Watch the full workshop recording below to dive deeper into these strategies and see real-world examples in action.

"We've built an amazing product and just closed our $25M Series A, but nobody knows we exist. 80% of our pipeline still comes through my LinkedIn. I've been doing marketing myself with ChatGPT, but it's not really working. You have 100 days to change that."

Sound familiar? This fictional CEO's dilemma reflects the reality I encounter repeatedly as a marketing advisor to early-stage startups. The old playbooks don't work anymor: capital is expensive, AI has reshaped buyer expectations, and everyone thinks they're a marketing expert now.

In a recent workshop, I walked through the most common challenges first-time startup marketers face and the frameworks that actually move the needle. Here's your field guide to the first 100 days.

Why the playbook has changed

Today, three forces have reshaped what those first 100 days must look like:

Capital is expensive. Every marketing dollar must work harder. There’s no room for long ramps and brand campaigns that “eventually” convert.
AI has collapsed timelines. Founders can produce passable content in seconds, and boards expect the same speed from their teams.
Moats are thinner. Competitors can copy features in weeks. The only durable edge left is trust, built through story, credibility, and proof.

That’s why the first 100 days of marketing are about finding clarity, about who you serve, why you matter, how to leverage AI for efficiency, and how to earn trust at scale.

Challenge 1: "Nobody knows we exist"

This is the classic early stage paradox: you've proven product-market fit enough to raise significant capital, but your market presence is still entirely dependent on very few customers and the founder's personal network. The danger isn't just limited reach; it's that your growth ceiling is capped by one person's relationship capacity.

The solution requires building a memorable story around three interconnected elements: authentic founder narrative, a distinctive point of view, and strategic content distribution.

Take Julia Marsh, Founder and CEO of Sway. Growing up in Monterey Bay, surrounded by both seaweed and plastic waste, she made it her mission as a designer to create seaweed-based packaging that replaces petroleum dependency. Her personal story became the company's origin narrative, landing features in Vogue and winning the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize.

The psychological principle at work here is the singularity effect: we care disproportionately about individuals over groups.

When your CEO pushes back on "personal branding," reframe it as “personal credibility”. As Maven co-founder Wes Kao puts it: "When you have strong personal credibility, you have a deeper connection with people who believe in your work."

**Develop your Spiky Point of View**

Share an opinion that's both true and surprising, but not universally accepted.
Pinnacle's CEO Alexei consistently argues that "we're all going to be managers of AI employees." It's controversial enough to spark conversation but grounded in conviction and it’s a messaging he’s been consistently sharing on social.

LinkedIn mastery: Use the "coworker test": would your colleague reshare this? Focus on strong hooks, scannable content, and the 80/20 rule (80% value, 20% pitch).

Challenge 2: "Deals are dragging out"

When sales cycles stretch endlessly and prospects seem overwhelmed, the instinct is to blame external factors: market saturation, buyer fatigue, economic uncertainty. But the real issue often runs deeper: you may not have genuine product-market fit, or you lack clarity about who actually needs your solution urgently.

The dangerous trap I've witnessed repeatedly: one major customer success doesn't equal PMF. I've joined two startups that thought they'd "nailed it" after landing enterprise deals, only to discover those customers were outliers. You can waste 18 months doubling down on the wrong messaging.

Instead of asking the loaded question "Do we really have PMF?" deploy structured approaches like First Round's PMF stages, Jobs-to-be-Done analysis, or use case mapping. These frameworks help you have objective conversations about market readiness without triggering defensive responses.

The customer discovery sprint: The modern buyer syndrome is real: prospects want to educate themselves and only contact you when they're about 2/3 through their buying journey (Source: Six Sense). This means you need high-quality self-education content and better qualification criteria, not more aggressive outreach.

Make sure to include in your first 100 days a customer immersion sprint to really mail your ideal customer profile, wether it’s 20 customer conversations in 20 days, shadowing calls, listening on support tickets, mining internal Slack. Look for signals of willingness to pay, not just interest.

Challenge 3: "The CEO has been doing Marketing with ChatGPT"

The promise of AI-powered marketing teams has created a dangerous myth: that one person armed with the right tools can replace an entire department. Founders hear about "10x productivity gains" and assume marketing complexity has been solved. The reality is messier. Without proper foundations, AI amplifies chaos rather than creating order.

*Credit: Maison Lafargue, made with Gemini*

I see this pattern repeatedly: CEOs experimenting with ChatGPT to write blog posts, LinkedIn updates, and email campaigns, then wondering why nothing feels cohesive or drives results. The output may be grammatically correct, but it lacks strategic direction and authentic voice.

