Cadence
Q3 2025 · Go-To-Market Plan

Ship the
plan.*

The launch strategy for Cadence — the project-management app that keeps teams in rhythm. Goals, segments, channels, calendar, budget and the metrics that prove it worked.

* one dominant metric per phase — no vanity numbers
CADENCE Marketing · Confidential 01 / 11
The bet · why this launch matters

Teams don't need
another tool.
They need a rhythm.

The PM category is crowded and fatigued — the average knowledge worker juggles 9 apps a day. We don't win on features. We win on the promise that Cadence makes coordination feel effortless. Every dollar this quarter buys that story.

$9.7B
PM software market, 2025 — growing 13% YoY
61%
of teams say their tools slow them down
12wk
to establish share of voice before Q4 budgets
CADENCE The Opportunity 02 / 11
Goals · Q3 targets that define success

One north star, three drivers.

North Star Metric
25K
activated teams by Sept 30 — a team that created a project and invited ≥2 members.
Awareness
Aided brand recall in target ICP
18%
Acquisition
New signups from paid + organic
120K
Conversion
Free → paid within 30 days
8.5%
Blended CAC ceiling: $42 · Target LTV:CAC 3.4×
CADENCE Goals & Targets 03 / 11
Audience · who we're building the rhythm for

Three teams, one need.

PRIMARY · 55%
Scaling Startups
10–75 person product teams

Outgrew spreadsheets, hate enterprise bloat. Pain: coordination breaks the day they hit 20 people.

GROWTH · 30%
Agencies
Client-services & creative shops

Many parallel projects, tight deadlines. Pain: client visibility and utilization tracking.

SEED · 15%
Solo & Micro
Founders, freelancers, 1–5 people

Fast to try, loud to share. Pain: too much overhead. Our free tier's viral engine.

CADENCE Target Segments 04 / 11
Positioning · the one thing we own

For teams that
hate managing
and love moving.

Cadence is the project-management app that stays out of the way. While competitors sell control, we sell momentum — set the beat once and let the team keep time. Positioned against Asana's complexity and Trello's ceiling.

POWERFUL
SIMPLE
RIGID
FLUID
Asana
Trello
Cadence
CADENCE Positioning 05 / 11
Channel mix · four engines, one funnel

How we reach them.

01 / CONTENT
Earned Attention
  • SEO hub: "team ops" playbooks
  • Weekly "In Sync" newsletter
  • Founder POV on LinkedIn
  • Template gallery (link-bait)
Role · Top of funnel
02 / PAID
Bought Reach
  • Google intent search
  • LinkedIn ABM to agencies
  • Reddit + YouTube pre-roll
  • Retargeting sequences
Role · Acquisition
03 / LIFECYCLE
Owned Nurture
  • 5-step onboarding drip
  • In-app activation nudges
  • Trial→paid upgrade flow
  • Win-back for churned
Role · Conversion
04 / COMMUNITY
Shared Advocacy
  • Product Hunt launch day
  • Ambassador program
  • Slack community "The Beat"
  • Referral loop (2-sided)
Role · Retention / loop
CADENCE Channel Mix 06 / 11
Calendar · the Q3 beat sheet

Three months, three acts.

JULY · TEASE
AUGUST · LAUNCH
SEPTEMBER · SCALE
Content
SEO hub build + teaser posts
Launch story + template drop
Customer stories, podcast tour
Paid
Waitlist ads
Full-spend blitz — search + social
Scale winners, ABM to agencies
Lifecycle
Waitlist warming
Onboarding drip live
Trial→paid + win-back flows
Community
Recruit ambassadors
Product Hunt launch day
Referral loop + Slack activation
★ Key moment · Aug 12 — Product Hunt + press embargo lifts
CADENCE Campaign Calendar 07 / 11
Budget · where the $600K goes

Spend follows the funnel.

$600K
total Q3 marketing budget · 68% variable / 32% fixed
Paid acquisition
42% · $252K
Content & SEO
24% · $144K
Lifecycle & tooling
18% · $108K
Community & events
16% · $96K
CADENCE Budget Allocation 08 / 11
Metrics · how we'll know it worked

Measured by the beat.

Awareness
Impressions / SOV
40M
tracked weekly · dash
Acquisition
Signups / CAC
120K
CAC ≤ $42 blended
Activation
Teams activated
25K
north star
Revenue
New MRR
$310K
8.5% free→paid
CadenceWeekly growth review · Monday
Kill switchPause any channel under 2× ROAS at wk 4
Source of truthAmplitude + HubSpot + Looker
CADENCE Success Metrics 09 / 11
Risks · what could break the rhythm

Planned for, not hoped away.

Paid CAC spikes

Auction inflation on launch keywords.
Mitigation: weight budget to owned SEO + referral loop; cap CAC at $42 with auto-pause.

Weak activation

Signups don't invite teammates.
Mitigation: onboarding drip + in-app nudges shipped before paid ramp; templates lower time-to-value.

Launch-day noise

Product Hunt gets buried.
Mitigation: pre-warmed ambassador list + hunter secured 3 weeks out; press embargo synced.

CADENCE Risks & Mitigation 10 / 11
The ask · what we need to hit go

Approve the beat.

$600K, twelve weeks, four channels, one north star: 25,000 activated teams by Sept 30. Green-light by June 20 to lock the July tease and hold the Aug 12 launch date.

Decision byJune 20
Launch dayAug 12
Target MRR$310K
CADENCE Let's ship it 11 / 11