Startup Strategies

In this episode of Startup Strategies, Juliana reveals why most founders are losing to competitors they could easily outmaneuver if they just knew where to look. After analyzing competitors for clients across B2B and B2C, she breaks down the exact system she uses to extract competitive intelligence that most founders never find because they don't know what questions to ask the data.Juliana exposes the five analytical moves that separate founders who scale from founders who stall while their competition quietly captures market share. From traffic mapping that reveals strategic opportunities to platform attribution breakdowns that show you exactly where market leaders are vulnerable, she demonstrates why competitor analysis isn't about copying what's working but finding the gaps nobody else sees.This conversation reveals why most competitive research is useless vanity metrics and what actually matters when you're trying to build an edge in a crowded market.Juliana shares:Why flying blind on competitor strategy is how you watch someone else raise the Series B you should've raisedHow to use outlier competitors plus stage-similar competitors as different benchmarksThe platform attribution breakdown that shows you where dominant players are weakTimeline analysis for reverse-engineering which campaigns actually drove growth spikesWhy one meeting notetaker captured 35% of social traffic from a platform the market leader ignoredHow to identify influencer marketing strategies by following the data trail on YouTubeThe difference between value propositions (vague table stakes) and unique viral propositions (immediate yes decisions)Using paid advertising public records to see exactly what messaging is converting for competitorsWhy B2B companies are massively underutilizing creator campaigns and how to structure them correctlyLinks and resources:FREE Startup Marketing CheatsheetFREE $1M ARR SaaS Marketing Playbook__________________________________________________________________This episode was brought to you by Similarweb ⇣Get 20% off monthly and recurring payments with the code Juliana20: https://similarweb.partnerlinks.io/ve4vl4yswwyvLet’s connect: TiktokInstagramLinkedInYoutubeXMake sure you hit FOLLOW or the + sign so you don’t miss out on future episodes on everything growth & marketing for your startup. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Stefan Bader, founder and CEO of Cello, as he dives into the shifting landscape of B2B marketing. He reveals the shocking rise in customer acquisition cost payback time from 12 months to 5 years. Stefan discusses how AI is undermining traditional channels like SEO and cold calling, predicting their collapse. He emphasizes the need for founders to design growth loops and control their distribution channels. With powerful insights on leveraging referrals and fundraising as acquisition tools, this conversation is a must-listen for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Ish Jindal, Co-founder and CEO of TARS, took a unique path to building a conversational AI platform that reached $1M ARR. He stumbled into entrepreneurship through travel hacking and initially faced bootstrap struggles, like missing a BBC feature due to financial constraints. Discovering SaaS best practices came accidentally, which he credits as an advantage. Ish also emphasizes the power of content marketing, having created 2,000 chatbot templates, and discusses the importance of trust and video in B2B sales. His journey redefines sustainable growth through curiosity and resilience.

In this episode of Startup Strategies, Juliana breaks down the brutal truth about social media marketing that most content creators and founders refuse to accept - their content is poor, and that's exactly where they need to start. After scaling her client from zero to $2 million in revenue and 10 million users while generating millions across creators and companies in every niche, she reveals why the people making real money from social media do the exact opposite of what everyone teaches.Juliana exposes the 5 principles that separate creators who turn social media into revenue engines versus those collecting vanity metrics while their bank accounts stay flat. From her own journey of posting "hideous" content while building her agency across e-commerce, Web3, and now serving clients across all industries, she demonstrates why admitting your content needs work is actually the breakthrough moment most creators avoid.This conversation reveals why 2020's TikTok revolution created the biggest opportunity in content creation history that most people completely missed, and how understanding algorithmic distribution beats networking every time.Juliana shares:Why blaming the algorithm is keeping you stuck and what to focus on insteadHow the shift from network-based to engagement-based distribution changed everythingThe math behind why broad content gets applause but targeted content gets customersWhy your best-performing posts rarely drive the most revenue (and what does)How to engineer targeted virality instead of chasing random viral momentsThe zero-to-millions case study: building a waitlist before having a productHer content audit system across LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTokWhy creators who admit they suck outperform those chasing perfectionLet’s break down his Startup Strategies.Links and resources:FREE Startup Marketing CheatsheetFREE $1M ARR SaaS Marketing PlaybookJoin the Startup Strategies Newsletter for weekly growth & marketing breakdowns.Let’s connect: TiktokInstagramLinkedInYoutubeXNeed help with growing & marketing your startup? Work with us.Make sure you hit FOLLOW or the + sign so you don’t miss out on future episodes on everything growth & marketing for your startup. