Carter Shannon
Portfolio/Strategy & Go-to-Market
Work area 04

Strategy & Go-to-Market

Data over opinion. Useful when the open question is who the audience is, what they value, how demand moves, and which path is worth taking.

Market research & sizingDemand & pricing modelsGo-to-market planningMarket entry analysis
Focus area 1 of 4

Market research & sizing

Who the buyers are, how many exist, and what they care about. Sizing that starts from observable data and states its assumptions, so the number is an input to a decision instead of a slide decoration.

What I built

  • A sized market with the assumptions shown, not buried
  • Buyer segments described by what they actually buy on
  • The two or three findings that should change the plan

How I approach it

  1. Define the audience and the job the product does for them
  2. Build the sizing from observable data, bottom up
  3. Document the findings and what they mean for the plan
Focus area 2 of 4

Demand & pricing models

What the market will pay and how demand moves when the price does. Built from demand-modeling experience in private equity contexts, applied to businesses that need the answer before the launch, not after.

What I built

  • A demand model tied to real funnel assumptions and market data
  • Price scenarios with the trade-offs made explicit
  • A pricing recommendation and the case behind it

How I approach it

  1. Gather what the market already reveals about willingness to pay
  2. Model demand across the plausible price points
  3. Stress-test the assumptions and land the recommendation
Focus area 3 of 4

Go-to-market planning

Channel, message, and sequence translated into a quarter-by-quarter plan. A go-to-market plan is a set of choices: who first, through what channel, with what message, measured how. This focus area makes those choices and writes them down.

What I built

  • A quarter-by-quarter plan with owners and measures
  • The channel and message choices made, with the reasoning
  • A first-quarter plan detailed enough to start Monday

How I approach it

  1. Choose the beachhead: the segment to win first
  2. Pick channels and message against how that segment buys
  3. Sequence the quarters and define what proves it is working
Focus area 4 of 4

Market entry analysis

Whether a move is worth making, how to enter, and what it would cost to win. The honest version includes the option nobody likes presenting: do not enter. The analysis is valuable when it prevents a bad move, not only when it justifies action.

What I built

  • A clear enter, wait, or pass recommendation
  • The entry path: build, partner, or buy, with the trade-offs
  • The cost to win, estimated honestly

How I approach it

  1. Frame what winning would have to look like
  2. Test the market structure, competition, and cost against it
  3. Deliver the recommendation and the evidence
Where this appears in my work These pages document the methods, systems, and examples behind my portfolio.
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