Why Storytelling and Inbound Marketing are crucial for startups, specifically regarding fundraising, recruiting and building company culture, and why culture and recruiting play a central role in growth hacking. Keynote at StartSmart! Marketing & Metrics day, in Tallinn March 2013 http://www.start-smart.me/en/events/startsmart-events/149/startsmart-marketingmetrics. Startup Camp Berlin March 2014 http://startupcamp.co/2014/

1. Storytelling,
Inbound Marketing &
#WTF is
Growth Hacking
@paulamarttila

2. Me,
a Thought
Leader?
…but I just wanna push code
@paulamarttila

3. MARKETING LANDSCAPE
It’s a neon jungle out there
STORYTELLING
Why it’s important for startups, Storytelling
ABC
INBOUND MARKETING
Startup’s best friend
#WTF IS GROWTH HACKING
And what’s that got to do with marketing?
Agenda
@paulamarttila

4. VIRAL
INFLUENCE
GUERILLA
APIs
APP STORE
KICKSTARTER
SOCIAL MEDIA
CONTENT / INBOUND
CUSTOMER SERVICE
EMAIL
SEM
DIRECT & EVENTS
MARKETING LANDSCAPE@paulamarttila

5. Copyright: @gapingvoid @paulamarttila

6. Startups’
biggest hurdle is
to overcome
@paulamarttila
indifference

7. 0,5%
@paulamarttila

8. = Fans in
Facebook
talking about
brands
@paulamarttila

9. @paulamarttila

10. 0,000 001
@paulamarttila

11. = Chance
a viewer sees
your content
on YouTube
@paulamarttila

12. 3 000 000+
@paulamarttila

13. = Apps in
App Store &
Google Play
@paulamarttila
(July -15)

14. 0.001
Of Apps Have
> 50K Users
@paulamarttila
“10 Million is the
new 1 Million”

15. STORYTELLING
@paulamarttila

16. "You gotta start with
the customer experience
and work backwards to
technology.” -
@paulamarttila
Steve Jobs

17. Startup Storytelling ABC+D
@paulamarttila
A: Vision and Mission. Your product needs to stand for something that people can
emotionally connect with, in order to make them want to join your journey as team
members, investors, and customers. Show your passion and values. Remember,
basic human needs and behaviours are universal.
B: Find The Aha Factor, i.e. the sweet spot in your product, that makes people go:
“Ah, I have that problem, too. I need that! Can I have it NOW?”
C: Tell Your Own Story. A company is often created out of personal pain, so give it
a human voice, too. If you don’t have a story of your own, let your customers tell
theirs! They have the most wonderful stories.
D: You guessed it: Don’t fake it. People won’t join you if they don’t believe you, and
if they can’t believe you, they won’t trust you. You will learn, trust is everything,

18. Storytelling Is
Not Only For:
Eyeballs
Media Relations
Product Launches
@paulamarttila
But Most
Importantly…

19. #1 HIRING
& CULTURE
@paulamarttila

20. #2 FUNDRAISING
@paulamarttila

21. “I usually know
within 3 min
if I want to fund you,
within 10 min
if I want to fund your
business.”-
@paulamarttila
Fred Destin, Accel Partners

22. You’re being tracked:
Stick to your
story and metrics!
@paulamarttila
“Our CRM allows us to
instantly see the number of
employees, social traction,
and progress in multiple
distribution channels before
speaking to a company,
allowing us to be much more
proactive in our approach.”
James Wise, Balderton Capital

23. #3 CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
& FANS*
@paulamarttila
*Your first PR, Marketing, Customer Service & Sales Team

24. Inbound
Marketing
i.e.
How Do People
Find You?
@paulamarttila

25. “80% of
success
is showing up” -
Woody Allen
@paulamarttila

26. Keep
showing
up!
@paulamarttila
“After 10X on
The Tonight Show
people start to
recognize you as
someone who might
have been on TV, but
they have no idea who
the hell you are.”-
Steve Martin

27. Be Helpful
Have Consistent Story
Add Value
@paulamarttila
Inbound Marketing Essentials

28. @paulamarttila
by mBaaS Kinvey

29. “How to
make
Android
App”
@paulamarttila
Free Kinvey eBook

30. “5 Content
Marketing
Truths”
(for App Developers)
@paulamarttila
Kinvey Blog

31. GROWTH
HACKING
Topic du jour!
Huh?
@paulamarttila

32. @paulamarttila

33. @paulamarttila
Andrew Chen
"If your product isn’t
retaining users, it won’t
help much to pour water
into a leaky bucket”-

