This page is for University of Washington CoMotion founders looking for free GTM feedback from a B2B SaaS marketing operator with five startup VP of Marketing roles.

For UW CoMotion Founders

You're spinning out of UW CoMotion in one of the world's great tech cities. Now let's make sure the B2B marketing motion is as strong as the technology.

Free 30-60 minute GTM session for UW CoMotion 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 CoMotion founder trying to figure out how to sell what you've built, that's the conversation I want to have.

Who this is for

Built for the CoMotion founder profile

You've received a CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund award and you're moving toward commercialization CoMotion's gap funding gets you to the next milestone. The commercial milestone, getting the first paying customer, requires a different kind of work. This session is for that gap.
You're spinning out deep tech, AI, biotech, or cloud infrastructure from UW research CoMotion supports spinouts across the full UW research portfolio. The commercialization challenge is consistent regardless of domain: the technical depth is real and the commercial story needs to be built for a buyer who doesn't share your research background.
You're in Seattle's B2B tech corridor and want to sharpen GTM before you scale Seattle has a mature enterprise software buyer base from Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and hundreds of other large companies. Getting the commercial story right before you start that outreach matters more here than in most markets.
You're pre-Series A and haven't hired a marketing leader yet You need someone who has built from zero and will give you an unfiltered read on your commercial approach.

If you're a CoMotion 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 UW CoMotion ecosystem

A few companies with UW CoMotion roots

UW CoMotion spinouts have raised over $6.4B in investment. These are a few from the ecosystem you may recognize.

Tableau Software

Data visualization and business intelligence platform backed by UW-connected investors at Madrona Venture Group. Went public in 2013 and was acquired by Salesforce for $15.7B.

UW Ecosystem

Zillow

Real estate marketplace co-founded by former UW regent Rich Barton. Went public in 2011 and became the dominant online real estate platform in the US.

UW Alumni

C-SATS

Performance management system for healthcare professionals acquired by Johnson & Johnson. CoMotion-supported spinout from UW's Department of Urology.

CoMotion Spinout

NanoString Technologies

Genomics and spatial biology platform spun out of UW research. Raised over $200M and went public in 2013 before being acquired by Bruker for $392M.

UW Spinout

About Tom

Five startups. Marketing Leadership.

UW and Seattle have a specific advantage: you're surrounded by some of the most sophisticated B2B buyers in the world from Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and hundreds of enterprise software companies. CoMotion spinouts have access to those buyers from day one. What I help with is the commercial story that makes that access convert, specifically getting the ICP sharp, the messaging right for the buyer rather than the researcher, and the pipeline motion repeatable.

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 UW CoMotion founders? What's the catch?

Yes. Fully free. No invoice, no pitch. I do a small number of these for founders in programs like CoMotion because the conversations are genuinely useful to both of us. The only ask is a real question.

I received an Innovation Gap Fund award and I'm moving toward commercialization. Is this the right time?

Gap Fund stage is the right time. You've validated the technical feasibility. Now the question is who buys this, how do they buy, and what does the first commercial motion look like. This session helps you answer those questions before you run out of runway.

How is this different from the support UW CoMotion already provides?

CoMotion's innovation managers cover IP, licensing, commercialization pathways, and investor readiness. 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 spinning out AI, biotech, or cloud infrastructure from UW. Will a marketing conversation help?

It helps most for exactly that kind of company. The technology is real and often genuinely novel. The challenge is that buyers, especially in Seattle's enterprise market, evaluate technology very differently from how researchers describe it. Getting the commercial story right is what this session is for.

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

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

I heard about this through UW CoMotion. 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.