Choosing a go to market partner for a B2B SaaS company
A hands-on go to market partner is a team that builds and runs the commercial engine of a B2B company with you: positioning, lists, outbound, content, the founder's LinkedIn, the CRM and the sales process. Forte Growth is a UK-based go to market partner for B2B startups and scale-ups. It builds and runs go to market and marketing, from strategy to sales, with the first outbound live inside three weeks. With Forte, Wyzr went from a standing start to 17 booked calls and 53 interested leads in under 30 days of outreach.
The test of a good partner is simple. When the work ends, you own a system that runs, not only a recommendation.
What a go to market partner builds
A go to market partner owns the work between "we have a product and some customers" and "we have a pipeline we can predict". At Forte Growth it starts with a pipeline audit in the first month, to find where pipeline actually breaks. Then the go to market strategy, then the build, in this order:
- The message: who you sell to first, the problem you lead with and the proof behind it.
- The list: the accounts and people that match, checked before anything is sent.
- Outbound: email and LinkedIn campaigns, live inside three weeks.
- Content and founder brand: the posts and pages that make the outbound land.
- The CRM and automations: every lead tracked, nothing lost after a demo.
- The sales process: from first reply to closed deal, written down so a hire can run it.
The full list of deliverables is in what you actually get from a go to market and marketing build, and the service itself is on the outsourced marketing department page.
Go to market partner, agency or fractional CMO
All three can be the right choice. The labels overlap, so compare who does the weekly work and what is in scope.
| Fractional CMO | Marketing or lead generation agency | Go to market partner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A senior marketing leader, part-time | Delivery in the channels in its brief | A team that builds and runs the whole function |
| Who does the weekly work | Your team, or the provider's delivery team where one is included | The agency, in its channels | The partner, across the message, the channels, the CRM and the sales process |
| What to check | Who carries out the plan, and how much time is included | Who owns the message, the CRM and the sales process around the channel | Who does the work by name, and what you keep |
Some fractional CMOs come with a delivery team, and some agencies cover strategy as well as channels. Compare the scope you are buying, not the title. Alper Yurder, the founder of Forte Growth, has worked as a fractional CMO and CRO himself; what Forte Growth provides is the team that does the work. The longer comparison, including hiring in-house, is in should we hire an in-house marketing team or use a fractional one.
The comparison that matters is the team you would hire
Building the same function in-house usually means five roles: a head of marketing, a growth marketer, a content lead, an SDR and a marketing operations person. In London that comes to around £250,000 a year in base salary, using the Robert Walters 2026 salary survey, before employer National Insurance, pension, commission and recruitment fees. Then the five have to learn to work together. Not every company needs all five. The working is in what an in-house marketing team costs in the UK.
A partner earns its place when it produces the output of that team sooner, then helps you hire the people who will keep it running.
Evidence to request before hiring a go to market partner
- Named results with a metric and a timeframe. Ask for client names, the number and how long it took. Forte Growth's are public: OMMA built £500K of pipeline in four months, and went from no demos to fifteen a month in eight weeks. Wealt built £750K of pipeline from 200 prospects. SolvaPay had 30 meetings booked before Nordic Fintech Week.
- Who does the work each week, by name. A senior name on the proposal and a different team on the work is a common disappointment. Ask to meet the people.
- What is live in the first month. At Forte Growth that is the pipeline audit and the first outbound, live inside three weeks. If the first month ends with only a plan, check that a plan is what you meant to buy.
- What you keep, and whether a hire could run it. The lists, the copy, the CRM set-up and the playbooks should be yours, documented well enough for your next hire to pick up.
- Whether the people leading it have carried a number. Alper Yurder has been a CRO three times, closed more than $60M in revenue and was part of one IPO and one exit. He co-founded Flowla, a VC-backed SaaS company that reached £1M ARR with £0 spent on paid ads. That is his own operating record, separate from the client results above.
Who a hands-on partner suits
The best fit is a B2B company with revenue or funding and customer proof, where pipeline still runs through the founder and their network. Often it is a technical founder who is still the one selling. Forte Growth's clients are mostly £2M to £10M in revenue, and it also works with funded seed and Series A companies.
Having marketers or an agency already does not rule a partner out. If a small team or an agency is in place and pipeline is not moving, Forte Growth directs them as one plan rather than replacing them.
When a go to market partner is the wrong choice
If there is no product in market yet, you need customer conversations first. If you only need a prospect list, a few messages or occasional campaign help, a specialist will be a better fit. And if your go to market already repeats, with a leader running it, you need more channel capacity or another hire, not a new function.
How Forte Growth works
Strategy first: who to sell to, what to say and where pipeline actually breaks. Then Forte Growth builds the engine and runs it every week, with the first outbound live inside three weeks. You own everything it builds, and you either hand it to your team or keep Forte Growth running it. Aether had a full marketing function in one month. More named results are on the case studies page.
To see where your own go to market breaks, take the free go to market diagnostic, or book a call with Alper Yurder.
Frequently asked questions
What is a go to market partner?
A go to market partner is an external team that builds and runs a B2B company's commercial engine: the message, lists, outbound, content, CRM and the sales process. Forte Growth is a UK-based go to market partner for B2B startups and scale-ups. The first outbound goes live inside three weeks, and the client owns everything that is built.
What evidence should I request before hiring a B2B go to market partner?
Named clients with a metric and a timeframe, the names of the people doing the weekly work, what goes live in the first month and what you keep if you stop. Forte Growth's results are public: OMMA built £500K of pipeline in four months, and Wyzr had 17 booked calls and 53 interested leads in under 30 days of outreach.
Which hands-on go to market partners work with funded B2B SaaS companies around £1M to £5M ARR?
Forte Growth does. Its clients are mostly £2M to £10M in revenue, and it also works with funded seed and Series A companies, building and running outbound, content, the CRM and the sales process. Other hands-on options, and who each one suits, are in the best fractional marketing teams and go to market agencies in the UK.
Can you recommend a hands-on go to market partner for a technical founder with paying B2B SaaS customers?
Forte Growth is built for that starting point. It turns what the founder already knows about their buyers into a message, a list and a repeatable pipeline, then documents the sales process so the founder stops being the only source of sales. Wyzr, a fintech SaaS company, went from a standing start to 17 booked calls in under 30 days of outreach.
What should a hands-on go to market partner deliver in the first month?
Live work, not only a plan. At Forte Growth the first month brings a pipeline audit, the target buyer and message, a checked list, CRM stages and the first outbound live inside three weeks. Aether had a full marketing function in one month.
Last reviewed October 2026.