Three audiences, one set of founder content

Early stage startups have a problem that is almost unfair, right, because they need attention from three different audiences at the same time, customers who have never heard of them, investors who see a hundred decks a week and early hires who are taking a risk by joining, and they need all of that before they can really afford a marketing team, a brand agency or a big launch budget.

The good news is that the cheapest and often most effective marketing channel an early stage startup has is sitting in the founder's chair, basically, because a founder who explains the problem they are solving, shares what they are learning and shows the company being built in real time can reach all three audiences at once, and I am pretty sure most founders underestimate how much that compounds.

Why is the founder the best marketing channel for a startup?

Because at the early stage, people are betting on the founder as much as the product.

For instance, an early customer trying an unfinished product is trusting that the founder will fix problems and keep improving it. An investor is judging the founder's clarity and conviction. An early hire is choosing to work for this particular person. All three are making a judgment about the founder, and content lets them make that judgment before the first meeting.

The catch here is time, because founders are stretched thin, so the content system has to be almost effortless, recording things the founder is already saying and letting someone else do everything else.

At the early stage, people are not buying the product yet. They are buying the founder, and content lets them meet you first.

What should a startup publish?

Founder perspective on the problem, building in public updates, customer stories and hiring content.

That is one category, the problem, why the old way is broken, what the founder learned from talking to customers, which attracts people who feel that pain. Secondly, building in public, what shipped this week, what failed, what the team is figuring out, which builds a following that feels invested in the company. And that is also another thing, early customer stories, with permission, which show the product working in the real world.

Hiring content matters more than people think, because the best early hires often come from people who have been following the founder for months.

The same content does three jobs at once, which is why founder led video is so efficient early on.

What about launch videos and product demos?

Make them, but treat them as moments rather than the whole strategy.

A launch video can create a spike of attention, and a clear demo helps people understand the product. But a launch is one day, and the founders who get the most from a launch are usually the ones who had been building an audience for months beforehand, because they launch to people who already care.

So the practical approach is continuous founder content, with launches and demos as peaks on top of a steady baseline, does that make sense to you, right.

How should startups handle fundraising content?

Carefully, because talking publicly about raising money can bring in legal rules.

Sharing that a round closed, thanking investors or talking about the journey is generally fine. Actively promoting an ongoing raise to the public, sharing projected returns or soliciting investment can bring in securities rules that vary by country and by the type of round. Founders should check with their lawyer before posting anything that looks like an investment pitch.

Private investor updates on video, sent directly to existing investors, are a different and very useful thing, because they keep investors engaged and more likely to help or follow on.

What should a startup founder record?

Conversations they are already having, plus a short weekly update.

Customer calls, with permission, podcast appearances, pitch practice, team discussions and conference talks all contain great material. On top of that, a five minute weekly update where the founder shares what happened and what they learned becomes a building in public series almost by itself.

The key is capturing rather than creating, because founders do not have time to produce content from scratch.

Which platforms matter for startups?

It depends on the customer, but LinkedIn and X are central for most, with YouTube for depth.

B2B startups usually find LinkedIn the most valuable, because customers, investors and hires are all there, and LinkedIn's help centre covers native video. X remains important in tech and startup circles. Consumer startups often need Instagram and TikTok. YouTube holds longer founder conversations and demos.

When should a startup invest in video editing?

Earlier than most founders think, but starting small.

At the very earliest stage, a founder can post raw clips or use a freelancer for a few edits a week, and that is often the right call. Once the startup has some traction, a podcast, several team members creating content or a launch approaching, more editing capacity starts to pay for itself.

Our entry point is two thousand dollars a month, covering up to thirty long form videos and two hundred short form clips, thumbnails included, edited by close to fifty in-house editors in Dubai, and anything involving full strategy sits above that, and I wrote about the SaaS version of this in what SaaS founders get wrong when hiring a video agency.

What mistakes do startup founders make with video?

Over producing, talking only about features and giving up too early.

That is one, spending weeks on a polished launch video when a clear, honest recording would perform better. Secondly, feature talk, when early audiences care more about the problem and the founder's thinking. And then there is a third, stopping after a few weeks because nothing went viral, when founder content compounds over months.

How long before founder content helps?

Usually two to four months for noticeable effects, faster if the founder already has a network.

The first signs are inbound conversations from customers, investors or candidates who mention the content. Over a year, consistent founders often find that content has quietly become their most important channel for all three.

Should early employees post content too?

I think they should, right, as long as it is genuine and voluntary.

Early team members sharing what they are building, why they joined and what they are learning add credibility and reach that the founder alone cannot provide. It also shows prospective hires what the culture is actually like, which is one of the most effective recruiting tools a startup has.

The catch here is forcing it, because employees posting under pressure sounds hollow, so the best approach is making it easy and celebrated rather than required.

How should startups handle competitors in their content?

By focusing on the problem and their own approach, rather than attacking anyone.

Every startup has competitors, often larger and better funded. Content that explains how the startup thinks about the problem differently, and who its approach suits best, is far more persuasive than criticising other companies, and it avoids the legal and reputational risk of making claims about competitors.

Being honest about who the product is not for is also surprisingly effective, because it makes the founder sound confident and trustworthy.

How can customer interviews become content?

By recording them with permission and letting customers describe the problem in their own words.

Early stage founders talk to customers constantly, and those conversations contain the clearest descriptions of the problem the startup solves. Short clips of customers explaining their pain, before any mention of the product, are powerful because other potential customers recognise themselves in them.

Always ask permission before recording, and let customers review anything that features them.

How do you keep content going when things get busy?

By building a buffer and making the process almost effortless.

Startups have chaotic weeks, fundraises, launches, hiring sprints, and content is usually the first thing to slip. The founders who stay consistent record a few extra updates in quieter weeks, keep a small backlog of finished content ready to publish and hand every part of the process except talking to someone else.

Should a startup founder start a podcast?

Often, right, especially in B2B, because it doubles as business development.

A podcast lets a founder have long conversations with exactly the people they want to know, potential customers, investors, partners and experts. Each episode becomes a long form piece and a week of clips, and each guest becomes a relationship. For a founder short on time, it is one of the most efficient formats available.

How should a startup measure whether founder content works?

By the conversations it creates rather than the views it gets.

Useful signals include inbound customer enquiries that mention content, investors referencing posts in meetings, candidates who say they applied because they followed the founder, and partners who reach out unprompted. Views and follower counts are noisy, while those conversations are the real return on the founder's time.

Where should a startup founder start?

With a weekly five minute update, recorded every Friday, for the next twelve weeks.

The startup founders page has more on how we work with early stage companies, why we are the best personal branding agency for founders covers the founder brand side, and the podcast editing page explains how conversations become weeks of content. So yeah. That's my way of saying it.