A playbook for startup marketing that actually works

Bonus: 7 pieces of immediately actionable advice for early stage marketing

It has been a month since I wrote the last edition of the newsletter, and it hasn’t been for lack of thinking about marketing. I was in the US for an industry conference, and then spent time at the Atomicwork offices in the Bay Area. It was a busy time, and though I wanted to write and share some stuff, I just didn’t get the time.

But just before I left, I had done a podcast with veteran marketer Jaydip Sikdar, and it turned out really, really well. It is different from the other conversations I have had in that I go deep into Atomicwork’s strategy, how we built a brand quickly, and how we went about putting together a great marketing team.

It is, in essence, a clear and simple playbook for marketing at an early stage startup. I think you will enjoy watching/listening to it.

Also, don’t be scared by the shaven head (and face). I had just returned from my annual Tirupati trip. :)

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If I had to distill the podcast into a bunch of takeaways, I have done so below. None of them would be new to regular readers of this newsletter. Yet, there’s no harm in reiterating them.

1. Content marketing for enterprise is about education, not selling

If someone needs to hear about a 400 rupee book at least three times before buying it, imagine what it will take for them to to sign a $300K enterprise software deal. That’s why you need good content. It builds trust over time, it educates, adds value, and helps you stay top of mind.

2. Don’t start measuring and optimising too early

I have given this example before: If you run two webinars, get low attendance, and then call the channel a failure, you don’t know what you are doing. You need at least 10–12 deliberate attempts, spread over 6+ months, before you can start seeing results. You need a body of work before you can start measuring and optimising.

3. Product-market fit is a moving target now

10 years ago, PMF felt like a milestone you achieved, and then scaled on top of. The phrasing might be off in the last sentence, but you get what I’m saying. These days? It’s more like a living, breathing thing. AI is evolving every day, and customer expectations are shifting. That means your positioning and your messaging have to keep evolving too.

4. In-house teams compound knowledge, agencies dilute it

This is especially true for technical products. If you’re selling developer tools, infrastructure software, or anything that needs domain depth, you need people in-house, marketers who will compound their learnings. Agencies can help you scale, but there are significant cons in that strategy.

5. Enterprise marketing still needs a US presence

Yes, you can build a fantastic inbound engine from anywhere. But when it comes to landing enterprise deals, there’s no substitute for local presence. You need someone in the room, someone at the event, someone who understands the nuances of how American enterprises buy. That’s exactly why our CEO moved to Palo Alto.

6. Different marketing phases need different players

The marketer who thrives in the early phase isn’t always the one who’s great at scaling, optimising, and consolidating. And that’s fine. In cricket, that’s like the difference between a power-hitter and a middle-overs consolidator. Sometimes they are the same guy, most times they aren’t.

7. Founder credibility > Marketing credibility

I can vouch for Atomicwork all I want, but everyone knows I’m a marketer. That’s my job, so no one trusts my word. On the other hand, when a founder or CEO speaks, especially in the enterprise world, people listen. The idea is that the builder is talking, and there weight to it. That’s why founder-led branding works. It’s not about polish; it’s about authenticity.

Even as I write this, I realise there’s more in the conversation, so do listen to it. I have gone into a lot of depth.

For the folks who like listening to podcasts rather than watching them, here you go.

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That’s all for this week.

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A couple of reminders:

1. The comments are now open. Please write, discuss, anything.

2. We are going to reopen the job board. Please do send me your open positions with a link to the JD at sairamkrishnan@outlook.com.

And yes, as always, please do share the newsletter with someone you think should read it!