The biggest mistake startups & scale-ups make

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INTRODUCTION

Over the last twelve months, we have been fortunate, at Defiant, to work with many a brilliant founder. Yet the more we work with startups & scale-ups the more we worry. Why? Well, we see them make the same mistakes time & time again. Mistakes that not only restrict growth but could ultimately lead to long-term failure. What are they and how can you avoid them? Let’s dive in.

#1 THE DANGERS OF GROWTH MARKETING

Whilst growth marketing can be useful to secure short-term sales, essential for cash flow and survival, it to often neglects the long term. Simply companies become so obsessed with tactics that they rarely (if ever) take the time to define their long-term strategy. Specifically, it fails to:

• Look at their competition & identify a whitespace to own.

• Define a future they want to create (ie vision)

• Define the best possible path to get to said vision (ie strategy).

This is dangerous and wasteful. Falling to define your long-term strategy will often see a company continually stumble around in multiple different directions, wasting a ton of energy and at worst ‘hoping’ for the best when it comes to different outcomes.

In contrast, the most successful scale-ups begin by really nailing their strategy. Liquid Death, for example, identified its whitespace (going after sober various drinkers, not bottled water drinkers), set out its vision (reduce plastic waste), and developed its strategy (ie “our evil mission is to make the world laugh and protect it”). This strategy has ultimately allowed the brand to carve out a unique take in the category and define a long-term path forward, that has helped them unlock over x30 growth in only a few years.

Key lesson? Sure keep using growth marketing for short-term sales, but if you want to unlock exponential growth you need to take the time to properly define your strategy.

#2 NOBODY CARES

To all the founders reading this, hold your breath, you might not like what I am about to say. Truth is, people don’t care about your product or service nearly as much as you do…if it all. People live busy lives and pay far more attention to their mortgages, loved ones, and their careers…than your precious offering. I tell you this not to be provocative. I tell you this, because it's liberating. 

You see once you realize this, you realize what you need to do. You need to build a brand that is the most memorable in your given category. You need to build a brand that instantly comes to mind when people are ready to buy. And the best way to do this? Aim for fame, the single biggest driver of growth. 

Yet the truth is only a handful of brands ever achieve fame. Those who do tend to stand for something, challenge the status quo, and in turn win disproportionate levels of attention. We call them Defiant Brands and our company exists to build them.

Lesson two? Embrace ambivalence, aim for fame, and build a Defiant brand.

THIS WEEKS SPONSOR

This week we have two sponsors of Stratlabs, please take a brief moment to support this newsletter by checking them out below.

Elevate is a great-tasting, low-caffeine, coffee blend infused with nature’s finest adaptogens and superfoods that will give you that energy lift, without the caffeine crash. Have been drinking it myself over the last week and its bloody brilliant. Find out more HERE.

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#3 SNAKE OIL SALESMEN

Perhaps our biggest frustration in the founder and scale-up world is the sheer amount of ‘snake oil salesmen’. Those full of big opinions but with very little real strategic experience. Those tend to win by being massively cheaper than those who know what they are doing.

Look we get it. Budgets are small and wallets are tight. Often you end up having to get your strategy or creative work done, by these cheaper alternatives. That is why are holding a free workshop to help. A workshop that will reveal to founders & scaleups the ‘truth and lies in marketing’ and how to actually scale a brand. Interested in attending? You can sign up here for free - founders, startups and scaleups only though.

There are only a limited number of spots if you want the win the chance to attend - simply sign up here:

CONCLUSION

If you are a founder, startup or scaleup remember these three things:

1. Always take the time to define your strategy

2. Aim for fame to drive memorability

3. Ditch the snake oil salesmen and join our free workshop

Thanks as always for reading and please don’t forget. If you like this week’s newsletter please just spend one second forwarding it to someone or sharing on Linkedin and/or Twitter. We really appreciate it.

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Expect big thinking & small typ0s because i'm #MadeByDyslexia 

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Will Poskett

Co-Founder Defiant