GTM is false. Leaders at firms like OpenAI and Anthropic are SaaS veterans applying modified versions of proven strategies. If your GTM is failing, the problem is likely poor execution, not an outdated playbook.
While conventional wisdom suggests moving upmarket for growth, Sensei chose the opposite path to scale from $40M to $100M ARR. They partnered with Pax8 to target a vast number of smaller customers downstream, leveraging the channel's reach for a "10x proposition" without the heavy investment required for enterprise sales readiness.
