You don't know what you are talking about, and you have it backwards.
The Go-Go's started in January 1978, and developed a reputation in the Hollywood punk scene, and they opened for Madness and The Specials, and they were invited by both bands to tour in the U.K., which they spent the better part of 1980 doing.
They were around for over three years paying their dues, before they were signed to a recording contract. Their debut album did went to #1, despite not having been supported that much, or expected to do that well.
The Runaways were more like the female Monkees. They were helped from the start by music industry insider and Svengali Kim Fowley, who cowrote all but one of the songs o their first album. (Unlike on the Go-Go's debut) Because they were originated with a music industry insider, they had an album out in less than a year.
The Runaways basically ripped off Suzy Quatro.