All articlesStartup Marketing
Anna WhitfieldApril 22, 2026 · 6 min read
Startup Marketing: What Your First Marketing Hire Should Own
The scope, the metrics, and the failure modes of the first marketing hire at a startup.
Anna WhitfieldApril 22, 2026 · 6 min readHire for the current constraint
If you have no story, hire a product marketer. If you have a story and no distribution, hire a growth marketer. Job titles matter less than the constraint they remove.
Scope in writing
Name two metrics, three deliverables for the first quarter, and the decisions they own without asking. Ambiguity is what makes first hires fail.
Founder involvement never ends
In the early stage, the founder is still the sharpest source of narrative. Delegating marketing does not mean leaving the room.
- #Hiring
- #Startups
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