First impression matters

“The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing is try to change a mind.” Al Ries, 22 immutable laws of marketing.

Once a prospect has formed her first impression about your startup, it is near impossible to shift her perception, and in marketing, perception is reality. This newsletter is dedicated to helping first-time founders and early-stage founding teams make that right first impression. A first impression that not only aligns with the essence of who you are and what you’re building but also matters (a lot!) to your customer.

What I’ll cover

Positioning: What is positioning? How to position your startup? When to start thinking about positioning? How to reposition your startup? and more.

Brand: Why should an early-stage startup care about building a brand? What are brand values, and how do you live them? Smart, low-cost ways to build a brand? and more.

GTM strategy: How to choose the right GTM model? What is the cost of not making a clear choice? When to hire your first marketer? and more.

Who the heck is Hema?

For over 20 years, Hema Padhu has helped startups tell compelling stories. She excels in helping first-time founders carve out a differentiated positioning rooted in customer empathy and in building a strong marketing foundation to establish their leadership in a category. She’s advised and supported startups like Honeybook, Maze, DocSend (dropbox), OctoML, Livestorm, and more.

Hema’s storytelling passion also extends to writing fiction and her short stories have been published in literary journals.