SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 9, 2026--
Cello and Lightspeed Venture Partners today proudly unveiled the 50 winners of the GTM10 Awards2026, the first global program recognizing the best Go-To-Market (GTM) leaders across Marketing, Sales, Growth, Customer, and Partnerships in software. The winners were selected by an esteemed jury of GTM legends, including Wade Foster (Co-founder & CEO, Zapier), Nadia Rashid (CRO, Outreach), and Keith Messick (CMO, Vercel) - each bringing decades of experience in scaling high-growth software companies.
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After reviewing 602 nominations from 28 countries, the jury selected a diverse cohort of leaders redefining what it means to bring technology to market in 2026.
Explore the full list of winners:https://thegtm10.com/winners-2026/
The Five Functions Driving Modern GTM
Each category had its competitive dynamics, with Growth being the most contested, with the highest number of nominations. And the winners were from a wide variety of companies, from Big techs like Klarna, Figma, and Hubspot to Startups and Scaleups like Yoodli, Chargebee, and Clay.
Below are some standout winners from all categories:
“As part of the jury, the nominations that stood out shared a common thread: leaders who are embracing the unprecedented nature of this current moment with creativity and conviction, but without compromising the fundamentals of revenue performance,” said Joe Abbott, GTM10 jury member and VP at Index Ventures.
The Shared GTM Challenges of 2025
Across all categories, this year’s nominees consistently tackled a shared set of challenges:
1. Doing more with less: Headcount frozen or cut, targets unchanged. Nominees had to find entirely new ways of operating rather than just working harder: AI tools, process redesign, ruthless prioritisation.
2. SLG → PLG or hybrid motion transitions: Inherited purely sales-led orgs and had to introduce a product-led layer from scratch, often as the first GTM or marketing hire. The hard part wasn't the strategy, it was earning internal credibility with product and sales to actually execute it.
3. Broken retention inherited on arrival: Nominees walked into "hands-off" customer cultures, poor ICP fit, or products sold to the wrong customer entirely. The challenge was diagnosing why before they could fix it.
4. AI disrupting their own playbook Traditional GTM motions were breaking down mid-execution: buyer behaviour shifting, outbound channels degrading, sales coaching needing a full rebuild. The challenge was staying relevant while rebuilding the plane in flight.
While Ziv Peled, Chief AI and Customer Officer at AppsFlyer shared; “AI is about to change how we do this work. The prep, the listening, the way we catch a problem while it is still small. But the teams that win will not be the ones with the best tools. They will be the ones who use AI to spend less time on the screen and more time with the customer.”
The Selection Process
Winners were chosen by a panel of world-class judges, including GTM veterans from Outreach, Zapier, Calendly, and Demandbase, alongside investors from Sequoia, a16z, Index Ventures, and Dawn Capital. Judges assessed candidates based on:
Recognition and What Comes Next
Winners received:
About Cello
Cello is the all-in-one referral platform that helps SaaS companies launch user and partner referral programs with no-code simplicity. Trusted by category leaders like Miro, Typeform, and VEED, Cello is redefining how viral growth scales in SaaS.
About Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm with $40B in AUM. It backs category-defining companies in enterprise, consumer, and fintech, such as Snap, Anthropic, and Rubrik.
Cello and Lightspeed Venture Partners congratulate the 2026 GTM10 Winners.
MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team during a competition was convicted of murder Tuesday in a trial that drew attention far beyond the booming Dallas suburb where the two students attended different high schools.
A jury rejected Karmelo Anthony’s claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in stadium bleachers last year. Most people who testified were students who described a heated exchange over Anthony's refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf's team.
Anthony, now 19, did not testify at trial and faces up to life in prison after a sentencing hearing in which his mother was the only witness. His lawyer had an arm around him when the guilty verdict was announced.
Notoriety about the case spread, in part, because of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors that the tragedy had nothing to do with race.
Jurors, who deliberated for less than three hours, had the option of a lesser charge, manslaughter, but didn’t choose it. The same jury will determine the sentence.
“He’s very sorry for what he did. Please, have mercy on my son,” Anthony's mother, Kala Hayes, pleaded to jurors shortly after the verdict.
But prosecutor Bill Wirskye asked for a lengthy prison term.
“Mercy to the guilty,” he said, “is cruelty to the innocent.”
Earlier Tuesday, during the trial's closing arguments, the jury heard dueling narratives from Wirskye and defense attorney Mike Howard about what happened in April 2025.
Several schools were competing when Anthony sat under the Memorial High School tent that was perched in the bleachers. Metcalf and others had repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating confrontation.
Howard told jurors that Metcalf had “no legal right to put his hands on Karmelo.”
“Texas law does not require that you wait until you get hit,” Howard said. “In that split second of chaos, you must put yourself in his shoes.”
During the nearly weeklong trial, prosecutors said that Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses have testified that Anthony was the aggressor.
“This is not self-defense, folks. It’s murder plain and simple,” Wirskye said.
Anthony at one point reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.
Metcalf pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest. The teens, both from Frisco, didn't know each other.
“You don’t get to meet a shove with a stab, especially if you provoke the shove,” Wirskye said.
The prosecutor also made a broader pitch to the jury: “Ultimately, this case is about accountability. What kind of community do you want to live in.”
The trial drew lines of spectators hoping to find seats in the gallery and unfolded amid heavy security at the Collin County courthouse. As police officers watched Tuesday, dozens of people stood outside the courthouse in 90 degree Fahrenheit heat (32 degrees Celsius) to await the verdict. There were wails of grief from one woman — “This isn’t real!” — when the result became known.
Frisco is one of Texas’ fastest-growing cities that is dotted with dozens of modern school campuses and gleaming athletic facilities.
Several students testified that Metcalf, after ordering Anthony to leave his team’s tent, scoffed before Anthony reached into a bag and pulled out a knife.
One teen recalled Metcalf telling Anthony, “You don’t have anything in that backpack. It’s Frisco.”
The parents of Anthony and Metcalf have said they were good students who planned to go to college.
Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.
A crowd gathers by Collin County Sheriffs vehicles parke in front of the Collin County courthouse after the Karmelo Anthony verdict was reached Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
An Austin Metcalf supporter holds a sign as law enfrocement officilals walk past in front of the Collin County courthouse following the verdict in the trial was reached Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Karmelo Anthony supporters voice their opinions in front of the Collin County courthouse after a verdict was reached Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
An emotional Karmelo Anthony supporter is consoled by another outside the Collin County courthouse after the verdict was reached in the trial Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Law enforcement officials stand in front of the Collin County courthouse after the verdict was reached in the Karmelo Anthony trial Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
A person walks around announcing the guilty verdict in the Karmelo Anthony trial in front of the Collin County courthouse, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Supporters for Karmelo Anthony demonstrate in front of the Collin County courthouse Thursday, June 4, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
A Collin County seriff drives past the front of the county courthouse Thursday, June 4, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
