This page is for UChicago Polsky Center and New Venture Challenge founders looking for free GTM feedback from a B2B SaaS marketing operator with five startup VP of Marketing roles.

For UChicago Polsky Center Founders

You've survived the New Venture Challenge. Now let's make sure your B2B marketing story is as rigorous as your business plan.

Free 30-60 minute GTM session for UChicago Polsky Center 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 a Polsky Center or NVC founder trying to figure out how to turn a rigorous business case into a repeatable pipeline, that's the conversation I want to have.

Who this is for

Built for the Polsky Center founder profile

You came through the New Venture Challenge with a polished business plan and now need to execute it The NVC forces you to think rigorously about your business model. Now the question is what does the first commercial motion actually look like in practice. That gap is where this session lives.
You're building B2B software and the unit economics are clear but the pipeline isn't Polsky and Booth founders tend to be excellent on financial modeling and market sizing. The challenge is often that the analytical confidence doesn't translate into a repeatable commercial motion. This session is about that translation.
You're in the Polsky Incubator and want to sharpen your GTM before you scale the team The incubator gives you the space and community to build. The commercial motion you build here sets the foundation for everything that comes after. Getting it right before you hire is worth the time.
You're pre-Series A and haven't made your first marketing hire yet You don't need a marketing leader yet. You need an operator who has been in this seat and will tell you what they see in your GTM approach.

If you're a Polsky 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 Polsky ecosystem

A few companies that came out of the Polsky Center

The Polsky Center's New Venture Challenge has helped launch some of the most recognized companies in consumer and B2B tech. A few you'll know.

Grubhub

Online food ordering and delivery marketplace. One of the Polsky Center's most celebrated success stories, growing from an NVC participant to a public company acquired by Just Eat Takeaway for $7.3B.

NVC Alumni

Braintree

Payment processing platform acquired by PayPal for $800M. Came out of the Polsky ecosystem and became the payment infrastructure behind Uber, Airbnb, and hundreds of other platforms.

Polsky Alumni

BenchPrep

B2B SaaS platform for cloud-based test prep and professional certification. NVC winner that raised $28M and serves major enterprise training and certification organizations.

NVC Alumni

Simple Mills

Clean-ingredient food company founded by a Booth MBA. Came through the NVC, raised significant venture funding, and became one of the fastest-growing natural food brands in the US.

NVC Alumni

About Tom

Five startups. Marketing Leadership.

UChicago and Booth produce a specific kind of founder: analytically rigorous, deeply serious about the business model, and often more prepared on the financial side than the commercial side. The New Venture Challenge is one of the best business plan competitions in the country. What I help with is the step after the plan: building a commercial motion that actually repeats in the market.

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 Polsky Center and NVC 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 the Polsky Center because the conversations are useful to both of us. Chicago produces some of the most analytically rigorous founders I work with, and these sessions keep me sharp. The only ask is a real question.

I just won the NVC or I'm in the Polsky Incubator. Is this the right time for a GTM conversation?

Post-NVC is the right time. The competition forced you to build a rigorous business plan. Now the question is how to execute the commercial side. This session helps you build the pipeline motion before you hire a team to run it.

How is this different from the mentorship the Polsky Center already provides?

The Polsky Center's mentors and EIRs cover a wide range: operations, fundraising, legal, financial modeling. This session is specifically about GTM: 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 B2B SaaS out of the Polsky Incubator. Is that your focus area?

Yes. B2B SaaS is where I've spent my career. The questions I help founders work through: who is the actual economic buyer, what does the buying process look like in your market, how do you price for early customers, and what does the first repeatable pipeline motion look like before you scale. That's this conversation.

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

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

I heard about this through the Polsky Center. What happens when I reach out?

Send one sentence on what you're building and one sentence on what 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've survived the New Venture Challenge. Now let's make sure your B2B marketing story is as rigorous as your business plan.

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

Built for the Polsky Center founder profile

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

A few companies that came out of the Polsky Center

Five startups. Marketing Leadership.

Most sessions end at the session.

Frequently asked

One conversation. Something concrete to act on.