The FOUNDER.marketing Thesis

If I were the CMO at a B2B Startup or Fintech with CHF 1-10M ARR, tasked with replicating the playbook of Chris Walker or Adam Robinson for our founder or CEO, here's how I'd approach it:

1. Evaluate Founder/Audience Fit

• Objective: Become the #1 resource for our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to grow an audience of relevant people.
• Strategy: Provide solutions to our ICP's biggest priorities, pain points, and desires through insightful content.
• Founder Insights: Our founder needs genuine insights. For instance, if we target Heads of Sales, our founder must be a leader in B2B Sales; if we target Chief People Officers, our founder should have deep HR expertise.
• Importance: The stronger the founder/audience fit, the more effective our strategy will be.

2. Map Out Content Pillars

• Content Pillars: Focus on two main areas – Product and Thought Leadership.
  • Product: Identify all the pain points our product addresses. Have our founder discuss each one and how our product solves them to create demand.
  • Thought Leadership: Understand our ICP's priorities and desires. Have our founder share non-obvious insights, strategies, frameworks, and playbooks to build trust and credibility.
• Key to Success: The closer we align our content with what our prospects truly care about, the more it will resonate.

3. Create the Content Engine

• Content Creation Routes:
  • Route 1: Host a (bi)weekly live event or podcast where our founder shares current market insights or interviews a customer, prospect, or thought leader in our space.
  • Route 2: Conduct a weekly content interview with our founder, preparing questions around our company, product, and their expertise. Platforms like SquadCast.fm or Riverside.fm can be used for this.
• Content Flow: Long-form content from these sessions becomes the source for bite-sized LinkedIn posts.

4. Analyze What Works & Double Down

• Content Posting: Establish a repeatable process to post 2-5 times per week on our founder's LinkedIn profile.
• Performance Analysis: Use tools like Shield to analyze which posts perform best.