I know you've seen these terms tossed around. You may even see job ads looking for people in these areas, yet when I talk to founders anywhere in tech, not just web3, the confusion remains widespread - wtf is the difference?

Let me give you a short and sweet human explanation and examples for each. No wikipedia or school definitions.

1. GTM (Go-to-Market):

Let's say you're planning a party. Then GTM is like planning a big party. It's the overall plan for how you'll introduce your new toy (product) to all your friends (customers). It includes deciding who to invite, what games to play, what drinks to serve, and how to make sure everyone has fun, how to stay in touch before, during and after the party. How will you share those great moments and how will you help everyone get the new toy with a discount.

Example: For a new video game, GTM might include choosing to release it first on PlayStation (because …), then on Xbox, targeting teenage gamers through social media ads, and partnering with popular streamers.

2. Marketing:

This should be easy, because everyone is hiring marketers. Marketing is like telling everyone why and how your party is going to be awesome. It's about spreading the word and making people excited to come. You might make cool posters, ugly memes, create contest, or tell funny stories about your toy to get people interested.

Example: For a project building decentralized travel, marketing might look like a video podcast from rental properties, colorful shorts on YouTube and other social media platforms, competitions for users on Jokerace to win free weekends for sharing their experiences and visuals on socials, etc.

3. BD (Business Development):

This is a tougher one but no worries. BD is like making friends with other BIG kids who also have cool toys that, if used together, could make your party even better. You work together to create something more exciting than what you could do alone.

Example: A decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform might partner with a popular cryptocurrency wallet to allow users to access the lending services directly from their wallet interface. This partnership expands the reach of the DeFi platform and adds value to the wallet's offerings. Or our decentralized travel project doing property rentals could partner with airlines that have onchain loyalty programs and negotiate special deal for you - cool kids.

4. Sales:

Sales seems so obvious, yet people often mistaken it for BD or marketing. Sales is when you actually convince people to come to your party or play with your toy. It's about talking directly to people and showing them why they'll have fun if they join in. You’d use sales for really really expensive parties or big groups of friends of friends.

Example: A hardware wallet company could create an institutional offering - custodial services or on-demand branded hardware - that's hard to sell on your webstore. Sales is the way to go - a salesperson would connect with banks, hedge funds, family offices, and crypto VCs as potential customers, explaining benefits and helping them choose the right option.

5. Community Building:

This is like creating a club for all the friends who love your toy. They may have the same toy, or not yet, or never will, but they love it nonetheless. You help them meet each other, share tips on how to play with the toy, let them use your toy, and make them feel special for being part of your group.

Example: This one is easy, but for the sake of completness; let's say we're a Web3 protocol—here, community building will focus on creating an engaged group of users, developers, and enthusiasts who contribute to the project’s growth and success. It may include DAO voting, Discord, Telegram groups, developer calls, AMAs with the team, poker nights, and more… All with the goal of fostering a sense of ownership and involvement among users, turning them into advocates for the project.

The main differences summarized:

GTM is the overall strategy, while marketing, sales, BD, and community building are tactics within that strategy.
Marketing spreads general awareness, while sales focuses on individual transactions.
BD creates partnerships with other businesses to expand reach and capabilities, while community building focuses on engaging end-users.
Marketing typically happens before a sale, while community building often occurs before, during, and after.
BD often involves formal agreements and integrations, while community building is more about creating spaces for interaction and collaboration among users.
BD & Sales typically aim for direct business growth, while GTM & Community building contribute to long-term sustainability and organic growth through orchestrating all parts for the best economical and user engagement / loyalty results.

If you’re a founder with a small team - you don’t need to worry about the name of the role so much.

Someone has to do the work for all these roles otherwise your distribution will such and project will suffer.

Whatever role you will advertise, the person will most likely have to do them all. Just make sure they understand it - and make sure you know what you’re looking for.

I hope you found something interesting in today's post. If you like it - share it with your friends - they may love it as well! I

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Also, let's connect - find me as BFG (aka BrightFutureGuy)
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