👋 Hi, it’s Naiomi and Erik. Welcome to Demand our weekly newsletter to help you become a top 1% marketer. In today's article, we are going to cover OpenAI’s meteoric rise and the GTM motions which fueled it.

This is the final post in the four-part series on product launches. The feedback from you was clear following the Airbnb deep-dive: let’s see an example of a company in the trenches figuring out their GTM and launch strategy. Who is doing hand to hand combat that we can learn from? We heard you.

What more relevant company than OpenAI to dive into.

Part 1 | PLAN: Start with the end in mind 🧠

• Foundational go to market frameworks underpinning product launches

Part 2 | EVOLVE: How launch strategies evolve as companies grow 🌳

• We’ll cover how launches differ by company stage including investment level 

Part 3 | DEEP DIVE: A behind the scenes look at how Airbnb launches products 🚀

• A case study on how Apple inspired Airbnb’s twice-a-year releases 

Part 4 | DEEP DIVE: OpenAIs Ascension: From Serving Scientists to 180 Million Consumers (☝️ this post)

• Decoding OpenAI’s product strategy & GTM motions to reach mainstream

A Meteoric Rise

OpenAI is one of the most consequential companies in recent history. Its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, scaled to 100 million users in 2 months. They’re threatening the greatest business model of all time. And there are at least two Hollywood movies to be made – one from the failed governance which led to a coup last November to one about the founding saga between Elon, Sam, Sergey, and IIlya. 

How are they so successful in spite of all the noise? Putting aside perspectives on politics, the FUD that has been unleashed on AI, and the for-profit vs non-profit fiasco, we want to focus on why they have been so successful and how marketing and GTM fueled this success.