Start Telling People: The guide to marketing strategy and brand building for future-defining startups

At last, a book focused on revealing the marketing strategies, tactics, and opportunities unique to early-stage startups as they emerge, grow, and change the world!

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“If you’re a hardware founder, ‘Start Telling People’ will stop you from screwing up your biggest opportunities to shine.”

Andra Keay

Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics,

IEEE Entrepreneurship Vice Chair, 2023

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"No one wants to read a lecture on marketing theory. That's exactly why we need books like Start Telling People...The book doesn't focus on overnight successes or crash-and-burn failures, but rather on the hard work that goes into building a company day-to-day. If you're a startup founder, read this book."

Megan Lamb

Co-Founder and Senior Partner, Cutline Communications

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At some point, every early-stage startup needs to stop being a secret and start telling people. As your company begins to take shape, building fast attention and strong demand become essential - and just buying ads won't be enough. Matthews provides frameworks, examples, and interviews that reinforce the book’s central thesis: marketing is a discipline, not just an activity. The book offers practical, jargon-free ideas that seamlessly blend marketing fundamentals with the functional realities of fast-paced, growth-focused startups.

Key topics include market positioning for new companies and categories, how to balance creativity and data in decision making, mastering product demos, crafting exceptional customer experiences, communications strategy, and much more - all specifically tailored to the realities of early-stage startups.

Matthews' clear, engaging narrative, combined with actionable advice, transforms this book into a unique and relevant resource for early-stage startup founders, investors, and marketers.