Services · Startup Marketing Consultant
Senior thinking early is cheaper than senior thinking late.
The marketing decisions founders make in year one are the ones they spend year three paying for.
Gets the expensive decisions right while they’re still cheap: positioning, who you’re for, what you displace, the first marketing hire, and how not to burn a round on reach you don’t need yet.
Someone who’ll tell you not to spend. Most startup marketing advice is an argument for more marketing. Ask what they’d do with no budget — the answer tells you whether they understand your stage.
I led Zepto’s first hyperlocal launch when quick commerce barely existed, and CoinSwitch’s agency-side launch when crypto’s problem was legitimacy rather than awareness. Both taught the same thing: diagnose why people aren’t buying before you buy attention.
And a decade of agency work on brands like Netflix and OnePlus means I know what a good agency relationship looks like — which is useful when you’re about to appoint one.
Common questions
What does a startup marketing consultant do?
Helps founders make the marketing decisions that compound — positioning, go-to-market, first hire — before they become expensive to reverse.
When should a startup hire marketing help?
Before the first serious spend, not after it disappoints. The cheapest hour is the one spent deciding what you’re for.
We have no budget. Is this worth it?
Constraints usually sharpen positioning rather than block it. If the honest answer is that you need product work rather than marketing, that’s a useful thing to learn early.
Should we hire an agency or a consultant?
An agency makes and runs work. A consultant decides what work should exist. Most early startups appoint an agency before they’ve made that decision, and pay twice.
Go deeper: startup advisory · Zepto · CoinSwitch.