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Startup Strategies, Juliana sits down with George Munguia, the serial entrepreneur who went from negative $200 in his bank account to raising $2 million for Harmony AI after his manager threatened to fire him for using AI tools. George was grinding through content marketing at a 500-person startup, spending weeks writing single blog posts when he discovered Jasper AI and started cranking out five times more content. His manager's reaction was swift and brutal - she put him on a performance improvement plan and called him "disgraceful" for using AI to do his job.George quit and built Harmony AI, which connects scattered sales and marketing data to show exactly who's ready to buy and when to call them. He reveals his unconventional fundraising approach where 70% of his round came from cold email, including landing HubSpot and Typeform co-founders as investors.This conversation reveals why the next wave of successful founders will be those who prepare to surf change instead of waiting for permission, and how connecting data signals beats building separate dashboards.George shares:How he pre-sold 700 companies before building anythingThe LinkedIn formula that drove $1M in revenue growth at CoconutWhy he turned down Techstars in final stages to become a co-founderCold email strategies that closed HubSpot and Typeform co-foundersThe $5K intro.co hack that landed Apollo's co-founder as investorWhy connecting scattered data beats building separate dashboardsHow embarrassment became his competitive advantage for startup growthAnd much more…Links and resources:FREE Startup Marketing CheatsheetFREE $1M ARR SaaS Marketing PlaybookJoin the Startup Strategies Newsletter for weekly growth & marketing breakdowns.Let’s connect: TiktokInstagramLinkedInYoutubeXNeed help with growing & marketing your startup? Work with us.Make sure you hit FOLLOW or the + sign so you don’t miss out on future episodes on everything growth & marketing for your startup. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Startup Strategies, Juliana sits down with Casey Woo, the reformed Wall Street finance professional who went from corner office overlooking Central Park to building one of Silicon Valley's most exclusive operator communities. After feeling miserable despite having everything Wall Street promised, Casey made the leap to startups and discovered he "loved eating glass" - but Silicon Valley had other plans. When a $100 billion company told him he couldn't get hired for free because he neither coded nor sold, Casey found eight other finance refugees feeling equally lost and started meeting monthly in coffee shops.That group of nine lonely operators is now the 1,100-member Operators Guild, which has invested in 70+ companies through FOG Ventures with zero salespeople and 100% organic growth. Casey reveals why AI is eating specialists from the bottom while generalists who can orchestrate multiple AI agents across departments are becoming invaluable. He breaks down the operational mistakes that kill companies scaling from $1M to $10M ARR, from the $50 million valuation trap that creates impossible growth pressure to the hiring death spiral where founders burn through runway trying to reach Mars when they just need orbit.Casey explains why the world is moving toward "multidisciplinary builders" who speak accountant, engineer, narcissist CEO, and marketing fluently - like Jedi mind tricks for business functions. He shares how tech is becoming commoditized while brand, distribution, and trust become the new competitive advantages, and why the future belongs to horizontal thinkers who can see across entire businesses rather than specialists stuck in single departments.This conversation challenges everything you think you know about hiring, scaling, and building teams in an AI-first world.Casey shares:Why AI is eating specialists while generalists orchestrate AI agentsThe $50M valuation trap that turns jackpots into panic attacksHow to avoid the hiring death spiral that burns companies to deathWhy speaking multiple "business languages" is the new superpowerHow nine lonely coffee shop meetings became $100M+ in investmentsWhy customer love beats every metric when evaluating startupsThe exact systems to implement before Series B to avoid fundraising hellLinks and resources:FREE Startup Marketing CheatsheetFREE $1M ARR SaaS Marketing PlaybookJoin the Startup Strategies Newsletter for weekly growth & marketing breakdowns.Let’s connect: TiktokInstagramLinkedInYoutubeXNeed help with growing & marketing your startup? Work with us.Make sure you hit FOLLOW or the + sign so you don’t miss out on future episodes on everything growth & marketing for your startup. