Kathleen Estreich on Navigating Early-Stage Marketing, First Marketing Hires, and Building Marketing Advantages

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with Kathleen Estreich for the twenty-ninth episode of the Optimize podcast. Kathleen is a Co-Founder of MKT1, a VC firm investing in early-stage B2B companies. MKT1 specializes in providing hands-on marketing help to its portfolio companies. Kathleen has built and led marketing and operations teams at several high-growth startups, including Intercom, Box, Facebook, and Scalyr. She has experience in marketing and business operations, bringing a holistic view to help founders grow their early business teams. In our episode today, Kathleen and Nate discuss the challenges early-stage startups encounter when formulating and executing a marketing strategy and hiring the right people. In Kathleen’s experience, your initial hire should be a generalist who compliments the founder’s expertise and possesses a balance of strategic thinking and hands-on execution. Kathleen believes early-stage startup founders hold a pivotal role in shaping their marketing success and emphasizes the importance of investing time in understanding their audience, defining their go-to-market motion, and identifying marketing advantages. Kathleen and Nate also explore the importance of testing multiple marketing channels, adapting to what works, and iterating on your successes. Closing out the episode is our popular lightning round of questions! For more information, please visit www.positional.com or email us at podcast@positional.com.

Resources:

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Check-in with Kathleen on LinkedIn & Twitter

Important Links:
MKT1 Capital & Newsletter