marketing Archives - Startup Economist

Why Nobody Understands Startup Growth

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Startups don’t grow like businesses. Not in the traditional sense. They don’t scale by adding headcount, expanding inventory, or renting more retail space. They grow by discovering, and then systematically proving, a revenue-generating system that works before it collapses. And yet, here we are, in 2025, with startup advisors, development organizations, investors, and even policymakers

Published in Insights / Research, Startup Ecosystems, Startups

26 Comments

Solutions to Overcome Ignorance

Monday, 28 July 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Startup Funding Isn’t Broken, It’s Behind Ready for a spicy topic likely to frustrate some friends in my criticism of good intentions? Let’s begin with a blunt but necessary truth: venture capital isn’t broken, most of it just doesn’t know what the hell it’s doing. The problem isn’t capital. It’s experience. And the startup ecosystem,

entrepreneurship funding marketing startups validation

Published in Startups

24 Comments

The GTM Slide is Broken: Here’s How to Fix It

Wednesday, 23 July 2025 by Paul O'Brien

The Go To Market Slide (GTM), is the most misunderstood, misused, and mangled slide in the entire startup pitch deck. It’s like the appendix of a pitch; everyone includes it, nobody knows exactly why, and when it bursts, the whole body of your presentation goes septic. Every founder knows they need one. Almost no one

go to market marketing pitch deck pitching slides

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

45 Comments

Why Most Startups Fail to Get Enough Attention

Wednesday, 18 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Most startups don’t die because they lacked funding. They don’t die because of bad code, poor vision, lack of a business plan, or the boogeyman of “not having product-market fit.” They die because no one noticed they were alive in the first place. We romanticize startup failure as some noble rite of passage (cue the

awareness business development marketing networking promotions public affairs

Published in PR, Startups

28 Comments

It’s All About Execution is Wrong

Wednesday, 22 January 2025 by Paul O'Brien

For decades, we’ve told founders that “execution is everything.” Entire conferences, books, and TED Talks have been built around this single mantra, as if startups succeed or fail on the same principles that determine whether a restaurant gets your order right. A quick Google Search (as long as we’re still doing those), shows us article

entrepreneurship execution marketing

Published in Startups

9 Comments

How Substack Quietly Emerged as the Empirical Thinker’s Social Network

Thursday, 16 January 2025 by Paul O'Brien

It’s easy to miss a quiet revolution in a world dominated by the noisy chaos of Twitter threads, AI clickbait, and influencers slinging collagen gummies. But that’s exactly what Substack has pulled off, amidst the rise of AI content pushing audiences even more desperately in search of authenticity. What started as a niche newsletter platform

content journalism marketing media mediatech news Social Media

Published in Social Media

21 Comments

How One of the Best Product Launches Ever Proves You Need Better Advisors

Wednesday, 08 January 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Be it a startup, a corporation, or even a public office, I would bet money before I’d invest in a startup that success hinges on the quality of its advisors. Advisors are not just voices in the background; they are formal participants in an organization’s structure, uniquely positioned to provide insights and strategic guidance that

advice advisors marketing mentors product launch

Published in Startups

11 Comments