Jake Finkelstein

The Hows And Whys of Hiring Your First Marketing Employee

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | Jun 2, 2014

Marketing a startup isn’t for the faint of heart. Fraught with dangers like limited budgets, aggressive competitors and marketplace apathy, it’s a lot more likely that your startup will fall flat on its face than wildly succeed. Yet, if entrepreneurs gave up at the first look at long odds there’d be a lot fewer of us out there. A few months ago, I wrote about the reasons that early stage startups shouldn’t hire an advertising agency. You can decide for yourself if I’m right or wrong, but either way, marketing your startup is a must if you intend to...

How to Waste Money on Marketing & Irritate People

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | May 4, 2014

If only demand generation was as easy as television shows like Mad Men make it seem. Have a great creative mind mix up a stiff drink and dream up an emotionally compelling storyline. Then, hand it over to a competent media team to put it in front of the right people consistently over time so that they flock to your doorsteps, wallets open. I wish. Unfortunately, as any startup who has tried winning new business will tell you, gaining attention is easy but capturing new customers is hard. Very hard. There are an endless variety of methods and channels...

How to Waste Money on Marketing & Irritate People

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | May 4, 2014

If only demand generation was as easy as television shows like Mad Men make it seem. Have a great creative mind mix up a stiff drink and dream up an emotionally compelling storyline. Then, hand it over to a competent media team to put it in front of the right people consistently over time so that they flock to your doorsteps, wallets open. I wish. Unfortunately, as any startup who has tried winning new business will tell you, gaining attention is easy but capturing new customers is hard. Very hard. There are an endless variety of methods and channels...

Startup Marketing Success Begins With Understanding Your Funnel Math

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | Mar 27, 2014

Entrepreneurs are an optimistic bunch. We ignore what most people look at as impossible challenges and see problems that have solutions. We believe. And work hard. We find a way to make it happen. But that doesn’t mean that a young company trying to take its great idea to market is a pretty thing to watch. Finding product market fit is difficult even for seasoned marketers. Worse yet, startups regularly struggle to understand how to properly invest in customer acquisition and retention. Why? Because too few of us have calculated our sales funnel math. The Secret To Marketing Success...

Don't Be An Ad-hole. 5 Reasons Your Early-Stage Startup Shouldn't Hire an Advertising Agency

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | Mar 2, 2014

I like to imagine that there’s a person somewhere who keeps a book with a long handwritten list of the dumb mistakes that entrepreneurs make (even though we should really know better). Mixed in among valuing ideas over execution, giving up too much equity to seed investors and hiring bad employees there’s an entry, written in all caps, that reads: HIRE AN ADVERTISING AGENCY. Repeat after me: Don’t. Do. It. Advertising agencies are good at many things, but like trying to drive the Autobahn with a learner’s permit, hiring an agency as an early-stage startup does little more than...

Don’t Be An Ad-hole. 5 Reasons Your Early-Stage Startup Shouldn’t Hire an Advertising Agency

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | Mar 2, 2014

I like to imagine that there’s a person somewhere who keeps a book with a long handwritten list of the dumb mistakes that entrepreneurs make (even though we should really know better). Mixed in among valuing ideas over execution, giving up too much equity to seed investors and hiring bad employees there’s an entry, written in all caps, that reads: HIRE AN ADVERTISING AGENCY. Repeat after me: Don’t. Do. It. Advertising agencies are good at many things, but like trying to drive the Autobahn with a learner’s permit, hiring an agency as an early-stage startup does little more than...

6 Surprising Things You'll Learn During Your Company's First Marketing Campaign

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | Jan 13, 2014

One of the more alluring qualities of startups is the optimism that permeates every bit of the company culture. I’m a sucker for the take-over-the-world attitude and nothing is more exciting to me than tackling big and complex challenges. Yet no matter how large the idea that is being brought to market, we all know that there are learnings to be had… and this is especially true when it comes to marketing. As a grizzled veteran of more than my fair share of failed startup marketing campaigns, allow me to highlight some of the surprises that lay ahead for...

6 Surprising Things You’ll Learn During Your Company’s First Marketing Campaign

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | Jan 13, 2014

One of the more alluring qualities of startups is the optimism that permeates every bit of the company culture. I’m a sucker for the take-over-the-world attitude and nothing is more exciting to me than tackling big and complex challenges. Yet no matter how large the idea that is being brought to market, we all know that there are learnings to be had… and this is especially true when it comes to marketing. As a grizzled veteran of more than my fair share of failed startup marketing campaigns, allow me to highlight some of the surprises that lay ahead for...

Mixing Southern Culture, Technology and Startups at Southland

Posted by Jake Finkelstein | Jun 10, 2013

At the heart of Nashville’s historic Cannery Row District, something’s brewing. Part South by Southwest, part Southeast Venture Conference… with a little bit of something totally new – Southland is mixing startups, investors, a little bit of rock ‘n roll and southern hospitality this week in Tennessee. Slated to run June 12th and 13th, Southland is a “southern culture and technology” conference that is drawing handpicked startups, investors, musicians, makers, chefs and distillers (yes, distillers!) for two days of talk about technology, innovation, investment and early-stage entrepreneurship. Bookended by the CMA Fest and Bonnaroo the conference is working hard...

Posts by Jake Finkelstein