34. When an investor
suggests ways
to become more
viral, I’m like...
@paulamarttila

35. http://runningastartup.tumblr.com/post/22383987097/when-an-investor-suggests-ways-to-become-more-viral
@paulamarttila

36. “How
we put
Facebook
on path to
1B users”
@paulamarttila
Chamath Palihapitiya,
Social Capital

37. 1. Elegant understanding of CORE PRODUCT VALUE. Don’t spam &
trick, it alienates users in the long term.
2. ELIMINATE EGO CULTURE. HIRE A-people. Don’t believe the hype.
Test, Measure, Try again.
3. USE SIMPLE FRAMEWORK: Acquisition, Activation, Engagement,
Virality =
•Get customer to front door
•Deliver Aha moment
•Deliver core product value as often as possible.
•Turn on viral coefficients
by @chamath
@paulamarttila

38. @paulamarttila
First then You’re
ready to grow…

39. Copyright: @gapingvoid @paulamarttila

40. RECAP
Not Only For:
Eyeballs, Media Relations, Product Launches
#1 Hiring & Culture
#2 Fundraising
#3 Customer Acquisition
Most Importantly: Be authentic!
STORYTELLING
@paulamarttila

41. Keep showing up!
Be helpful, Add value
Don’t talk about yourself
Build Trust
=> Become Thought Leader
=> More Customers
You guessed it, Be authentic!
INBOUND MARKETING
RECAP
@paulamarttila

42. Don't believe the hype
Create core product value
Don't fall for vanity metrics
Have courage not to optimize for short term
Don’t spam & trick
For crying out loud, Be authentic!
GROWTH HACKING
RECAP
@paulamarttila

43. Recommended ReadingChamath Palihapitiya, How we put Facebook on path to 1B users:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=raIUQP71SBU#!
What is Growth Hacking, Josh Elman, Greylock Partners:
https://medium.com/what-i-learned-building/f445b04cbd20
The Mobile Growth Stack Revised, Andy Carvell
https://medium.com/mobile-growth/2015-the-mobile-growth-stack-revised-58f5d11d43f3#.mhzbpzbgk
Quora, Facebook Growth:
http://www.quora.com/Facebook-Growth-and-Traction/What-are-some-decisions-taken-by-the-Growth-
team-at-Facebook-that-helped-Facebook-reach-500-million-users
Quora, Conversion optimization:
http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-top-strategies-for-conversion-optimization
Kissmetrics, Growth hacking examples:
http://blog.kissmetrics.com/the-6-best-growth-hacks/
Startup Metrics by 500 startups, Dave McClure:
http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-metrics-for-pirates-nov-2012
Hacker news for Marketers:
http://inbound.org/
Kinvey, Mobile marketing:
http://www.kinvey.com/blog/121/the-backend-as-a-service-ecosystem-map-update-amp-new-trends-
migration-toward-the-middle
E-commerce conversion optimization:
http://www.cueblocks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Board-4-02.png
Hubspot, Inbound marketing
http://blog.hubspot.com/
Andrew Chen, Growth Hacking
http://andrewchen.co/2012/09/17/you-dont-need-a-growth-hacker/
Andrew Chen, AirBnB Growth Hacking
http://andrewchen.co/2012/04/27/how-to-be-a-growth-hacker-an-airbnbcraigslist-case-study/
Truecaller: http://www.truecaller.com/blog/engineering-the-word-of-mouth
@paulamarttila

44. R E M E M B E R ,
S TA RT U P S
A R E H A R D

45. @paulamarttila
http://paulamarttila.com
paula.marttila@gmail.com
https://twitter.com/paulamarttila
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamarttila
Thank
You

46. I M A G E C R E D I T S
@paulamarttila
http://www.gapingvoidart.com/images/nobody-cares_1.gif (Nobody cares)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicagogeek/5169397357/ (Good-bye Eyeball)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/queen_of_subtle/4967953011/sizes/l/ (World's biggest hockey stick)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamoteus/2347659489/ (Pouring water)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKArupEBE6Y (Business plan)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cuppojoe_trips/594428407/ (Friends)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/3674050796/ (You're Awesome)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityhunter12/529372209 (Coffee break, ducks)
http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5244945/il_570xN.211353614.jpg (My problem)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulamarttila/ (slides: Shibuya neon lights, Hamilton Fans, Kinvey in
Berlin)