The 5 Silent Killers of Go-To-Market with Keji Mustapha

Every founder thinks they’re focused on growth. But too often, hidden mistakes in their go-to-market (GTM) strategy quietly erode their chances of success.In this Making The Grade episode, we’re joined by Keji Mustapha, CMO at Partech, to unpack the 5 Silent Killers of Go-To-Market. From undefined ICPs and premature scaling, to misaligned leadership and ignoring the voice of the customer, Keji shares practical advice founders can use today to avoid costly mistakes and scale more wisely.If you’re a founder, operator, or investor looking to understand why so many companies fail to “make the grade” and why their GTM strategy has a lot to answer for, then this episode will be the one for you. Episode Chapters01:40 - Keji’s unconventional journey from law to tech and venture capital05:10 - The day-to-day of a CMO in venture07:30 - The biggest challenges founders face in 202509:15 - The 5 Silent Killers of GTM15:40 - The misalignment trap18:50 - Why hiring for shiny logos often backfires23:45 - How to build customer obsession into your culture 28:00 - Keji’s predictions for GTM 32:40 - What really needs to change to improve startup graduation rates  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at [email protected]✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week!