I joined a Series A startup as the first PMM and tried to implement the full Pragmatic Framework. It was a disaster.
I'd used Pragmatic at a 500-person company with a 10-person marketing team, dedicated product marketers for each product line, and established GTM processes. It worked perfectly there.
At the startup, I was the entire marketing function. No team, no budget, no established processes. Product shipped daily. We had 30 customers and were still figuring out product-market fit.
I tried to implement all five Pragmatic boxes: build buyer personas (Market), create positioning (Focus), develop pricing strategy (Business), plan launches (Programs), enable the 5-person sales team (Readiness).
Six weeks later, I'd built beautiful frameworks and deliverables. Nothing moved.
The CEO asked: "Why aren't we closing deals faster?"
I'd been building infrastructure while the company needed execution.
That's when I learned: Pragmatic Framework works at startups, but you have to adapt it.
What's Different at Startups
Pragmatic Framework was built for B2B SaaS companies with established product-market fit, sales-led GTM motion, quarterly or monthly release cycles, dedicated product marketing teams, and budget for research and tools.
Most startups have none of that. We had unproven product-market fit. Our GTM was hybrid—some self-serve, some sales-assisted. We shipped daily or weekly. I was the only PMM wearing six hats. We had no budget for anything.
The framework still worked, but I had to prioritize ruthlessly because I couldn't do all five boxes at once. I had to simplify processes because I didn't have time for comprehensive frameworks. I had to move fast because startups ship weekly, not quarterly. I had to validate constantly because we were still proving product-market fit.
Starting with Two Boxes Instead of Five
When I joined my second startup as founding PMM, I'd learned from my first mistake. Instead of trying to implement all five boxes, I focused on two: Market and Focus.
I chose Market box—buyer research, market problems, competitive analysis—because you need to understand buyers before you can position, price, or launch anything. This is foundational.
I chose Focus box—positioning and messaging—because you need clear positioning so sales can pitch, marketing can campaign, and product can roadmap. This unlocks everything else.
I skipped Business box initially. Early-stage startups change pricing constantly. Don't over-engineer it until you have 20+ customers and stable pricing.
I skipped Programs box initially. At startups that ship daily, you don't need formal launch tiers and 8-week launch plans. You need lightweight launch communication.
I skipped Readiness box initially. With a 5-person sales team, you don't need formal enablement programs. You can train people in 1-on-1 conversations.
The strategy was to nail Market and Focus in months 1-2, then add Business, Programs, and Readiness as we scaled and they became necessary.
Doing Market Box Research in Two Weeks
At a big company, I'd spend 6 weeks on comprehensive buyer persona research: interview 30 people per segment, create detailed persona documents, validate with quantitative surveys.
At a startup, you don't have 6 weeks. You have 2 weeks max.
In my first week, I interviewed 10 customers. Not 30. Not perfect segmentation. Just 10 people who'd bought or seriously evaluated our product.
I asked what they were doing when they decided they needed a solution like this. I asked what other solutions they considered. I asked why they chose us or didn't choose us. I asked what problem they were actually solving with this.
I was looking for trigger events—when they start looking. I was looking for competitive alternatives—who we're really competing against. I was looking for value drivers—what they care about versus what we think they care about.
My output wasn't a 10-slide persona deck. It was a one-page doc covering who buys (role, company size, context), when they buy (trigger events), why they buy (jobs-to-be-done), and what they compare you to (competitive alternatives).
In my second week, I scheduled 30 minutes with sales and product. I walked through what I learned.
I asked: "Does this match what you're seeing?"
Sales said: "Yes, except prospects also care about integration with their existing tools."
Product said: "Half our users don't fit this profile—they're in a different vertical."
I adjusted my one-pager. That was our buyer persona.
Total time investment was 15 hours—10 customer interviews at 1 hour each, 5 hours for synthesis and validation.
Was it perfect? No. Was it good enough? Yes. I'd refine it as we learned more. I couldn't spend 6 weeks building perfect personas when the market was changing weekly.
