My Advice to Early-Stage Companies

I advise a lot of early stage companies and while they’re all unique, there are some tactical plays that I’ve seen work over and over, and others that don’t.

Here are my thoughts on the following tactics (not an exhaustive list):

👉 Paid Media – this is expensive and may not be the best ROI for testing and finding your audience. This is good if you have deep understanding of your ICP, have dialed in your positioning and messaging, and where paid media accelerates existing growth (i.e. adding fuel to a fire).

👉 SEO / AEO – while good, it’s a long-term game, highly likely to be disrupted, requires a lot of effort so the ROI is not great. I would say do it, but don’t let it consume you. Also, write about what people are actually searching. If they’re not searching, no one will read it.

👉 Social Media – absolutely! But don’t look at Red Bull or Liquid Death and try to be them. For early stage companies, you’ll likely want to lean into your founder’s story, behind-the-scenes, and solution videos. Later when you’re larger (more brand recognition, more budget, more staff…) then you can get into all the fancy world-building and aspirational content. Founders who are good on camera and are committed to making 3-5 videos per week have a massive advantage.

👉 Trade Conferences – These are good, but expensive. Not just in terms of entry or sponsorship fees, but taking staff offline for a few days, hotels, flights, per diem… There is a way to do events for early stage companies, I’d stick to 2-4 per year and have meetings lined up in advance.

👉 Networking events – Yes! Figure out the rooms where your people are in. It doesn’t need to be a room full of your ICP, but people connected to those people. Become a member, show up, shake hands, make genuine connections, offer value… This will be your quickest path to $1,000,000 in revenue.

👉 ABM – this can be effective, but it’s expensive, time-consuming, and requires a level of expertise many small teams don’t have. It’s not as easy as it may seem.

👉 Influencers – If you have the budget, then try it out. But, typically decision makers are not going to be swayed by one spot. You may need to sponsor a podcast or content creator in your niche for several episodes or posts before your name builds recognition. Believe me, this is not cheap!

👉 PLG – While not a marketing play, I do like the idea of having such an amazing experience that word of mouth spreads. Marketing should definitely have a seat at the table. Now with AI tools building UI in seconds, marketing can present new ideas for discussion. (DM me if you want to learn more about this).