@j00st Hi Joost and thanks for the kind words :-) We were debating about this a lot too - whether or not to add a $500/mo stage. Maybe we'll add this later but for now, we felt that a combination of the $0 and the $1000 (little of each) is suffice.
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@moran_barnea I was more thinking about a 100$/mo option
If tech founders can:
- Build the product
- Market for it
- Manage financials
Then why the hell would there still be non-technical co-founders for technical startups? I've been building tech products for other non-tech founders for quite a while now and I wonder everyday why don't I build something of my own? I don't see what the other non-tech founders do that hard or require very much skills, there are many tools (built by technical co-founders) that makes the life of non-technical co-founders easy, I can use the same tools they use and maybe make a more efficient output since I can "use" the tool and "alter/rebuild" it to suit my needs in a better way.
I really like NO CMO and whats alike, maybe as a tech. founder learning about these stuff will make me better co-operate, if not build for my own, and I invite other non-tech founders to learn about technical matters as well, instead of wasting most of their time on growth hacking.
@themsaid If you have this bug in you, you should definitely go and create your own stuff. That's always fun.
Indeed the technical founders usually have an advantage over the non-technical ones just for the fact they actually build their own product, but I wouldn't go as far as saying you don't need them. There's a lot you can do for yourself and for that reason we created NO CMO in the first place, but marketing experts are still marketing experts.
@erez_z Agreed, I'm not saying they're not needed at all but the talented ones are much fewer than the fake ones, it's not easy to read a couple of posts and then say you are a developer but it's very easy to read a couple of posts and then title yourself CMO, CFO, COO, ...
The problem I always face with most non-technical cofounders is that they reached a level of arrogance that made them believe that the 4-5 posts they read on Medium are enough to make them make decisions that they call "Product Decision", they like to think of tech co-founders as coding machines
"You do the code and let me do this or that, I don't put my nose into your job so don't put yours in my job." Of course you don't put yours because you have no clue what those letters on that dark screen represent, but don't tell me I can't make money related / business related decisions as much as you. That's my point.
@themsaid lol:) it sounds like it's not the right partnership. And yeah, good partners are hard to find. I think it's the biggest challenge for startup founders with just an idea or prototype.
Thanks @ericwillis for the hunt, we appreciate it :-) The idea for No CMO came after working with various startups and meeting many tech founders. I noticed that the majority of them are super-accomplished from a technical perspective, but don't come from a marketing or business background nor do they have a full time marketing person on their staff.
I wanted to create, together with @erez_z, an easy-to-use guide that would help them with a marketing plan on a relatively small (or non-existing) budget. A go-to resource for marketing strategies that would be easy to work with and refer to at any stage of your company.
No CMO has 3 budget categories we feel any startup without a CMO would find useful - $0 marketing budget/month, $1000 marketing budget/month and $5,000 marketing budget/month. Each category lays down marketing channels and opportunities within the given budget.
We'd love to hear your thoughts - the website will keep updating so any feedback is welcome :-)
Moran
@moran_barnea Moran, love the idea of No CMO, would love to contribute some ideas for the sales side as well to help founders (particularly technical) get their first few sales.
This was actually a really cool idea, to break it down by the amount startups have to invest.
I second the idea of adding a $500 / month option if you can, I can picture a lot of people wanting to build a business while still working another job quite able to throw $500 / month into the project but $1000 / month is a little steep for a lot of people. Someone new may not know what's worth dropping and what they should keep (based off the $1000 a month resources)
Anyway this is a great resource and one I wish I would've been around years ago. No doubt I'll be sharing this with people who I think could benefit from it.
@helpstartmysite Thanks, James! We'll consider adding $500/mo later on and that's a great suggestion. In the meantime, if a startup or entrepreneur have $500/mo for marketing, they can choose to only do some of the things mentioned in the $1,000 and some of the things mentioned in the $0/mo page. There are some great free tools and resources that we recommend people to use even if they have a budget.
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No CMO looks interesting. Liked the line "Turning tech-founders into CMOs". Just read a few posts on NOCMO blog. Quite helpful
Consider adding a stronger sense of how much time is required for these activities. Time can be harder to come by than money when you're heads-down building out beta. I appreciate the intent of this guide, and in time it could become a fantastic resource. For now, it's lacking the strategy and prioritization help someone new to marketing would need to be successful. There are many things a conversation with a professional can tell you that will save you $$$ and time in the long run. My (free!) tip? If you only have $1000 to market, don't spend a penny on a launch promotion. You need that cash for things that will have more value that the blips a $1000 launch buys.
Great idea, I often wonder what would happen if there was more training for teaching technical founders how to market and sell well. Often they have the analytical background to be VERY proficient marketers and sales leaders.
@walkerlucas Thanks Lucas! And good point - we feel that with the right guidance and at least in the early stages of a company, tech-founders can act as their own CMOs. The product is important but often, the package makes all the difference ;-)
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