Rob Walling

But they learn marketing well enough that then they, and they probably start as the IC, the individual contributor. I remember logging into the AdWords console and logging into the Facebook ads console and writing blog posts for SEO. Like I did all of that. Am I the best in the world at it? No.

But they learn marketing well enough that then they, and they probably start as the IC, the individual contributor. I remember logging into the AdWords console and logging into the Facebook ads console and writing blog posts for SEO. Like I did all of that. Am I the best in the world at it? No.

Did I do it until we figured out, ooh, this kind of works, and then I went and hired freelancers to take over? Yeah. There are some exceptions to this. If you have budget, obviously running ad platforms, LinkedIn, Facebook, AdWords, Instagram, obviously, those do have experts that you can hire and are way better than you and they aren't that expensive, so I would consider doing that from the start.

Did I do it until we figured out, ooh, this kind of works, and then I went and hired freelancers to take over? Yeah. There are some exceptions to this. If you have budget, obviously running ad platforms, LinkedIn, Facebook, AdWords, Instagram, obviously, those do have experts that you can hire and are way better than you and they aren't that expensive, so I would consider doing that from the start.

But even to test, but almost everything else, it's usually the founder being that strategist and then hiring ICs. First the founder doing the IC work and then hiring individual contributors to help out with that as you get budget. Because as marketing works, the company grows. And as the company grows, you have more revenue and you take that revenue and you should invest that back in marketing.

But even to test, but almost everything else, it's usually the founder being that strategist and then hiring ICs. First the founder doing the IC work and then hiring individual contributors to help out with that as you get budget. Because as marketing works, the company grows. And as the company grows, you have more revenue and you take that revenue and you should invest that back in marketing.

Usually it's marketing and sales are the first things you should be doing as a growing SaaS company. You have anything to add to that?

Usually it's marketing and sales are the first things you should be doing as a growing SaaS company. You have anything to add to that?

You have a luxury of a marketer wants to work with you because of who you are and because of the beautiful products you build and they know that you're going to execute quickly. Zero to one marketing is what we talk about. That's the founder level marketing, trying to figure it out. And Corey Haynes can do that. Asia Aranjo can do that. Any founder who succeeds can usually do that.

You have a luxury of a marketer wants to work with you because of who you are and because of the beautiful products you build and they know that you're going to execute quickly. Zero to one marketing is what we talk about. That's the founder level marketing, trying to figure it out. And Corey Haynes can do that. Asia Aranjo can do that. Any founder who succeeds can usually do that.

I mean, I can pretty much list all of the successful, fast-growing companies within Tiny Seed or MicroConf. It's like, oh, the founder has some hand in the marketing or sales. So you're right, you're the exception. It doesn't mean, that's where it's like it's not always and never, but in general, like pretty 80, 90, 5, 8% of the time, that's the pattern that I see. Yeah.

I mean, I can pretty much list all of the successful, fast-growing companies within Tiny Seed or MicroConf. It's like, oh, the founder has some hand in the marketing or sales. So you're right, you're the exception. It doesn't mean, that's where it's like it's not always and never, but in general, like pretty 80, 90, 5, 8% of the time, that's the pattern that I see. Yeah.

So thanks for those questions, Ali. I hope our thoughts were helpful. Next question comes from Tiago. His ex-Twitter handle is WBETiago. He says, how do you manage partnerships with other SaaS or products in your industry? What do you look for when partnering with other SaaS? How do you reach out to them? What are red flags? And I asked him, tell me more what you mean by partnering.

So thanks for those questions, Ali. I hope our thoughts were helpful. Next question comes from Tiago. His ex-Twitter handle is WBETiago. He says, how do you manage partnerships with other SaaS or products in your industry? What do you look for when partnering with other SaaS? How do you reach out to them? What are red flags? And I asked him, tell me more what you mean by partnering.

And he said, I mean, guest posts, integrations, giveaways, joint ventures, that kind of stuff. I wanted you to weigh in on this because Savikow, you've done a lot, you know, quite a few partnerships and I think some of them have resulted in good results. So I'm curious your thoughts. And then obviously I have my own from, you know, just from my own experience.

And he said, I mean, guest posts, integrations, giveaways, joint ventures, that kind of stuff. I wanted you to weigh in on this because Savikow, you've done a lot, you know, quite a few partnerships and I think some of them have resulted in good results. So I'm curious your thoughts. And then obviously I have my own from, you know, just from my own experience.

Yeah, I think that's a really good way to think about it. To go one level higher in terms of strategy, I think about integrations and partnerships as kind of the same thing, but an integration involves writing code. So a partnership, let's just say it's a JV partnership, joint venture partnership.

Yeah, I think that's a really good way to think about it. To go one level higher in terms of strategy, I think about integrations and partnerships as kind of the same thing, but an integration involves writing code. So a partnership, let's just say it's a JV partnership, joint venture partnership.

This is what internet marketers used to do in the early 2000s where it's like, I have a list, you have a list, let's cross-promote our course to the other list. It's free, free sales. We can either do a one-for-one trade of we email without affiliate links, I email my list about yours. You email your list about mine. No affiliate links. Or we can do the same thing and do affiliate deals.

This is what internet marketers used to do in the early 2000s where it's like, I have a list, you have a list, let's cross-promote our course to the other list. It's free, free sales. We can either do a one-for-one trade of we email without affiliate links, I email my list about yours. You email your list about mine. No affiliate links. Or we can do the same thing and do affiliate deals.