Developing Positioning in Two Weeks
At a big company, I'd run a 6-week positioning project: competitive analysis, customer interviews, internal workshops, stakeholder alignment, messaging validation.
At a startup, I had 2-3 weeks max.
In my first week, I defined competitive alternatives and differentiation. From my Market box work, I knew what buyers compared us to.
I asked positioning questions. What category do buyers put us in? That's the frame of reference. What alternatives do they consider? That's our competitive set. What do we do that alternatives don't? That's our unique capability. Why does that matter to buyers? That's our value proposition.
At one startup I worked with, buyers put us in the "sales engagement platform" category—that's what they Googled. The alternatives they considered were Outreach, Salesloft, or building in-house scripts. Our unique capability was being built for mid-market instead of enterprise, making us 10x faster to implement. The value was going live in 1 week instead of 3 months, for one-third the price.
My output was a one-page positioning doc answering those four questions.
In my second week, I developed core messaging. From positioning, I extracted the core message sales and marketing would use.
For mid-market sales teams who need forecast accuracy to secure funding, our product is revenue intelligence that gives you 90%+ forecast accuracy in 7 days instead of 90 days. Unlike spreadsheets or enterprise platforms, we're purpose-built for your scale: fast to implement, easy to use, affordable.
Total time investment was 10-15 hours—positioning definition, messaging development, sales validation.
Was it perfect? No. Was it good enough? Yes. I'd refine messaging based on what worked in sales calls and campaigns.
Adding the Other Boxes As You Grow
I didn't implement Business, Programs, and Readiness until we needed them.
I added Business box—pricing and business cases—when we'd closed 20+ customers and pricing was stabilizing, when prospects started asking "What's the ROI?" and sales couldn't answer, and when we were moving upmarket and needed to justify higher prices.
When I built it, I created a simple ROI calculator with 3-5 inputs and conservative assumptions. I developed pricing justification talking points for sales. I built a business case template for enterprise deals. Time investment was 1-2 weeks.
I didn't build complex pricing models, extensive business case infrastructure, or multi-tier pricing experiments. We were too early. I kept it simple.
I added Programs box—launch planning and campaigns—when we started shipping features monthly instead of daily and needed coordination, when product kept launching without telling anyone, and when marketing and sales complained they didn't know a feature had launched.
When I built it, I created a two-tier launch framework: major launch versus minor update. I built a simple launch checklist—not 40 items, just the essentials like positioning ready, sales trained, customers notified. I created a launch communication template covering internal announcement, customer email, and sales enablement. Time investment was 1 week to build the framework, then ongoing maintenance.
I didn't build complex launch tier definitions, 8-week launch timelines, or formal launch retrospectives. We were shipping too fast for that.
I added Readiness box—sales enablement—when the sales team grew beyond 5 people and I couldn't train everyone 1-on-1 anymore, when win rate became inconsistent with some reps crushing it while others struggled, and when new products were launching and sales didn't know how to pitch them.
When I built it, I created a core pitch deck with 10-15 slides. I made one-page battlecards for our top 2-3 competitors. I wrote a simple objection handling doc covering the top 5 objections we heard. Time investment was 1-2 weeks for initial materials, then ongoing updates.
I didn't build comprehensive enablement programs, formal training sessions, or certification programs. Our team was too small.
How I Prioritized As a Founding PMM
When I joined as a founding PMM, I used Pragmatic as a guide for what to work on.
In months 1-2 before we had product-market fit, I spent 60% of my time on Market box understanding buyers, problems, and alternatives. I spent 40% of my time on Focus box getting positioning and messaging clear. I spent 0% on everything else.
In months 3-4 as we found early product-market fit, I shifted to 30% Market box keeping buyer understanding fresh, 30% Focus box iterating messaging based on what was working, 20% Programs box adding light launch coordination so product didn't ship without telling anyone, and 20% Readiness box building basic sales enablement like deck and battlecards.
