venture capital firms: DEVELOP A NEW PIPELINE OF STARTUPS with STRONG BUSINESS FUNDAMENTALS in JUST THREE MONTHS. AND TRANSFORM YOUR CURRENT PORTFOLIO COMPANIES AT THE SAME TIME.
The venture capital bull market has run its coursE.
So what comes next? It definitely isn't more of the same and probably not what the mainstream expects.
The next intersection of startup innovation and VC will come from unexpected places in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and drive entirely new outcomes.
And that means that the way startups get funded, develop technology, go to market, and exit will be fundamentally changed.
IT’S ALL ABOUT BUSINESS FUNDAMENTALS AGAIN.
The next VC model needs to evolve beyond funding unprofitable high-growth businesses and stop relying on outliers to return the fund. The math just doesn’t work anymore.
The funny thing is that venture capital worked really well for the first 40 years of its existence.
It didn’t rely on unicorns and decacorns.
Most of the big wins were in the hundreds of millions, not in the billions.
The math was different, because the VC funds were different.
They were driven by business fundamentals.
AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE DO AT GO FOR VERTICAL.
HERE’s OUR STORY.
CEO & FOUNDER Edward Cruz
In 2015, something remarkable happened in my hometown of Tucson, Arizona: a successful tech startup launched in this tech and innovation desert, and I helped make it happen.
It all started when I was introduced to the young founders of OneGreek, Sam Garst and Gavin Glatting, two fraternity brothers and graduates of the University of Arizona, who had a vision to create a new app targeting the Greek college market. I knew I could help them because of my decades of experience in Silicon Valley and Austin.
But we would have to do it in a very different way.
We couldn’t depend on VC funding or a talent pool of developers, marketers, and sales professionals to help, because none of those things existed here. We would have to make it work the old -school way: by building a product their users would love, connecting with that audience, and successfully onboarding them as their users and customers. In other words, by having a back-to-basics focus on product, marketing and sales.
So with less than $10k in funding and in just three months, we helped them deliver the first-ever iteration of their technology. They then went on to grow a community of over 330,000 users, and to have a successful exit in less than one year.
And that’s when I knew I was on to something incredibly valuable.
Since then, Go For Vertical has emerged as a global accelerator program that’s changing the way that startups develop their technology and go to market. It’s all based on business fundamentals. And that’s exactly what’s needed in the current funding environment.
This is how YOU CAN DO IT TOO
FUND BUSINESS UNIT CASES.
(NOT STARTUPS.)
THE Old Way: CHASE AFTER FUNDING
It’s the great conundrum of launching a startup: you need funding to build your technology and launch your venture, but you need your product and traction to attract investors… This is where almost all founders get stuck, trying (and failing) to line up funding.
OLD RESULTS
It’s almost impossible for early-stage founders to find funding. Even if your idea is great, it doesn’t mean that someone will open up their checkbook for you.
NEW WAY: SKIP FUNDING ALTOGETHER
It’s possible for startups to go to market with no investors. The key is to have a laser-like focus on business fundamentals, and learning how to bootstrap marketing and sales results that don’t depend on hiring a marketing and sales team.
NEW RESULTS
Hyper-lean startups can build out their foundational marketing infrastructure and got to market in as little as 4-6 weeks.
WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
Finding your Northstar. And then going for it. The truth is that there is a very limited range of outcomes with your startup and technology that will be successful for your users. We’ll teach you how to figure that out and then follow the most efficient path to get there.
Avoiding wasteful iterations. 95% of startups are going to go with some form of digital ads. And that’s fine if you’re well-funded and have the luxury to iterate indefinitely and figure things out. Otherwise, this is an approach that will fail most early-stage startups. Getting it right with less costly forms of marketing is a far better way to go here — and how you will be able to go to market as efficiently as possible.
Putting the right people in charge of your marketing and technology. (This means you.) This is one of the most critical pieces of the puzzle. You are the founder of your startup, and you need to take ownership of the product you are going to build and deliver to your audience and not depend on costly marketers or salespeople.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
How do you keep startup costs so low? The short answer is by being hyper-efficient. But the real answer is right there above: find your Northstar and head directly for it. Don’t iterate trying to figure things out. And don’t depend on expensive “experts” to deliver your technology — you can do it yourself.
