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The GTM bets that shouldn't have worked, and did

One grew revenue 50x after half his team quit over the strategy. One brought in 50K signups in a single day with no paid budget. One generated 100M+ views from a stunt that took 50 hours to conceive. One asked every prospect to demo the product themselves instead of demoing it for them.

None of them followed the safe playbook. They treated GTM like an experiment, moved before they had proof, and made bets most founders would never get approved.

HubSpot for Startups documented all 6 stories in the free Bold Bets Playbook. The risks they took, why it was risky, and what it returned.

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⚡ 5 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW — BEFORE THE BELL

1. 🛢️ STRAIT OF HORMUZ CLOSED — IRAN DECLARES CLOSURE AFTER US STRIKES — Iran's top joint military command officially declared the Strait of Hormuz closed as of Thursday, with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard ordering all vessels without guidance to stand down. This is THE dominant market theme going into open. WTI crude climbed +1.90% to ~$91.74 and Brent rose +1.59% to ~$94.58 in early Asian trading — oil is your #1 sector play today. Investing.com

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🌍 MACRO BACKDROP — THE BIG PICTURE

Wednesday, June 10 was a brutal session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 953.33 points, or 1.87%, to 49,918.78. The S&P 500 lost 1.62% to end at 7,266.99, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.98% to settle at 25,169.50. The selloff was directly triggered by Trump's escalated rhetoric. "Iran is all talk and no action," Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday. "They've taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them. Now they will have to pay the price!!!" CNBCCNBC

The overnight narrative has partially shifted. The latest escalation came after U.S. Central Command said it completed strikes against Iranian military targets, and U.S. futures are now rebounding. But investors are increasingly grappling with the possibility of a prolonged conflict and pricing in a "long grind," facing higher geopolitical risk premiums as war-driven inflation and borrowing costs stay elevated. CNBCCNBC

The Fear & Greed Index sits at just 27 (Fear) per the TradingTerminal screenshot, confirming sentiment is depressed. The VIX at 20.65 is elevated but not in panic territory. The normalized market performance chart shows IWM leading YTD at +32% with QQQ at +30% — the bull run remains structurally intact, but geopolitical risk is the wildcard.

The DCG read: This is a "buy the completion of strikes" bounce setup. The market already sold the escalation hard on Wednesday. The CENTCOM "mission complete" headline flips the narrative to "relief" pre-market. PPI at 8:30 AM is the confirmation or rejection of that thesis. Trade accordingly.

🗓️ TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR — THURSDAY JUNE 11, 2026

🏦 SECTOR PERFORMANCE SNAPSHOT

🟢 ADVANCING SECTORS (TradingTerminal Pre-Market Data)

🤖 STOCK MARKET NEWS — SECTOR BY SECTOR

🔥 HOT SECTOR #1: ENERGY 🛢️

The Hormuz Play — Highest Conviction Sector Today

This is the #1 story on the planet right now for energy traders. Iran's top joint military command announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, including oil tankers and commercial ships, saying any vessel attempting passage will be shot at. Brent futures rose to ~$94.58 and WTI crude climbed to ~$91.74 in early Thursday trading. The supply destruction is compounded by a massive inventory drawdown — U.S. crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels to 426.5 million barrels in the week ended June 5, compared with analysts' expectations for a 4 million-barrel draw. Investing.comInvesting.com

Exxon Mobil (XOM) is the cleanest pure-play here. The stock is trading in the $149–$152 range on June 11 per verified data, up significantly from its 52-week low of $105.53 and well off the high of $176.41 — meaning there is room to run. Energy stocks broadly remain the sector with the most confirmed fundamental tailwind in the current macro environment.

🎯 XOM Trade Setup:

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