In months 5-6 as we started scaling, I balanced 20% Market box for continuous buyer research, 20% Focus box for positioning refinement, 20% Business box for pricing and ROI frameworks, 20% Programs box to formalize the launch process, and 20% Readiness box to build enablement infrastructure.
The pattern was starting narrow with Market and Focus, then expanding gradually as the company scaled and needs became clear.
Learning From Founding PMM Mistakes
I've coached a dozen founding PMMs on using Pragmatic at startups. I kept seeing the same mistakes.
The first mistake was trying to implement all five boxes immediately. You're one person. You can't do comprehensive buyer research, positioning, pricing strategy, launch planning, and sales enablement simultaneously. What worked was picking Market and Focus, doing those well, then adding other boxes as we scaled.
The second mistake was building enterprise-grade infrastructure too early. They created 40-page launch plans, comprehensive pricing models, and formal enablement programs for a 30-customer startup. What worked was building the minimum viable version of each framework, then expanding as we grew.
The third mistake was treating Pragmatic as a checklist. They felt like they "should" complete all the boxes because that's what Pragmatic teaches. What worked was using Pragmatic as a diagnostic tool, not a checklist. If launch coordination wasn't a problem yet, we didn't build Programs box infrastructure.
The fourth mistake was spending too long on research. They spent 8 weeks on buyer persona research because they wanted it to be comprehensive. What worked was spending 2 weeks, getting directionally correct, refining over time. Startups move too fast for 8-week research projects.
The Pragmatic Mindset for Founding PMMs
The biggest mindset shift for using Pragmatic at startups was this: at big companies, you implement the framework comprehensively. You have time, budget, and team to build infrastructure. At startups, you use the framework as a guide, not a rulebook. You do the minimum viable version of each box. You expand as you grow.
At an enterprise company, Market box meant 30 interviews per persona, quantitative validation, and a formal research program. At a startup, Market box meant 10 interviews, directionally correct insights, and continuous refinement.
At an enterprise company, Focus box meant a 6-week positioning project, stakeholder workshops, and messaging validation. At a startup, Focus box meant a 2-week positioning sprint, sales validation, and iterating based on what worked.
At an enterprise company, Programs box meant four launch tiers, 8-week planning cycles, and formal retrospectives. At a startup, Programs box meant two launch tiers (big versus small), lightweight coordination, and informal retros.
Same framework, different implementation depth.
When Pragmatic Really Helps Founding PMMs
Pragmatic Framework became invaluable for me as a founding PMM in four specific ways.
First, it showed me what I was missing. As the only PMM, I was doing everything. Pragmatic showed me which capabilities existed so I knew what to build as we grew. I might be strong on positioning (Focus) but weak on competitive intel (Market). The framework showed me the gap.
Second, it gave me a shared language with executives. When I told my CEO "I'm working on the Market box," they understood I was doing buyer research. When I said "We need to strengthen our Programs box," they understood I was building launch infrastructure. Shared language made communication faster.
Third, it helped me hire my next PMM. When I was ready to hire PMM #2, Pragmatic helped me define the role. I owned Market and Focus. I needed someone to own Programs and Readiness. That was a clear job description.
Fourth, it prevented me from skipping foundations. The framework forced me to do Market work—understand buyers—before Focus work—positioning. This prevented the common mistake of positioning before you understand the market.
The Bottom Line for Founding PMMs
Pragmatic Framework works at startups if you adapt it.
Start with Market and Focus. These are foundational. Everything else builds on them. Understand buyers, nail positioning.
Keep it lean. Ten interviews instead of 30. One-page docs instead of 40-slide decks. Two-week sprints instead of 6-week projects.
Add boxes as you grow. Business when pricing stabilizes. Programs when launches need coordination. Readiness when sales team scales beyond 5.
Use it as a guide, not a checklist. Implement what solves your problems. Skip what doesn't.
The framework won't make you successful as a founding PMM. Execution, speed, and judgment will.
But the framework will give you structure so you're not reinventing PMM from scratch every time you face a new problem.
I used it. I adapted it. I shipped fast.
That's how you make Pragmatic work at startups.