What’s your track record with this approach? None of our startups have required funding to develop their technology and go to market. And, in our first three traditional cohorts of 20+ startups, we’ve had two exits, and another startup with $3.5M in ARR.
2. VALIDATE YOUR STARTUPS’ RISKIEST ASSUMPTIONS.
(AND DONT’t FUND MAJOR RELEASES.)
Old Way: SPEND A FORTUNE ON ADS
After paying for costly engineers, this is where many startups continue blowing through cash: trying to attract an audience through paid inbound marketing on social media. It’s as much art as science, and chances are you will go through numerous iterations on this.
OLD RESULTS
You’ll spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars per week trying to figure out how to reach your audience. And even if you find them, chances are it won’t have good unit economics, or in other words, will cost too much.
NEW WAY: DISCOVER YOUR REAL REACH
If a startup is going to succeed, it’s going to need to know how to reach its audience at scale and with good unit economics — in other words, in a way that is financially sustainable. So it’s about much more than just each sale: it’s about being able to repeat and grow your business.
NEW RESULTS
Building on your success with developing your tech, you can hone in on the language, messaging, branding, and channels that will get you on the right track to find out where your audience is, and how to convert them.
WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
Messaging. We can’t underscore enough the value of messaging your audience. Everything from having a beautiful brand, simple, compelling messages that matter to them, and the social proof that you can help them.
Finding the right channel. Your audience is out there. We’ll help you figure out where and how you can reach them at scale.
Building a simple pipeline. You’ve probably heard of landing pages, but not like ours. We’ll have a strategic approach that will help early adopters come on board and help launch your sales.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
What if I’ve never done marketing? That’s totally fine — we’ll give you the resources you need to get started and get traction.
Do you provide direct marketing support? In our teaching a man how to fish approach, we’ll train and help you learn how to do it yourself.
3. GET HIGH VELOCITY WITH MARKETING AND SALES
(IT’S noT JUST ABOUT CAC.)
Old Way: DO CUSTOMer INTERVIEWS
Sales are probably the last thing on most founders' minds, but the reality is that sales are what make the business world go round, and you are going to have to achieve sales if you are going to have a viable startup, not just a concept that sounds great.
OLD RESULTS
Having abstract conversations about a product or service you plan to offer someday will not get you anywhere with your audience—so good luck with that.
NEW WAY: SELL Your REAL PRODUCT
Imagine going onto a sales call or into a sales meeting with an actual product that you can show, tell, and share with your audience. And it’s something beautifully crafted with great design and user experience. That will put you light years ahead of other startups.
NEW RESULTS
Having a real product makes what you are doing real and not just an idea or concept. This gets you in the door, and in the game with your customers.
WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
Building on your successful product. Now that you’ve built the first version of your technology and validated that it genuinely delivers value to your audience, your job making sales just got a lot easier. You’ll have stories to tell, successful use cases, and a factual basis for showing why your customers should buy your product or service.
Getting early adopters on board. Sure there may be a massive market for your technology, but you won’t be able to reach it if you can’t get your first users and customers on board.
Having those sales conversations. It takes a combination of both listening and speaking to turn a lead into a closed deal.
Asking for their business. When the time is right, ask them to pay and become paying customers.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
I’ve never sold anything. Is that OK? The truth is that you have to start somewhere, and this is precisely where we want to get you going, with a great product to share with your audience. You’ll start with conversations and take it from there.
Do you provide the sales people? No, we don’t have a dedicated sales team to help your startup with sales — but we will help you learn the fundamentals so that you will learn how to begin ramping up your sales process, and sales team.
4. FIX OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS AND BOTTLENECKS.
(OTHERWISE NONE OF THIS WILL WORK.)
Old Way: Try to find pmf
This is where almost all startups continue to fail even after they’ve launched: struggling to find product-market fit and having a never-ending battle to raise funds, build technology and connect with their audience.
OLD RESULTS
You’ll spend $50k minimum on marketing your product, only to struggle to find product-market fit. Plus, you’ll have a never-ending battle to raise funds so you can re-launch your campaigns after you fail to go to market.
