​Most startup marketing advice fails because it ignores one thing: stage. What works at inception can be a waste at PMF, and what’s essential at scale can be premature (or even harmful) early on.

​In this panel, Dan London, Rachel Walter, and Grayson Leverenz — moderated by Matt Williamson — break down how marketing and GTM should evolve across the startup journey, from “we’re still figuring it out” to repeatable growth. You’ll get a practical, stage-based view of what to prioritize, what to delay, and how to avoid the common trap of polishing the brand before the product and customer proof are real.

​We’ll cover:

• ​Inception: establishing the basics (team, story, positioning) without faking maturity

• ​Customer proof: tight tests, clear hypotheses, and founder-led selling that actually teaches you something

• ​PMF 1.0: when brand starts to matter and how to scale what’s already working

• ​Scaling: building leadership and systems so GTM doesn’t depend on the founder forever

​Who should attend: founders and operators making GTM and resourcing decisions in the next 6–12 months.

​Speakers

​Dan London

​Dan London is a marketing and technology executive with over 30 years of experience building and scaling growth-driven businesses.

​Throughout his career, he's led high-performing teams at companies ranging from early-stage startups to global tech firms, including Lulu.com, ShareFile (acquired by Citrix), Bandwidth, Ansible (acquired by Red Hat), and Global Data Consortium (acquired by London Stock Exchange Group). In his last role, he served as CEO and Board Member of Adwerx (transacted to Imaginuity). He is currently leading Growth at PlayMetrics.

​Rachel Walter

​Rachel Walter is VP of Marketing at Endpoint, where she leads go-to-market strategy for warehouse automation software used by manufacturers and distributors across the U.S.

​A former founder turned marketer, Rachel brings nearly twenty years of experience building products and brands across both consumer and SaaS companies. She began her career launching a living-wage college apparel company as a Fulbright Scholar in Sri Lanka, growing distribution to more than 100 universities and earning recognition in Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30. She later co-founded the home fragrance brand Happy Wax, earning two U.S. patents for product innovation. Rachel has led marketing efforts in both B2B and B2C environments and enjoys working across the entire marketing funnel—from product positioning and branding to demand generation and customer growth. Rachel is a graduate of Duke University and lives in Durham with her son Lars and dog Louie.

​Grayson Leverenz

​Grayson Leverenz is the founder of Groove GTM, where she works as a go-to-market operating partner for founders building repeatable growth engines. She helps early-stage companies craft compelling brand stories and execute integrated campaigns using her 3:1 Flow to turn early traction into repeatable demand.

​Grayson brings more than 20 years of experience across brand strategy, marketing leadership, and startup growth. Earlier in her career, she worked on CPG brands including Aveeno at Johnson & Johnson, and later helped scale high-growth startup Spiffy from early traction to more than $70M in revenue.

​Today she works with founders and first marketing hires to turn early traction into a repeatable go-to-market groove.

​Moderated by Matt Williamson

​Matt Williamson is a seasoned entrepreneur and startup operator with 20+ years of experience building, launching, and scaling software businesses. He is the founder of Prediktiv, a consultancy that helps startups and growth-stage companies with product launches, go-to-market strategy, revenue growth, and venture fundraising.

Previously, Matt founded Windsor Circle, a predictive marketing platform for e-commerce retailers that was acquired by OSG/WhatCounts in 2018, and Plum CoOwnership, which enables groups to purchase vacation homes together. Earlier in his career, he was part of Bronto Software’s early management team, helping scale the company from roughly 10 to 100 employees and drive significant growth in revenue and deal size, contributing to Bronto’s $200M acquisition by Oracle in 2015.

Matt has been recognized with honors including Google Demo Day, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Elevator Pitch, an Inc. 500 ranking (#351), and Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and Top Companies to Watch. A proud double Tar Heel, he earned undergraduate degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and an MBA with honors from UNC Kenan-Flagler, where he served as class president. He’s also a longtime Habitat for Humanity volunteer and former board president of Orange County Habitat (NC).

​Location

​American Underground — Upstairs

​324 Blackwell Street, Durham, NC 27701

​Parking

​Free parking is available at the American Tobacco Campus North Deck, courtesy of CBC Real Estate.

• ​Map to: 305 W Pettigrew St, Durham, NC 27701

• ​Use the 2nd floor and above. (Please do not park on first floor.)

​Questions?

​This session is part of Raleigh-Durham Startup Week. Click here to learn more about the event, plus get answers to your FAQs.

​Track Supporter

​​​Thank you to Narrasoft for supporting the Strategy Track at #RDSW26!