GTM Engineering 101
What is GTM Engineering and understanding systems and workflows behind growth
By Rizala Carrington - rizala@mygrowthagent.com
Slides and Recording will be sent after. Give me 24hr please 😊
About - Rizala Carrington
Over 15+yr of sale and marketing strategy and execution for SaaS, SMBs, consumer, health, and B2B industries.
  • Married to my lovely wife ❤️
  • Dog Mom 🐕 🐕
  • 2x Techstars alumni
  • 1 exit to Wahoo Fitness
  • Helped (early stage) startups collectively raise over $50 million funding
  • From Socal, now in Boulder, Co 🏔️
  • Co-Founder of MyGrowthAgent.com
  • Full-Service GTM Agency
Find me on LinkedInh
Who's on this call?
Founder
Marketer
RevOps
Sales
Product
Engineer
Operations
Other
What We're Covering Today
What go-to-market engineering is
Foundational systems
Core tools
Practical implementation
Why this matters as you scale
Go-To-Market Engineering
Builds systems for growth.
Unites marketing, sales, data, and automation.
Ensures repeatability, visibility, and reliability for scaling.
The Foundation: Marketing Automation
Historically, GTM engineering meant traditional marketing automation:
  • CRMs
  • Email sequences
  • Lead scoring
  • Pipelines
  • Webhooks
From Marketing Automation to GTM Engineering
What changed
  • AI and APIs changed who can build
  • Founders and marketers can connect tools themselves
What GTM engineering is now
  • Marketing automation is still the foundation
  • Smart systems
  • Scaling faster
  • Designed to reduce human error and manual work
Marketing Automation is GTM Engineering
Think of this as a progression, not a replacement
Foundation First
AI needs clean systems
Automate, then AI
Scale amplifies flaws

Without clear systems (nurture, pipelines, ownership), AI creates faster chaos.
Systems vs Workflows (Simple Version)
System
What should happen, in plain terms
The rules of the business
Example:
When a lead comes in, someone follows up
  • Every lead has an owner
  • No lead is ignored
This exists even if everything is manual.
Workflow
How the system runs automatically for: When a lead comes in, someone follows up (with a CRM)
Example:
Mental model
System = design
Workflow = execution
Workflow
How the system runs automatically for: When a lead comes in, someone follows up (with a CRM)
Example:
Mental model
System = design
Workflow = execution
Let's create something a little more advanced.
Quick Quiz Break!
Question 1 - System or Workflow?
Every inbound lead must be contacted within 24 hours.
Question 2 - System or Workflow?
A follow-up email is automatically sent when a form is submitted.
Quiz Answers:
Every inbound lead must be contacted within 24 hours.
System
Quiz Answers:
A follow-up email is automatically sent when a form is submitted.
Workflow
Reminder:
Systems are the design.
Workflows are the execution.
Another way to say it:
Systems are high level.
Workflows are detailed.
Problems Startups Are Having
Leads falling through the cracks
Sales conversations not tracked
No clear ownership of follow-ups
Decisions made without clean data
How to Prevent This
You don’t need more tools; you need a few clear systems that ensure everything runs smoothly.
One centralized place for every lead
Clear ownership for follow-ups
Defined stages with next steps
Basic visibility into what’s happening

When these foundational systems are in place, nothing falls through the cracks, and revenue opportunities are maximized.
Core Tools
CRM
Central database for leads and customers
Communication tools
Email and messaging platforms
Automation tools
Workflow and integration platforms
Analytics
Reporting and data visibility

Note: Some of these tools can be consolidated (ie CRM).
Simple GTM Engineering Wins
Don't overcomplicate it
1
No sales team yet
Form posts to Slack. Manual outreach first. Add automation later.
2
Shared sales responsibility
Leads go to a shared channel. First responder claims the lead. Add reminders.
3
Founder-led outreach
Form triggers alert. Intro email sent. Optional LinkedIn follow-up.

Key takeaway: Start manual, add visibility, then layer automation.
Key Takeaways - part 1
Growth problems are usually system problems
Systems define what should happen (design)
Workflows make it happen consistently (execution)
Key Takeaways - part 2
You don't need more tools, you need clear foundations
Automation supports systems, not the other way around
Start simple, then layer automation as you scale
Q&A
Want GTM support or agency help? CRM Recommendation?