Six channels at $2k each teaches you nothing
One channel funded properly produces an answer. Spreading a small budget across everything produces six ambiguous results and a spent runway.
What's different here
Startups don't usually fail from bad marketing. They fail from spending twelve months on the wrong channel, or from testing so thinly that no test concludes. The single most valuable discipline we bring to early-stage companies is the kill criterion: deciding before a test starts what result would make you stop. Ambiguous outcomes are the most expensive thing that can happen when runway is finite, and they're entirely avoidable.
Trusted by teams at
What digital marketing looks like for startups.
These are the plays that wouldn't appear on a generic digital marketing page. They only make sense in startups & scale-ups.
Sequential testing with pre-agreed kill criteria
One channel at a time, funded to statistical relevance, with the stop condition written down before launch. This is the discipline that separates companies that find a channel from companies that run out of money still guessing.
Instrument activation and retention first
If retention is broken, no channel works and you'll blame acquisition. We check whether the product holds users before spending on getting more of them.
Fractional squad instead of headcount
Five specialists at a fraction of the commitment of one senior hire, and no severance conversation if the channel you hired for turns out not to work.
CAC payback as the board metric
Not CAC, not LTV:CAC. Payback period, because it determines how fast you can reinvest and it's what your board actually worries about.
What holds startups back
You're testing too many channels shallowly
Six channels at $2k each teaches you nothing about any of them. One channel at $12k produces a real answer.
Building features nobody asked for
Every week spent on an unvalidated feature is runway spent. Scope discipline is the highest-ROI decision a startup makes.
No instrumentation, so no learning
Without activation and retention tracking from day one, you can't tell whether a channel is working or whether the product is.
Hiring a marketing team too early
A full in-house team before you know which channel works burns money on salaries while you're still guessing.
Same rigor, applied here.
The full digital marketing scope and process are identical whoever the client is. What changes for startups & scale-ups is the tactics above, not the delivery model.
What's included
How it runs
- 01Diagnose — Weeks 1–2
- 02Instrument — Weeks 2–3
- 03Unblock the constraint — Weeks 3–6
- 04Scale what works — Month 2+
- 05Compound — Month 4+
Startups & Scale-ups results, in detail.
Full case studies with the numbers, the mistakes, and the recommendations clients didn't want to hear.
Scoped like the core service, no surcharge.
Every engagement is quoted from your actual brief. There's no vertical surcharge for this combination. Request a quote and we'll scope it properly.
Focus
One or two channels, executed exceptionally well.
Scoped to your brief
- 2 channels managed
- Conversion tracking setup
- Monthly strategy call
- Live revenue dashboard
- Up to $50k/mo ad spend
Engine
Companies ready to run the full funnel as one system.
Scoped to your brief
- Up to 5 channels managed
- Server-side tracking + CAPI
- Dedicated growth strategist
- In-house creative studio (12 assets/mo)
- CRO testing program
- Lifecycle email & SMS
- Weekly growth calls
- Up to $250k/mo ad spend
Scale
Multi-market brands spending $250k+ per month.
Scoped to your brief
- Unlimited channels & markets
- Incrementality & MMM testing
- Dedicated squad (5+ specialists)
- Custom data warehouse & modeling
- Creative volume: 40+ assets/mo
- Executive reporting & board decks
All engagements start with a free audit. Prices exclude media spend, which you pay directly to the platforms on accounts you own.
Startups & Scale-ups questions, answered straight.
Usually not, and we'll tell you that on the call. Pre-revenue and pre-product-market-fit, your constraint is customer discovery, not distribution. Spending on demand generation early burns runway you'll need later. Product build and positioning work often make sense at that stage; scaled acquisition rarely does.
Let's talk about your growth constraint.
One channel funded properly produces an answer. Spreading a small budget across everything produces six ambiguous results and a spent runway.
Our commitment: 90-day performance commitment: hit our agreed leading indicators or we work the next month at no charge.