Introduction

The best growth marketers can do two things: find marketing channels that work and then scale those channels to drive more revenue.

Kartik Krishnan joins Matt Dodgson on Market Mentors to discuss how marketing can help a B2B tech startup scale.

Who’s our Podcast Guest?

Name: Kartik Krishnan

What do they do? Kartik is currently Director of Growth at CapDesk

Where can you find Kartik? LinkedIn 

Prefer video? Watch a full video of the podcast here…

Episode Takeaways

Some of the best advice from the podcast that you can easily digest and learn from.

When should B2B tech startups hire their first marketer?

It’s a common question and a tough one to answer because every startup’s situation is uniquely different.

But there are certainly some rules that you can apply. You’ll probably, unless you’re VC-funded right out of the gate, want to get some revenue before you hire your first marketer.

Kartik goes on to explain what that exact point is, and also what you should be doing before you get to that point too.

He recommends this advice:

1. Get to at least five figures in revenue first – if you can’t show that there’s at least some customers willing to pay for your solution then you need to work harder on your product-market fit first.
2. Leverage some contacts early on – you want someone in your network that can help you with some basics. That could be positioning, some early growth channels to test – anything to help get you started.

What kind of marketer should your B2B tech startup hire as its first full-time marketer?

As a B2B tech startup, hiring your first marketer is a difficult assignment.

However, once your business is starting to get traction in the market, then it’s important to capitalise on this and use the power of marketing to drive demand and growth.

But we also know that a startup, by its very nature, will periodically change focus or need to adapt the strategy. So Kartik talks about the fundamental thing that he would look for when hiring for this kind of role, that being ‘agile’.

To assess candidates on how agile they are, Kartik suggests you give them some real information or data from your business , and getting them to present back to you on how they would use this information to drive further growth.

What short term activities should a marketer focus on to help a B2B tech startup scale?

The first few months of a solo marketer’s job in a B2B tech startup is crucial. It’s important that you lay the foundations for future growth with an eye on some longer term marketing plays at the same time.

Kartik suggests starting to build on the ‘wins’ the company has already had, whether that be content, paid ads, etc., because it’s important to demonstrate early on that marketing can have an impact on leads, pipeline, and sales.

Hiring? Market Recruitment is a leading recruitment agency for B2B tech startups. Contact us here to find out more.