NEW WAY: BUILD ON YOUR SUCCESS
If you’ve built your first product, closed your first sales, and discovered your first channel for scale and growth, then you’ve just proven your startup concept is for real. Now your ready to drive revenue for a full year with us.
NEW RESULTS
With 12 months of revenue growth beneath your belt, your ideally positioned to get the highest possible valuation and get acquired. Or to engage investors and get funding. The sky is the limit once you’ve hit this critical benchmark.
WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
Proving you can connect with your audience at scale. Even if you are technical or a first-time founder, you can do this without investors.
Selling your product. Just having something real (and valuable) to sell to your audience puts you light years ahead of other startups.
Discovering channels to reach your audience. This is critical to growing and scaling your business. We’ll show you how.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
This seems like a lot. Can I learn it all in your program? Our program is very fast paced, but also focuses on efficiency, to the point of being hyper-efficient. If you are willing and able to learn and work, we’ll show you how.
What’s your track record with this approach? In three traditional cohorts, we’ve helped over twenty five startups, and had two successful exits (so far). Check out our case studies to see what we mean.
HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE
DISCOVER CHANNELS FOR SCALE AND GROWTH. ONBOARD NEW CUSTOMERS. AND DRIVE TOPLINE REVENUE FOR JUST ONE YEAR.
THAT’s how YOU CAN GET MICROACQUIRED WITH a 6- oR 7-FIGURE EXIT.
NO INVESTORS REQUIRED.
SO Here are YOUR optionS
TRY TO GET FUNDING TO HIRE A MARKETING AND SALES TEAM. BUT THAT’S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE IN THIS ENVIRONMENT.
To get funded, you'll need to spend months or years building pitch decks, meeting investors, and hoping that just one of them might be interested. In this new funding environment, good luck.
APPLY TO “ELITE” ACCELERATOR PROGRAMS. BUT THEY’RE even HARDER TO GET INTO THAN THE IVY LEAGUE.
To get into an accelerator, you’ll need to spend weeks working on each application, only to face the reality that many of them have just a less than one percent admission rate.
OR YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO DISCOVER CHANNELS FOR SCALE AND GROWTH. ONBOARD NEW CUSTOMERS. AND DRIVE REAL REVENUE.
ALL WITH NO INVESTORS. here in the vertical accelerator.
VENTURE CAPITAL PARTNERS:
THIS IS FOR YOU.
vertical CASE STUDIES: THE EXITS
One Greek. $8K AND 3 MONTHS TO LAUNCH. 330K USERS AND AN EXIT In ONE YEAR.
The OneGreek Cinderella story started in May 2015, when founders Sam Garst and Gavin Glatting, two fraternity brothers and graduates of the University of Arizona, decided to double down on their vision to create a new app targeting the Greek college market.
With limited bootstrap funding and a need to use their resources wisely, they engaged Go For Vertical to help them create their technology.
Three months and $8000 later, they had built and launched the first private social network for the fraternity and sorority system in the US.
These driven founders then scaled the platform to over 300k users in 9 months, joined the Capital Factory accelerator in Austin, TX, and were acquired just three months later, precisely the type of amazing outcome that every startup aims for. Their use of strategic product development and unique focus on executing a viral marketing scheme was the catalyst that launched their run to the top.
Here’s what happens when you work with us.
You can forget about needing marketing/sales co-founders or investors.
You will learn how to market and sell you technology.
You will avoid costly missteps like hiring expensive marketers and salespeople first and then figuring out how to find product/market fit.
You will be able to get rid of your high-rate, bill-by-the-hour marketing agency.
You will get sh*t (stuff) done.
You will feel empowered, confident, and motivated.
HERE’S YOUR GUIDE TO THE
VERTICAL accelerator PROGRAMS
basecamp
The Vertical Accelerator starts in our first program, BASECAMP. It’s where you’ll get the 30-thousand foot view of our process, and begin laying out the steps you’ll follow to go to market successfully and get acquired.
CLIMB
Then in our flagship CLIMB program, the pedal hits the metal. CLIMB is where you’ll develop your foundational marketing infrastructure so you can develop your first marketing channel, and onboard your first customers and sales. With a product your audience loves, and a way to reach and sell it to them, you’ll be primed for scale and growth.
