April Dunford, Founder, Rocket Launch Marketing, discusses a systems approach to startup marketing. April highlights the importance of understanding the customer buying process, choosing the right marketing tactics and measuring results.
Author’s Statement: I spent the first 25 years of my career as a startup executive, running marketing, product, and sales teams. I led teams at seven successful B2B technology startups. Most of those startups were acquired (DataMirror to IBM, Janna Systems to Siebel Systems, then SAP, Watcom to Sybase via Powersoft, to name a few), and I ran big teams at IBM, Siebel, Sybase, and others. The total of those acquisitions is more than two billion dollars. Across that journey, I positioned, re-positioned, and launched 16 products.
I have a deep curiosity about what makes the difference between a winning product and a loser. Developing a systematic way of positioning technology products and companies has become my life’s work. As a consultant, I have had the privilege of working with more than 100 companies, allowing me to go even deeper and broaden my positioning expertise. The bulk of my work is with early and growth-stage startups. Companies where the stakes are high – and weak positioning can mean the difference between success or failure. I also work with large global companies, helping them develop deeper positioning expertise in their product and marketing teams.