The solution starts with establishing a comprehensive style guide before deploying AI across your team. Without it, you'll have inconsistent content flooding out with no discernible brand voice. Pick 1-2 tools, invest in pro versions, and test workflows manually before attempting automation.

Think of AI as layered capabilities: traditional LLM research and writing at the foundation, coding and prototyping for quick demos or landing page variations in the middle, and automation tools like Zapier for content repurposing at the top. Each layer requires mastery before advancing to the next.

Don't expect everything to be fast. As marketers, we need time to think strategically. Set expectations that not everything should happen tomorrow, especially when building foundations that will support long-term growth.

The emergence of Answer Engine Optimization represents a fundamental shift from traditional SEO. Focus on three critical areas: technical readability for AI crawlers, content strategy optimized for citations and fresh answers, and consistent brand voice documentation that helps AI tools maintain your authentic tone.

Challenge 4: "90% of pipeline comes through the founder’s network"

Network dependency feels safe in the beginning: warm introductions convert better, sales cycles are shorter, and trust is pre-established. But this comfort zone becomes a growth trap. Your market size is artificially limited to your founder's relationship graph, and worse, you're building no institutional knowledge about how to reach customers systematically.

The breakthrough comes from discovering your unique marketing advantage rather than trying to excel at every channel. Every successful startup I've worked with found their edge in something distinctive.

*Credit: Maison Lafargue, Focal, Vogue, The Brass, Sway, GOB, TaroAI. Shelby Wolpa, Telo Trucks, Notpla*

For example: Focal Heat sells premium outdoor heaters made with Swiss watch precision, their design story became their marketing edge. Telo Trucks built a Discord community during their long EV development cycle, using emoji-based CRM integration to track product feedback in real-time. Notpla's edible water packaging got picked up by Prince William, turning their visual innovation into earned media gold.

The pattern is clear: stop trying to be good at everything. Double down on what makes you different and build systematic approaches around those natural strengths.

Brand positioning also becomes critical in this process. Use frameworks like Pact Studio's archetype wheel to align leadership on brand personality. Are you the Sage (knowledge-focused) or the Creator (innovation-driven)? These conversations surface crucial strategic differences between co-founders that can derail marketing efforts if left unaddressed.

Challenge 5: "My board keeps asking about strategy"

Board pressure around marketing strategy often intensifies because marketing can feel less intangible compared to sales metrics or operational data.

This creates a credibility gap that new marketing hires must close quickly. The board isn't questioning your tactical execution, they're questioning whether marketing can become a predictable, scalable growth engine rather than an experimental cost center.

The solution lies in making marketing a strategic asset through systematic documentation and artifact creation. Your 100-day deliverables should include: comprehensive market analysis and ICP definition, positioning and narrative framework, detailed GTM plan and growth model, structured content strategy, and real-time reporting dashboard.

These artifacts prove you're building systematically rather than throwing tactics at the wall. More importantly, they demonstrate strategic thinking at a level board members recognize from other functions.

But documentation alone isn't enough. Marketing is inherently social: use that momentum-building energy. Host town halls, organize customer breakfast sessions, meet with board members individually before formal meetings. Go on an internal roadshow that showcases customer insights and market opportunities.

The goal isn't just to report on marketing activities; it's to position marketing as the function that best understands market dynamics and customer needs. When you become the voice of the customer in board discussions, you've transformed marketing from a cost center into a strategic advantage.

The contrarian take

Most startup marketing advice focuses on tactics and tools. The real leverage comes from slowing down to build proper foundations. In an age of AI-powered speed, taking time to understand your market deeply, develop authentic narratives, and create systematic approaches becomes your competitive advantage.

Your first 100 days are less about proving you can execute quickly and more about proving you can deliver impact.

Your first 100 days checklist

Weeks 1-4: Foundation

Decode founder's DNA and brand archetype
Audit current demos and sales materials
Launch customer discovery sprint
Establish AI style guide and tool selection

Weeks 5-8: Story & systems

Develop spiky point of view and founder narrative
Create use case maps and ICP documentation
Build content pillars for LinkedIn strategy
Set up measurement and reporting frameworks

Weeks 9-12: Scale & momentum

Launch thought leadership content program
Optimize demos with storytelling frameworks
Create board-level strategy documentation
Go on internal roadshow to build momentum

Week 13: Strategic review

Document lessons learned and pivot points
Establish next 100 days priorities
Present comprehensive strategy to board
Build team expansion plan

Ready to dive deeper? The full workshop recording includes detailed breakdowns of each framework, live examples from successful startups, and Q&A addressing the most common implementation challenges.

Startup marketing: The first 100 days.