So these days, anyone can get a product out. From vibe coding to letting AI do all the heavy lifting, it’s easier than ever to launch a snazzy website or build an app in record time. But the real question is, how do you actually get paying customers? What trends should founders pay attention to when it comes to marketing their startup in an increasingly noisy world?
According to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, CMO might be the highest turnover executive role in Silicon Valley. Honestly, that sounds about right. Marketing is hard as hell, and there are no shortcuts.
“I think the highest turnover of any executive in Silicon Valley might be the CMO. You don’t see a lot of turnover in CFOs… you don’t see a lot of turnover in CTOs. Part of my theory is that what works in marketing changes every few years. You have to be adaptable and your old playbook gets outdated.”
— Brian Chesky
The reality is, what worked five years ago probably won’t work today. Attention shifts. Platforms change. Audiences evolve. Founders who win are usually the ones willing to adapt faster than everyone else.
Here are some ways to fire up your marketing and stand out above the noise:
1. Experiment the hell out of everything
Find a channel and test relentlessly. Try different messaging, formats, hooks, headlines, and audiences. What are people actually looking for? What resonates? What completely flops? Most startups fail at marketing because they stop experimenting too early. Sometimes the breakthrough comes after 20 bad attempts.
2. Be opinionated as hell
You can’t be everyone’s cup of tea. The startups people remember usually stand for something. Have a perspective. Say what others are afraid to say. Develop a unique voice and flavour that makes your brand impossible to ignore. Safe marketing is forgettable marketing.
3. Pick a channel and dominate it
A lot of founders spread themselves too thin trying to be everywhere at once. Focus your energy on one channel first and go deep. But before that, figure out where your users actually hang out. Are they on professional networking platforms? Are they more consumer-focused? Do they spend hours watching short-form video? Go where the attention already exists.
4. Get scrappy
Most startups don’t have massive marketing budgets, so creativity becomes your advantage. Some of the best startup marketing comes from founders doing things that don’t scale. Cold outreach, partnerships, memes, community engagement, content, events, DMs, storytelling, anything that gets people talking. Scrappiness beats polish in the early days.
5. Communities are the moat
Leverage every resource at your disposal to grow, even if it’s one percent at a time. If you’re building, don’t build in isolation. Communities can open doors to partnerships, customers, referrals, collaborators, and opportunities you never expected. Join communities like FoundersBeta to meet founders building at a similar stage and learn from people going through the same grind.
6. Events still matter
Not every event brings value, and some are just glorified sales pitches. But the right event can completely change your trajectory. Focus on building genuine relationships with people who will talk about your startup when you’re not in the room. Some of the best opportunities happen through random conversations, not polished pitches.
As you go about marketing your startup, remember this: nobody really gives a damn about features. People care about stories, emotions, outcomes, and connection. Features can be copied. Your story can’t.
The founders who break through the noise are usually the ones who know how to tell a story people actually want to follow.