Most founders ask who should run GTM in the USA. The better question is which parts of it they can never hand off. For an AI or software company outside North America, three things stay in-house: the product, the pricing logic, and the decision on who gets to sell it. Nearly everything else in the United States market can be owned by a partner, and often should be.
The pattern shows up even at scale. In October 2025, UKG, which serves about 80,000 customers in 150 countries, named Google Cloud its primary provider for AI and data analytics. UKG kept the product and the customer relationship, and rented the part that someone else already did better. Smaller companies entering the USA face the same split, just with a harder starting point.
Why does doing all of GTM in the USA yourself stall?
The conventional plan is to hire a US sales lead, build a pipeline and sell direct. It fails less on effort than on trust. A buyer in the USA asks for a security review, references from United States customers and a procurement-ready contract before talking price. A company with no US footprint can supply none of the three in the first year, so cycles stretch and pilots stall. Direct sales still has a place as a bridge tactic that keeps revenue and learning moving, as we cover in our guide to GTM in the USA for AI and software companies and our comparison of strategic partnering and direct sales.
What should stay in-house?
Keep the product roadmap, the pricing logic and the approval of every partner and customer. A partner can sell your software, but it cannot decide what your software is or what it is worth. Companies that give away pricing early tend to spend the next year winning it back, and companies that let a partner steer the roadmap end up building someone else's product.
What can a partner own?
Buyer access is first. A larger United States software company already sits inside the accounts you want, with security paperwork approved and contracts on file. Through a partnership with a US software company you borrow that trust instead of earning it from zero. A white-label arrangement with a larger US vendor goes further, putting your AI inside their product and their sales motion. Referral partnerships typically reach signature in two to three months, and white-label partnerships take about six, so direct sales can run alongside while the partnership is negotiated.
Who runs the handoffs between the two?
Someone has to translate between your engineers and a partner's sales team, track the pipeline and keep both sides on schedule. That is usually where in-house teams run out of time. A fractional operator can cover it at lower cost than a full-time hire, and our fractional GTM versus full-time VP of Sales comparison sets out when each makes sense.
How does North America Entry deliver this?
We design the split with the client and then run the partner-facing work. Under that model, one client grew from $25K to $3M in ARR with 90% of revenue from partners. Another landed six Tier One and two white-label partnerships in 1.9 years, and eight M&A cycles have been triggered along the way. Partner revenue contributions across four organizations were 90%, 65%, 37% and 15%, which shows the model works at very different scales. See the full record on our value to company page.
Frequently asked questions
Which parts of GTM in the USA should an AI or software company keep in-house?
Product, pricing logic and the final say on which partners and customers to accept. Those three decide what the company becomes, so they should not be delegated.
Which parts of GTM in the USA can a partner own?
Buyer access, security reviews, procurement paperwork and day-to-day selling inside the partner's accounts. These are where a United States vendor already has trust and a company outside North America does not.
Should a company hire a United States VP of Sales instead?
A full-time VP can own the same work, but only after the first partnership proves what sells. Many companies use a fractional leader first and hire later.
Ready to work out what your company should own? Visit www.naentry.com/contact.