SUMMIT
Finally, in our venture studio program SUMMIT, we’ll work side-by-side with you to drive a full year of revenue with as much scale and growth as possible. That’s what will drive highest possible valuation of your new venture in just 12 months.
THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU JOIN THE VERTICAL ACCELERATOR.
ON-DEMAND LEARNING
We get you through the accelerator as fast as you can go.
You’ll get access to our exclusive online accelerator program sessions available around the clock 24x7x365. It’s structured into fast, easy-to-learn sessions that you can work into your busy schedule.
GROUP WORK SESSIONS
We provide direct access to the answers you need.
We also have three weekly work sessions hosted by G4V CEO and Founder Ged Cruz. It’s where you can join your fellow accelerator members, ask questions and get answers in a supportive group setting.
REAL DOCUMENTATION
We provide the resources you need to get the job done.
Our sessions also have accompanying documentation covering all of the foundational knowledge and capabilities you will be learning. You can read it all online or download it as PDFs.
1-on-1 coaching
Learn even faster with direct training with our team.
Our curriculum and assignments give you everything you need to reach critical milestones and deliver your technology. And you can do it even faster with our direct, 1-on-1 coaching, customized to meet your goals.
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
It’s more than just knowledge: you’ll learn fundamental new skills.
Once you hit a critical mass on the learning side, we want you to put your new knowledge to work right away by building the Vertical scaffolding for your technology. We provide the tools and step-by-step guidance.
EXPERT FEEDBACK
Our team of Vertical Consultants is here to help you succeed.
As you complete your Vertical tasks, you can submit them to our team for expert review and feedback. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours (and usually the same day), so you can move forward quickly.
ARE YOU READY TO Go FOR VERTICAL?
We HAVE JUST 6 SEATS in our UPCOMING COHORT.
AND For a Limited Time ONLY, we are offering a $500 discount for FIRST-TIME FOUNDERS.
PLUS there’s a Full MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE:
if you FOLLOW our process and can’t GENERATE ANY REVENUE, yoU’ll get a full refund.
THE VERTICAL ACCELERATOR. LET’S get you ACQUIRED.
OUR THREE ACCELERATOR PROGRAMS. ONE-ON-ONE coaching. GROUP WORK SESSIONS. REAL DOCUMENTATION. PRACTICAL TASKS. EXPERT FEEDBACK.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.
Can I afford this? I don’t have any funding yet.
Yes! Our introductory BASECAMP program is entirely free of charge, and our flagship CLIMB program costs substantially less than other accelerator programs.
How long DOES the vertical accelerator TAKE?
This a one-year immersive program. We’ll work with you the whole way as you generate new revenue to drive the highest possible acquisition valuation for your startup.
I’m a 100% technical founder WITH NO MARKETING OR SALES EXPERIENCE. Will this STILL work for me?
Absolutely. Our CLIMB accelerator program for microacquisition has been specifically designed with technical founders in mind.
Do I need a team or OTHER co-founders?
Not at all. The program works well with either solo founders, or teams. As a founder, it’s about training you and providing learning around key startup skills. If your team is on board, then likewise, plus it becomes part of the culture of your startup and how it approaches building tech and launching new ventures.
I’m already very busy. How much time WILL I need to dedicate TO THIS?
We recommend that you spend 10 hours per week in the program. You can still be successful with as little as 5 per week, however.
What’s Go For Vertical’s track record?
Since launching in 2015, we’ve helped more than two dozen startups in four cohorts, and of those, two have had successful exits (OneGreek and Audivity). That’s in addition to our roster of enterprise and social venture clients.
DOES GO FOR VERTICAL TAKE EQUITY?
Only in our SUMMIT program, but that program is designed for startups with existing traction that need a full year technology, marketing and sales support to be well-positioned for acquisition. In our BASECAMP and CLIMB programs for early-stage startups, we do not.
We’re still interesTED in securing funding. Can you help?
Successfully completing our program puts you in a much better position to secure funding. And we’re happy to help you work with investors or other accelerator programs to help you get there.