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Startup Strategies, Juliana sits down with Gaurav Bhattacharya, three-time venture-backed founder and CEO of Jeeva AI, who proves that scrappy execution beats massive funding every time. After getting tired of complex enterprise sales cycles in his previous companies, Gaurav built an AI sales prospecting tool using tactics that sound insane until you see the results: sending two cents through PayPal, getting banned from communities on purpose, and treating legal threats as rebranding opportunities. From aerospace engineer to Forbes 30 under 30, Gaurav shares how a 9-person team generated $5 million ARR competing against Andreessen Horowitz-backed companies spending millions on billboards.He reveals the psychology behind why "because" is a magic word that bypasses rational thinking, how getting rejected from Slack groups became market validation, and why Disney's lawyers inadvertently helped him build a better company. Gaurav breaks down the exact strategies behind booking 107 meetings in one week, from weaponizing PayPal's notification system to turning freemium users into intelligence assets that led to six-figure enterprise deals.This conversation challenges everything you think you know about outbound sales, competitive advantages, and building with constraints instead of capital.Gaurav shares:Why getting banned from communities is actually market validationThe PayPal two-cent hack that outperformed million-dollar marketing campaignsHow legal constraints force better strategic thinking than unlimited budgetsThe Canadian freemium-to-enterprise strategy that generated $120K in one callWhy 100% of their pipeline comes from using their own productLet's break down his Startup Strategies!Links and resources:FREE Startup Marketing CheatsheetFREE $1M ARR SaaS Marketing PlaybookJoin the Startup Strategies Newsletter for weekly growth & marketing breakdowns.Let’s connect: TiktokInstagramLinkedInYoutubeXNeed help with growing & marketing your startup? Work with us.Make sure you hit FOLLOW or the + sign so you don’t miss out on future episodes on everything growth & marketing for your startup. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Startup Strategies, Juliana breaks down the complete system behind scaling apps and software from zero to $200K+ monthly recurring revenue - and why most founders are approaching growth completely backwards. Instead of obsessing over perfect products and feature lists, she reveals the counterintuitive framework that turns downloads into recurring revenue by focusing on what actually makes people share content.Juliana exposes the critical blind spots plaguing each business model: B2B founders who crush paid advertising but bomb at organic content because they think authority sells when even business buyers want to be surprised. B2C creators who nail viral content but can't figure out how to put budget behind what's already working. And hybrid products sitting on the biggest untapped opportunity because they can tap both emotional triggers and practical benefits - but most founders completely miss this positioning advantage.Juliana reveals:Why unique viral propositions beat value propositions every timeThe counterintuitive content formats that break through algorithm noiseHow to identify desperation-level problems your market actually wants solvedThe organic-to-paid amplification system that multiplies winning formulasWhy most founders focus on features when they should focus on what makes people shareLet's break down these Startup Strategies!Links and resources:Book a FREE 30-min strategy session: https://calendly.com/juliana-gromedia-y7c_/30min?month=2025-05 FREE $1M ARR SaaS Marketing Playbook: https://shop.beacons.ai/juliana_hahn/c3255600-7040-437a-98b6-d216e0e9e10e Join the Startup Strategies Newsletter for weekly growth & marketing breakdowns.Let’s connect: TiktokInstagramLinkedInYoutubeXNeed help with growing & marketing your startup? Work with us.Make sure you hit FOLLOW or the + sign so you don’t miss out on future episodes on everything growth & marketing for your startup. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this insightful discussion, Juliana Han, founder of Gro Media and a seasoned expert in scaling startups, unveils her unique framework for viral growth in SaaS. She explains how to craft a Unique Viral Proposition (UVP) that taps into emotional triggers and addresses specific pain points. Highlighting successful case studies, she shares strategies that transformed chaotic marketing into a consistent user acquisition powerhouse. Juliana also offers practical tips for leveraging organic tactics and paid ads, making it accessible for founders on tight budgets.

Zyad Djouad, a 19-year-old co-founder of Lens, is revolutionizing video editing with a prompt-based AI tool, born out of his own frustration while editing for his YouTube channel. He shares how he garnered 13,000 waitlist signups in just a week and why his childhood friends make stronger co-founders than traditional MBA counterparts. Zyad discusses leveraging feedback from Reddit, his unique growth strategies using Discord, and the significant enterprise demand for his product. His journey redefines startup success by prioritizing authentic problem-solving over conventional market research.