Startup marketing agency for founders who pick up the work.
We run growth for early-stage startups as embedded operators. One founder at a time. Four to five days a week of senior attention. No retainers for slide decks.
We run startup marketing as embedded operators, not retained advisors. One account per quarter. Four to five days a week of senior attention. We report against the number you take to the board.
Audit my startup pipeline →Pitches arrive. Pipeline stalls.
Twelve months in, the founder has a slide deck of campaign ideas and a board asking why ARR is flat. The agency reports look perfect. The dashboard does not move.
Decks instead of distribution
You signed for a strategy. They delivered a Notion folder. The number on the board did not move.
Junior account managers run your account
The senior face on the pitch deck never returns calls. The doer is two years out of school.
Retainers reward retention, not revenue
The agency is on the hook to keep you renewing. You are on the hook to hit the number. The contracts do not align.
Tactics without a sales motion
They run ads to a landing page nobody designed to convert. The CFO sees the spend. The CFO does not see the pipeline.
Twelve-month roadmaps on six-month runway
Most startup marketing agencies were built for Series C operating budgets. You are running on Series A timing.
Brand work that does not pay back
Logo refreshes and rebrands while the cohort still leaks. Brand spend without distribution is theater.
Most agencies sell pitches. We pick up the work.
Senior operators shipping the work.
Founder-led distribution
Short-form video on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. Founder on camera. The team produces volume.
SEO and AI search
Technical foundation plus answer-engine content for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
Paid that the math works on
Paid where CAC payback is under nine months and the channel can scale. We close it when the math stops working.
Lifecycle and pipeline
Onboarding fixes, drip sequences, retention work tied to cohort numbers your CFO reads each week.
Weekly board-grade reporting
The number you take to the board, reported back to you every Monday. No mystery dashboards.
We tell you no
If your runway is under six months, fundraise first. If your unit economics will not survive the engagement cost, fix the funnel. We have turned founders down for both reasons in the last year.
Operator receipts. Portfolio results.
Operator Receipts · B2B + B2C Portfolio
We have run distribution and growth engines as operators for over a decade. 950M+ organic views lifetime across the work. The average CAC reduction across portfolio engagements is 35 percent. Most cases sit at Series A and Series B across B2B SaaS, B2C marketplaces, and DTC. Specific named accounts shared on the diagnostic call, under NDA.
From signed contract to organic pipeline.
Diagnostic & narrative
Funnel audit. ICP mapping. Founder narrative work. Keyword universe. The thing you can credibly say.
Build
Content engines go live. Distribution starts. Paid channels open or close based on the math. Reporting installed against the board number.
Scale
Bi-weekly sprints. Monthly board cadence. Search authority builds. Pipeline mix shifts toward organic.
How much does a startup marketing agency engagement cost?
We run one account per quarter at senior staffing levels. The engagement is closer in cost to a Series A growth hire than a generalist agency retainer. Specifics are scoped on the diagnostic call after we have looked at your funnel, your runway, and your stage. If the math does not work for your company, we say so on the call.
What kind of startups do you work with?
B2B SaaS, B2C marketplaces, and DTC at Series A and Series B. Seed-stage with strong distribution potential occasionally. We do not work with pre-product startups, pre-seed companies without a working signup flow, or companies whose unit economics will not survive the engagement cost. We tell you no when it does not fit.
What is the difference between your model and a typical startup marketing agency?
A typical agency staffs your account with a junior account manager and a deck. We staff your account with senior operators and a calendar. Four to five days a week of senior attention. One founder at a time. We report against the number you take to the board.
How long is a typical engagement?
Six months minimum. Most accounts roll to a second six-month period because the results build over time. The first sixty days are the diagnostic and the first wins. Months three through six are scale. We do not ship month-twelve retainer surprises.
Do you offer fractional CMO services?
No. Fractional CMOs advise. We pick up the work. If you have a working team and need senior direction one to three days a week, hire a fractional CMO. If you need someone to ship the campaigns and report the numbers, we are the right fit.
Are the proof numbers real?
Yes. The 950M lifetime view count aggregates the operator's work across the last decade. The 35 percent average CAC reduction is across portfolio engagements. Every named-account number is shared under NDA on the diagnostic call. Every number on this page is sourced. The internal voice audit rejects fabricated stats automatically.
When is a startup marketing agency the wrong choice for us?
If you have a working in-house marketing team and need senior staff augmentation, hire a fractional executive. If your unit economics require a CAC payback under three months and your product is not ready for paid scale, fix the funnel before the agency. If your runway is under six months, fundraise first. We have turned founders down for all three reasons in the last year.
One account per quarter. The math has to work for both sides.
Send a note. We reply within two business days. If your stage, runway, and unit economics fit, the next step is a 45-minute call with Don. If they do not fit, we say so.
This conversation stays between us. Always has.
Personal response within 48 hours