Building GTM from Scratch: 7-Month Journey in Turkey

January 2024. Business travel — a new domain for me, but challenge accepted!

Starting point: a market report on business travel in Turkey, a weak CustDev, and zero on the scoreboard. Let’s go!

January 2024: Diving into the Market and Its Nuances

• Researching the global and local market.
• Gathering insights from teams that have launched IT projects in the Turkish market.
• Risks, Currency, country-specific, technological — all covered.
• Every project starts with the lawyers, so I began gathering the legal firms

Tip: When in doubt, expand your network and start outreaching.

February 2024: Moving Forward

• Finalized the incorporation and financing scheme for the startup.
• Selected tax and legal partners.
• Decided to join one of Istanbul's tech parks — why not leverage the local startup scene?

Tip: When in doubt, do CustDev. You can never have too much of it.

March 2024: Integrating into the Ecosystem

• Applied to the tech park and got in. First badge secured!
• Turkey is the land of events, so we started hitting exhibitions, doing in-person outreach, and live CustDev from Adana to Istanbul.
• Conducted a competitive analysis, digging into the most hidden corners.
• Thanks to networking and outreach, we found a contractor for aviation content.
• The product roadmap is ready, incorporating CustDev insights.

Tip: Outreach is powerful, but plan for 2-3 months to see guaranteed results.

April 2024: Sales Launch on the Horizon

• Established the company, opened accounts, and found an office.
• Created the project timeline — sales launch on July 1 (though we ended up 20 days late).
• Survived the long Turkish holidays.
• Kept walking the exhibitions and doing CustDev.

Tip: CustDev with a qualified lead can eventually turn into a B2B sale.

May 2024: Moving to Operations

• Started the licensing process for the travel business.
• Set up a test environment with aviation suppliers.
• Began HR BP search, furnished the office, and hired the first full-time employees.

Tip: Once your plan is set, it’s sacred. Don’t skip the must-have steps!

June 2024: First Results

• Hired HR BP, brought salespeople on board, and built a CRM from scratch in Notion.
• Set up Apollo and initiated email campaigns.
• Survived another round of major Turkish holidays.
• Made our first 9 cold presentations in just 14 days. No product demo yet.

Tip: When launching B2B sales, read up on ABM (Account-Based Marketing) strategies.

July 2024: The Final Stretch

• Hired two more salespeople and started prepping the customer support team.
• Demo ready, adjusting our presentation approach.
• Started searching for a Head of Sales.
• Rolled out the demo and adjusted our presentation approach along the way.
• Completed the licensing process, so we can officially start selling.
• Hired the Head of Sales and completed their onboarding.
• Ended the month with 57 qualified presentations (50 of them from cold outreach) against a target of 45.

Tip: Outreach, CustDev, and networking are the foundation for first sales.

The story is complete, contract closed. More insights to follow in future posts!