Last week, my NS buddy John told me that he was launching his first proper startup – and he asked me if he could buy me dinner and have me go over his marketing plan with him.
I said yes, of course. He let me choose; I suggested that we go to Morganfield’s at Star Vista for some hickory BBQ ribs. There’s something about the view there that I really like. I joked that I wasn’t sure if my advice was worth such good ribs.
We reminisced about army days, talked about our experiences getting older, learning more about ourselves and all that good stuff… and then we dived into his plan.
His plan was generally sound – he’s a smart guy with a good appreciation for business fundamentals – but I immediately spotted a few weaknesses. His content strategy was under-optimized for his context. A few of his brainstorm ideas were duds that weren’t going to work for his particular industry. He was looking to hire someone full-time way too soon, without having yet developed a sense of the precise tasks he needed them to perform.
John had really done his homework and done all the preparation he could – it really showed in his plan. It was really comprehensive. He had a really good sense for how to create a good user experience for his product – he cared about it, and he was going to make it work.
By the time we polished off the ribs, I realized that I had actually saved him months of wasted time and energy. It wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say that he saved several thousands of dollars by buying me that plate of ribs.
Would you like a startup marketer with 4+ years of experience to look through your plans, give you feedback, and so on? Hit me up: visakanv at gmail dotcom