Independent GTM studyOPENAI GTM STUDIO · BY STEPHEN STILWELL
Make
something
click.
Big ideas are everywhere.
Getting someone to try one? That’s the work.
Original portfolio concept. Not commissioned, sponsored, or endorsed by OpenAI.
Here for the hiring story?01 / REMIX THE CAMPAIGN
Your next idea
deserves a
first draft.
Bring the messy notes. Leave with a plan you can question.
Six authored concepts. This remix runs locally, without an AI API.
THE THINKING BEHIND THE HOOK
Earn the first useful moment.
- HUMAN TENSION
- A founder has plenty of ideas and no clear next step.
- ACTIVATION & DISTRIBUTION
- A permissioned poster at a founder meetup links to one sample planning task. A creator walkthrough shows the first draft, the critique, and the revision.
- MEASURE / DECIDE
- Measure task starts and self-reported useful completions. If starts rise but completion stalls, fix the task before buying more reach.
02 / KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SELLING
One company.
Different buying decisions.
Use the product.
ChatGPT helps people work through questions and tasks. For a team, discovery starts with the workflow, adoption barriers, and how outputs will be reviewed.
Explore ChatGPT BusinessBuild with it.
OpenAI’s API gives developers a way to build AI into their own products. Start with one user need, an evaluation plan, and cost and latency constraints.
Explore developer documentationAdvertise in it.
ChatGPT ads are a separate advertiser offering. OpenAI documents Ads Manager, CPC and CPM buying, and conversion measurement. Eligibility and availability can vary.
Explore OpenAI Ads
03 / THE ACCOUNT STRATEGIST SEAT
Good pitch.
Better questions.
A fictional advertiser sells project-management software. They want qualified trials, not a bigger impression count. Pick the objection.
MY RESPONSE
First, define a trial worth paying for.
What proportion of your trials become active teams? What is your acceptable acquisition cost? Which landing page demonstrates the product before asking for a signup?
- PROPOSED NEXT STEP
- Confirm access and measurement readiness. Agree a capped pilot, a qualified-trial definition, and a review date before launch. Compare downstream quality with the existing channel mix.
- BOUNDARY
- No promised CPC, conversion lift, or return. A small pilot is directional evidence; attribution alone does not prove incrementality.
Illustrative sales conversation, not an official OpenAI sales playbook. No advertising is purchased here.
04 / MY PROPOSED FIRST 30 DAYS
Listen. Make. Learn. Repeat.
A starting hypothesis for an OpenAI GTM role, to refine with the team.
Find the friction.
Listen to customer calls. Map objections by buyer and use case. Partner with sales, product, and support to separate education gaps from product gaps.
Output: a prioritized objection map.Ship a small test.
Choose one segment. Build a demo, a landing-page message, and an enablement brief around one useful outcome. Agree measurement before distribution.
Output: one reviewable pilot.Close the loop.
Review qualified engagement, activation, and objections. Share losses as well as wins. Expand what works; revise or stop what does not.
Output: a decision, with evidence.05 / RECRUIT THROUGH THE WORK
Show the problem.
Invite the people.
My recruiting concept: “What would you make useful?” Let candidates meet the work before they meet the application.
A proposed SF working session
Pair a GTM teammate and a builder for a public, fictional customer brief. Show discovery, a rough demo, and the critique. Cut three short clips that make the actual work legible.
Invite interested people to verified open roles on OpenAI’s careers page. Offer an accessible remote recap. Do not turn the event into unpaid candidate deliverables.
Measure: qualified role interest and candidate feedback, then source-to-screen conversion with the recruiting team. Avoid optimizing for attendance alone.
Explore official OpenAI careersAn employer-brand concept, not an announced event or a claim that OpenAI is hiring for a specific role.
STEPHEN STILWELL / USEFUL IN PRACTICE
06 / WHY ME FOR GTM?
I can explain it.
I can build the demo.
I can ask the next question.
I’ve worked in systems engineering, product ownership, and business development. Now I’m building Useful in Practice around software discovery, practical explanations, and creator partnerships.
I’m interested in GTM, account strategy, product marketing, and partnerships where technical understanding helps customers move forward.
Let’s talk GTMPortfolio evidence, not client endorsements or measured campaign outcomes.
THE REFERENCES / CHECKED SEPTEMBER 29, 2026
Borrow the principle.
Make the idea your own.
My read of OpenAI’s creative direction: optimistic about what people can do, clear about usefulness, and confident enough to keep the message simple. The Super Bowl campaign discussion emphasizes human creativity and authenticity. The presentation takes cues from OpenAI’s public design guidelines: restrained typography, clear hierarchy, and generous space. This independent concept uses a system sans-serif substitute, not the proprietary OpenAI Sans font.
OpenAI’s wordmark and official product images belong to OpenAI and are shown for editorial reference. The creative here is original spec work. The sales scenarios and 30-day plan are my proposals. Product and advertising statements draw on the official sources below.
More about working with Stephen