This page is for MIT Sandbox and Martin Trust Center founders looking for free GTM feedback from a B2B SaaS marketing operator with five startup VP of Marketing roles.

For MIT Sandbox Founders

You built something in MIT Sandbox that solves a hard technical problem. Now let's make sure you have the B2B marketing motion to sell it.

Free 30-60 minute GTM session for MIT Sandbox founders. Honest feedback on your positioning, messaging, and early pipeline. No prep required. No pitch from me.

Request Your Free Session

Why this exists

I got help early. This is how I return it.

I have been VP of Marketing at five early-stage startups. Every one of them was built by people sharper than me on the technical side. What I could do that they couldn't, at least not yet, was take a complex product and turn it into a message that made a buyer say yes.

People gave me their time when I needed it most. That changed where I ended up. These sessions are how I build the bridge behind me.

The session is free because I think the right way to work with early-stage founders is to be useful before anything else. Some of those conversations turn into ongoing work. Most don't, and that's fine. The goal is that you leave with something you can act on that week.

If you're an MIT Sandbox or Trust Center founder trying to figure out how to turn a hard technical problem into a commercial motion, that's the conversation I want to have.

Who this is for

Built for the MIT Sandbox founder profile

You're a technical founder with a rigorous product and a fuzzy commercial story Disciplined Entrepreneurship gives you a framework for customer discovery. Turning that framework into a repeatable pipeline is a different problem. This session is for that gap.
You've gone through delta v or Sandbox and you're ready to go to market The MIT programs push you hard on customer validation. Now the question is: how do you build a scalable commercial motion from that validation? That's where most founders need help.
Your buyers are enterprise or institutional and they move slowly Whether you're selling to hospitals, manufacturers, financial institutions, or government agencies, the B2B buying process is long and involves more stakeholders than most first-time founders plan for. Getting the story right early changes how fast you move through it.
You're pre-Series A and haven't hired a marketing leader yet You don't need one yet. You need someone who has been in this seat before and will give you an honest read on what they see in your GTM approach.

If you're an MIT Sandbox or Trust Center founder and at least two of those land, this session was built for you.

What we cover

30-60 minutes. One problem. Real feedback. Really free.

Positioning and messagingWhy your current language isn't turning technical depth into buyer urgency, and what to change first.

ICP sharpnessWhether your ideal customer is actually buyable at your stage, or whether you're aimed at a segment that can't move fast enough to matter right now.

Early pipeline structureHow you're generating demand, where the drop-off is, and what a realistic first GTM motion looks like with what you actually have.

First marketing hireWhether you're ready to hire, what to look for, and how to avoid the hire that looks right on paper and sets you back six months.

Your specific questionBring the thing that's been sitting on your whiteboard for three weeks. That's usually where we start.

No prep required. No slides. No pitch deck. Just show up and we'll dig in.

The MIT ecosystem

A few companies with MIT roots

MIT alumni have founded thousands of companies. These are a few that came out of programs connected to the MIT entrepreneurship ecosystem.

HubSpot

Marketing and CRM software platform co-founded by MIT alumni Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. Went public in 2014 and became one of the most successful B2B SaaS companies in history.

MIT Alumni

Akamai Technologies

Content delivery network and cloud platform co-founded by MIT alumni. One of the earliest and largest internet infrastructure companies, now a multi-billion dollar public company.

MIT Alumni

Codeium

AI coding assistant founded by MIT alumni Douglas Chen and Varun Mohan. Raised $150M at a $1.25B valuation from General Catalyst.

MIT Alumni

Wise Systems

Enterprise route optimization and last-mile delivery platform. MIT delta v alumnus company that reached Series C and serves major logistics operators.

MIT delta v

About Tom

Five startups. Marketing Leadership.

MIT produces a specific kind of founder: someone trained to think rigorously about problems, deeply committed to the technical correctness of their solution, and often the last person in the room to simplify the product story for a buyer who doesn't share that background. The Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework is excellent. What comes after customer discovery, building a repeatable commercial motion, is where I spend my time.

I've been VP of Marketing at five B2B SaaS startups, from pre-revenue through Series B. The job was always the same: take a technically strong product, figure out who actually needs to buy it, and build the smallest marketing motion that proves the thesis before you scale it.

I run a Portfolio CMO practice with a small number of Series A and B companies. The free sessions sit outside that. No sales agenda.

More about my background

What comes after

Most sessions end at the session.

The session stands on its own. You'll leave with feedback you can act on. No follow-up pitch, no invoice.

A small number of founders want to keep going after the session. Some are trying to hire their first marketing leader and want a thought partner through that process. Some are a few months from a Series A and need someone in the room while they build the GTM motion. For those conversations, I work as an advisor or a senior marketing leader embedded in the business on a part-time basis, without the overhead of a full-time executive hire.

If that's relevant after we talk, I'll tell you what it looks like. If it's not, the session still stands. More on how I work with founders.

Common questions

Frequently asked

Is this really free for MIT Sandbox founders? What's the catch?

Yes. Fully free. No invoice at the end, no pitch. I do a small number of these for founders in programs like MIT Sandbox because the conversations are genuinely useful to me. MIT produces some of the most technically rigorous founders I've worked with, and these sessions keep me sharp. The only ask is a real question.

I'm in MIT Sandbox at the customer discovery stage. Is it too early for a GTM session?

Customer discovery is the perfect stage. The positioning decisions you make before you've repeated the wrong story to 100 prospects are the easiest ones to change. This session helps you turn what you're learning in discovery into a commercial story before it calcifies.

How is this different from the mentorship MIT Sandbox and the Trust Center already provide?

The Trust Center and Sandbox mentors cover a wide range: technical validation, customer discovery, fundraising, team building. This session is specifically about go-to-market: your ICP, your positioning, and your first pipeline motion. I've been VP of Marketing at five startups. If the question is about selling what you've built, this is where you get depth.

I'm building deep tech or tough tech through The Engine. Will a marketing conversation help?

It helps most for exactly that kind of company. The Engine backs companies that take longer to commercialize than typical SaaS. Getting the commercial story right early, who the first buyer is, what the ROI case looks like, how to structure the pilot, changes how fast you move from promising technology to paying customer. That's this conversation.

What's the difference between this session and working with you as an ongoing advisor after MIT Sandbox?

The session is one conversation. You bring a problem, I give honest feedback, you leave with something concrete. Ongoing work means I'm embedded in the business part-time: team meetings, GTM strategy over months, accountable to pipeline results. The session is the starting point. Advisory work is for founders who want to keep going.

I heard about this through MIT Sandbox or the Trust Center. What happens when I reach out?

Send one sentence on what you're building and one sentence on the specific thing you want to think through. I'll reply within 48 hours. The session is 30-60 minutes over video call. No deck, no prep.

You built something in MIT Sandbox that solves a hard technical problem. Now let's make sure you have the B2B marketing motion to sell it.

I got help early. This is how I return it.

Built for the MIT Sandbox founder profile

30-60 minutes. One problem. Real feedback. Really free.

A few companies with MIT roots

Five startups. Marketing Leadership.

Most sessions end at the session.

Frequently asked

One conversation. Something concrete to act on.