Your startup will fail or succeed based on your ability to profitably acquire, convert and monetize customers. The Startup Marketing Blog was created to help you avoid wasting time, effort and money as you tackle this challenge.

While few will admit it, even experienced marketers don’t know where to begin building a startup’s customer base.

After running marketing at two startups from launch to IPO filings I decided to focus 100% of my entrepreneurial energy trying to answer this key startup customer question: What are the initiatives needed to drive customer traction/growth at startups and when are they important?

Figuring this out has not been a solo journey. Many successful entrepreneurs have shared their insights with me. The most influential has been Steve Blank, who authored the fantastic book “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” based on his experience building multiple successful startups. I’ve also had the privilege of working directly with incredibly talented and scrappy CEOs and founders at Dropbox, Xobni, Eventbrite, Lookout, Grockit, , 20×200, Outright, Songkick and many others. Finally, I’ve led discussions about my finding in large group settings with entrepreneurs in San Francisco, Boston, Tokyo, London, Dublin and Edinburgh.

Instead of hoarding my startup marketing discoveries, I’m sharing them through this blog. It’s the only way to ensure that I keep evolving quickly – and there is still so much for us all to learn. My goal with every blog post is to map actionable recommendations to the big picture of your startup’s ultimate success. I only post articles when I believe you’ll get a good return on your time invested reading them. You are too busy to waste your time reading theory loaded with jargon. If you find me slipping into theory/jargon mode, please bust me on it via comments. Also, please share your experiences that validate or conflict with my findings.

This article on the Startup Pyramid provides the best overview of my findings to date.

Thanks for reading,

Sean Ellis

1. December 2008
   1. 10,000 Hours of Go To Market Experience: Who Will Get There First?
   2. Is "Go To Market" Mastery Really Possible?
   3. My Favorite Online Marketing Tactic - Doesn’t Work
   4. Y Combinator is Dead?
2. January 2009
   1. How to Determine the Optimal Price for Your Web Service
   2. 6-Month News Vacation
   3. Update to 12in6 Methodology Presentation
   4. The Startup Marketing Launch Process is Broken
   5. Hire a Mathematician to Run Marketing
   6. What Makes A Great Startup?
3. February 2009
   1. What is a Perfect Startup Launch?
   2. Don’t Hire a Marketer for Your Early Stage Startup
   3. More Customer Development Cycles
4. March 2009
   1. Startup Theory VS Reality
   2. Social Media Marketing Strategy for Startups
   3. Iterating Without Understanding?
5. April 2009
   1. The Right Business Model for Your Startup
   2. User Growth Vs Revenue (Why “Free Only” May Limit Growth)
   3. Indifference is Your Real Competitor
   4. To Pay Or Not To Pay To Acquire Users?
   5. Fast Vs Careful Decision Making in Startups
6. May 2009
   1. The Lean Startup Era?
   2. Keys to Unlocking Startup Growth
   3. What is the Lean Startup Approach?
   4. Free Customer Development Help – Survey.io
7. June 2009
   1. Big Picture Customer Development Revisited
8. July 2009
   1. The Startup Pyramid
   2. Great Resources for Achieving Product/Market Fit
9. September 2009
   1. When Should a Startup Start Charging?
   2. Quick thoughts from TC 50: ToonsTunes
   3. Quick Thoughts from TC50: ToyBots
   4. Quick Thoughts from TC50: SeatGeek
   5. Seedcamp in London
10. October 2009
    1. Founders Make the Best Startup Marketing Leaders
    2. My Slides from Steve Blank’s Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Class
    3. More on CEO’s Role in Driving Growth
11. December 2009
    1. Milestones to Startup Success
    2. Audio Interview on Venture Hacks
12. January 2010
    1. When PR for Your Startup?
    2. 12in6 Projects (Updated 1/10/10)
    3. Bringing Your Product to Market
13. March 2010
    1. Optimization Mistakes that Kill Startups
14. April 2010
    1. My Presentation at Lean Startup Circle in SF
    2. A Lean Start is Smart
    3. Sneak Preview: KISSmetrics
    4. Early Detection is Key
    5. Steve Blank’s SLL Keynote – It’s a “Must Watch”
    6. Dropbox – The Power of a “Value Based” Startup
15. May 2010
    1. Key Elements of a Massively Scalable Startup
16. June 2010
    1. Figuring Out Your Way to Startup Success
    2. Deconstructing Startup Growth
    3. My Mixergy Interview
17. July 2010
    1. Getting to Product-Market Fit
    2. Find a Growth Hacker for Your Startup
    3. The Startup Team
18. August 2010
    1. Bringing a Network Effect Business to Market
19. September 2010
    1. I’m Founding a Startup
    2. The 3 Keys to Success with Freemium
20. November 2010
    1. Vision Synching in a Lean Startup
21. March 2011
    1. Ideal Ratio of Product Vs Marketing Spend for a Consumer Startup
    2. Wasting Time Validating Assumptions?
22. May 2011
    1. Launched CatchFree at TechCrunch Disrupt