Welcome to startup marketing club, perks include burnout and the feeling of failure.
There’s a reason why you feel rubbish in your early-stage startup marketing role.
A few years ago I hit a wall in my career.
It was just after I’d joined a startup as its first marketer. The business was early-stage, there was a lot of work to do. But despite this, there was something that drew me to being part of a startup’s founding story.
Six months later, the honeymoon period was over.
I’d joined with so many ideas, excited about the opportunity in front of me. I wanted to impress, I turned up with my little spreadsheets, surveys and, demand gen plan. Yet, despite working so hard, nothing was generating results.
Added to that, I was part marketer, part-sales/customer service/admin/IT. The role become really blurred, I wasn’t very good at certain things.
[I’d repeat ‘growth mindset’ every day with very gritted teeth and my jaw clenched.]
I felt hugely out of my comfort zone: I’m an introvert that is process/data driven, all of a sudden I felt really lost.
There’s a quote from Einstein that I think sums up my experience at the time perfectly:
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
Of course I was feeling flat, I wasn’t doing what I thought I was going to be doing. And because of this, important early-stage startup marketing things like customer validation or thinking about go to market strategy kept falling behind.
So how did I deal with it? I worked a ridiculous amount of hours, of course, trying to compensate for the work I thought I was meant to be doing. The amount of pressure I’d put on myself got to some really silly levels.
I was approaching new challenges, with literally no idea how to explore them.
“Forget strategies to get your first 100 customers… How do you land your first customer?!”
“How could you move away from the temptation to offer a discount just to get in the door?”
“The customer is telling you they love the concept… so why aren’t they buying?”
“Why am I having to explain what marketing is?!”
The thing is, I didn’t want to quit; I was too involved in the product, and really bought into what it set out to do. But I couldn’t carry on this way. It wasn’t sustainable.
So I then met a new friend, burnout.
Am I doing this right? Am I always going to feel like this?
The scary thing is, since creating Oh, blimey to share my experiences in early-stage startup marketing I’ve learned that this feeling isn’t unique to me.
(If you really want to learn about some of the mistakes, check out the article that kicked it all off).
I talk to startup marketers, particularly those who are supporting new founders or founders who don’t get marketing, and the most common thing they say is '“Am I doing this right? Am I always going to feel this way?”
You think you’re going in to help validate and market this awesome idea, but with it comes some unreal expectations/experiences. And it can suck just how much it can impact someone’s confidence.
Here’s some other challenges that seem to be REALLY common:
“I have to go in and persuade the MD to listen to my ideas. They’ll be so headstrong that I just give into their crazy idea… six months later, they’re wondering why growth isn’t there from that database they bought”
”The moment when I realised I didn’t have any decision making authority. That one hurt”
”I’d tell my boss about something, they’d ignore it. But when a growth hacker approaches them with this cool new idea, all of a sudden my boss thinks it’s a great idea. Why can’t they listen to me in the first place?”
(Please note - I totally get that this is not every startup, nor is it every first time founder.)
What can you do to ensure you’re going into the right startup environment?
There are many hurdles that make being a startup marketer a confusing place to carve your career.
So what can we do about it? I think it’s a lot about setting expectations, and making sure you’re confident in knowing what to look out for to see if it is somewhere you can thrive.
I took to Twitter to ask fellow startup marketers who’ve been there and done it:
I thought the most common response I’d get would be along the lines of ‘DON’T DO IT!’ Instead, I got some of the most useful advice from some really talented marketers.
Here’s what came through:
”Set hard boundaries on the hours you will/won’t work. There is ALWAYS more work to do in a start up and if you don’t set clear limits you’ll burn out.”
“Establish scope & expectations in the interview process and REALLY ask a lot of questions to understand if the Founder 'gets' how marketing in early stage startup works and if they don't, how they feel about your pushback”
“Here's what I would find out before joining a startup as first marketer. Is there:
North Star
Measurable goals
Visible KPIs
Trust in your expertise
Partnership w sales
Tech control
Outsource ability
Learning budget”
“Make sure the founding team understands the value of marketing, how to measure and the mindset of experiment is not designed to get instant results.”
“The first thing that comes to mind is speed is of the essence so ship, ship and ship. Done is better than perfect.”
“Remember that you're interviewing them just as much as they're interviewing you. Ask a lot of questions and go with your instincts. If something feels off it probably is. You know what's going to serve you long-term better than they do. Don't get caught up in the sales pitch.”
“Be prepared to move fast, explore options quickly and decide
Understand that you'll wear many hats, i.e. idea generator, researcher, copywriter, photographer, PR, communicator, web designer, project lead, etc.”
Been reading this, nodding and saying to yourself, ‘IT ME!’?
Here are some resources I think you’ll find useful if any of this article has resonated:
Startup Life - Kevan Lee
How to survive in a marketing role without compromising your beliefs
Soundtracks and music to listen to - Calm
The stuff you should know before joining a startup - Me
How to get your boss to stop micro-managing you - Len Markidan
