At the floor, customer acquisition cost must approach zero—because lifetime value has collapsed. The economics are unforgiving: every dollar spent on human-mediated sales is a dollar your vibe-coded competitor doesn’t spend.
The Core Truth
If LTV collapses to $50, you can’t afford $500 CAC. Traditional sales motions are mathematically impossible on the floor.
The GTM Graveyard
Traditional B2B SaaS sales motions are dead at the floor:
- SDR Team: DEAD
- Outbound Sequences: DEAD
- Demo Calls: DEAD
- Annual Contracts: DEAD
- Sales Hierarchy: DEAD
CAUSE OF DEATH: CAC exceeds LTV by 10x. Math doesn’t work.
The Math: Why Sales Died
Traditional B2B SaaS: LTV $50,000, CAC allowed $16,000, SDR + AE + Demos works ✓
Floor Economics: LTV $50-500, CAC allowed $15-150, Sales team impossible ✗
The New GTM: Zero-Touch
Product-Only Growth
Zero sales team. No SDRs. No demos. Self-serve only. CAC = $0 (Product IS sales)
Viral Mechanics
Built into code. Sharing + Status. Collaboration. Network effects. K-factor > 1 (Growth begets growth)
Community Distribution
Discord servers. Twitter/X presence. Reddit threads. Founder = brand. TRUST = GTM (Authenticity wins)
Speed Over Polish
Ship in days. Iterate in public. “Build in public”. MVP → feedback. WEEK 1 SHIP (10+ competitors every single week)
The Founder-Led GTM Playbook
- Build in Public: Ship early, share progress, build audience
- Twitter Threads: Explain the problem, document the journey
- Discord Community: Create tribe, get feedback, build advocates
- Product Hunt: Launch moment, capture attention, drive signups
- Viral Loop in Product: Built-in sharing, collaboration requires invites
- User Content: Tutorials, templates, use cases from users
Result: Organic Scale. TOTAL CAC: ~$0 (Founder time only)
The Floor GTM Truth
On the floor, distribution is not a function you hire for. Distribution is what you build into the product.
The product IS the GTM.
The founder IS the brand.
The community IS the sales team.
This is part of a comprehensive analysis on AI and The Great SaaS Bifurcation. Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.
Key Takeaways
- CAC must approach zero because LTV has collapsed
- Traditional sales motions (SDRs, demos, outbound) are mathematically impossible
- Product-only growth: no sales team, self-serve only
- Viral mechanics must be engineered into the code
- Community becomes the distribution channel
- Speed over polish: ship in days, not months
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