Most founders prepare their pitch deck meticulously and leave GTM diligence as an afterthought. That's a mistake. For growth-stage B2B companies, the quality of your go-to-market system is one of the most scrutinised parts of any deal.

What VCs and PE firms are trying to establish

Investors aren't just evaluating whether you have pipeline. They're evaluating whether your pipeline is repeatable, scalable, and independent of any single person. The core questions: Is revenue predictable? Can the sales motion be replicated by new hires? Is the founder required to close deals? How long does it take to ramp a new rep?

For the full picture of what predictable revenue looks like from an investor's perspective, see how to build predictable revenue in B2B.

The red flags that kill or restructure deals

Founder dependency: All deals require founder involvement. This is the most common GTM red flag and leads to earn-out structures or lower multiples. We cover this in depth in what is key-person risk in B2B sales and how to eliminate it.

No documentation: The sales process lives in people's heads. Investors interpret this as operational immaturity. A written outbound playbook is one of the clearest signals of process maturity.

Inconsistent metrics: Win rates, deal cycles, and CAC that vary wildly between quarters signal a process problem, not a market problem.

Tool sprawl: Multiple disconnected tools with no clear attribution or reporting makes forecasting unreliable. This is what RevOps for B2B startups is designed to fix.

What a GTM that passes diligence looks like

A documented ICP with clear segmentation criteria (see how to build an ICP). A written outbound playbook with version history. A RevOps infrastructure with clean data and reliable forecasting. Measurable rep performance with clear benchmarks. Evidence of repeatability — multiple reps hitting similar numbers using the same process.

This is exactly what a functioning B2B GTM system looks like in practice.

How far in advance to prepare

Eighteen months is the honest answer. GTM maturity takes time to build and demonstrate. Investors want to see a track record, not a plan. If you're planning to raise in the next 12-18 months, the time to start systematising your GTM is now.