top of page
Search

The Road To: Turning Awareness Into Growth

Marketing isn’t “nice to have,”  it’s your engine for traction, revenue and survival. But for early-stage founders, hiring a marketer, testing channels, and building a repeatable growth motion can feel like guesswork. So we brought together the experts who’ve actually done it - from first hires to enterprise deals - and turned their lessons into your step-by-step playbook.


Below are the most tactical conversations from Startup Boston Week 2025 to help you grow smarter, spend better, and build a GTM foundation that scales.


Table of Contents: 


Start Your Marketing Engine: A Founder’s No-BS Guide to Your First Critical Marketing Hires

Hiring your first marketing lead is a major inflection point — and getting it right can change the trajectory of your startup. But choosing the wrong role, timing, or skill set can slow growth and create more work than it solves. This session breaks down exactly who to hire, when to hire, and how to evaluate marketing talent with confidence.


You’ll learn how to:

  • Prioritize the right skills and experience based on your stage and business model

  • Decide between in-house, fractional, and contractor support

  • Write a job description that attracts the right candidates (not just more candidates)

  • Assess marketing talent even if you’re not a marketer yourself




The No-Budget Growth Hack: 10X Your Reach with Partnerships

Partnerships can unlock growth that startups simply can’t achieve alone — especially when resources are tight. The right collaborations expand reach, add credibility, and accelerate sales without heavy spend or massive teams. This session gives you the frameworks to find the right partners, craft win-wins, and turn relationships into real revenue.


You’ll learn how to:

  • Identify and vet partners for true alignment and mutual value

  • Craft partnership proposals that go beyond “brand exposure”

  • Structure scalable relationships across different stages of growth

  • Avoid the most common partnership pitfalls that slow momentum




Bring Back the Brochure: How Old-School Tactics Are Driving Modern Deals

Trade shows and traditional marketing channels still move the needle — especially when startups use them strategically. With the right prep, creative execution, and smart follow-up, even a small budget can unlock high-quality leads and lasting brand visibility. This session gives you the practical tactics to maximize ROI and turn every event or campaign into real pipeline.


You’ll learn how to:

  • Select the right shows and channels based on goals, audience, and budget

  • Stand out with scrappy booth setups, on-site activations, and memorable materials

  • Use AI and automation to streamline outreach and follow-up

  • Convert conversations into deals with a consistent post-event system




Tiny But Mighty: How Micro-Influencers Are Driving Big Wins for Startups

Micro-influencers are becoming one of the most trusted drivers of purchase decisions — and startups are finally waking up to the opportunity. With the right partnerships, early companies can unlock authentic reach, customer acquisition, and high-ROI content without big-brand budgets. This session gives you the playbook for finding the right creators and turning influencer marketing into real business results.


You’ll learn how to:

  • Identify and vet micro-influencers who genuinely align with your audience

  • Structure partnerships that drive outcomes — not just content

  • Measure success beyond vanity metrics and optimize ROI

  • Repurpose influencer-generated content across channels to scale impact




From Receipts to Rewards: Data, Loyalty & the Future

From a college side project to a multi-billion-dollar consumer platform, Fetch is one of the most explosive startup stories of the decade. In this fireside conversation, founder & CEO Wes Schroll pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to win in a crowded market, scale a product to millions, and stay scrappy even as you grow. Come ready for honest lessons, big inflection points, and a playbook for turning momentum into a movement.


You’ll learn: 

  • How Fetch went from student startup to national brand with millions of loyal users

  • The growth strategies that helped it break through the noise (and keep climbing)

  • Where AI is transforming loyalty and consumer engagement right now

  • Hard-won lessons from scaling fast and what Wes would do differently next time




Cold Calling & Cold Emailing in 2026: What’s Working, What’s Not

Cold outreach isn’t dead, but the way startups win with it has completely changed. In a world of crowded inboxes and AI-automated everything, the teams breaking through are blending personalization, smart tooling, and a clear value story. This session gives you the most up-to-date tactics founders and early sales teams are using to convert cold prospects into real pipeline.


You’ll learn how to:

  • Write emails and call scripts that actually earn replies

  • Use automation tools without losing authenticity (or hurting deliverability)

  • Personalize at scale while keeping your startup’s voice front and center

  • Avoid the most common outbound mistakes that waste time and burn leads




Landing the Whale: Winning Your First Enterprise Deal

Landing your first enterprise customer is a game-changer,  but it takes far more than a polished pitch deck. Enterprise sales are a full-team effort, and marketing plays a critical role in earning trust, generating momentum, and enabling the deal. This session breaks down the cross-functional strategies startups use to crack into enterprise with confidence and real traction.


You’ll learn how to:

  • Identify and prioritize enterprise targets and craft messaging that earns attention

  • Equip your sales team with the right content, proof points, and positioning to move deals forward

  • Use marketing to shorten long sales cycles through education, credibility, and consistent nurturing

  • Avoid the most common enterprise-marketing mistakes that stall early deals




Launch Like a Pro: GTM Playbooks for Founders and Early Teams

You’ve built something great, now the real challenge begins: selling it. A successful launch isn’t about hype, it’s about building a go-to-market motion that drives real revenue from day one. This session gives you clear frameworks and an actionable plan to launch with alignment, confidence, and customers waiting.


You’ll learn how to:

  • Structure a GTM launch plan tied to real sales outcomes

  • Align marketing, product, and sales around the same launch strategy

  • Choose the right launch approach (soft launch, beta, full release) for your stage

  • Avoid the common GTM pitfalls that stall early traction




Every startup’s path to growth looks different, but the most successful teams share one thing: they treat marketing as a core function, not an afterthought. Whether you’re hiring your first marketer, testing scrappy channels, or gearing up for enterprise deals, these sessions are your shortcut to what actually works.


Bookmark this page, share it with your team and come back as you grow because your marketing engine should scale right alongside your ambition.

WEEKLY UPDATES IN YOUR INBOX

Be the first to know what's happening in the New England startup community! Discover why 22,000+ startup professionals eagerly read our updates every week when they land in their inbox.

Thank you for subscribing!

We're committed to your privacy. Startup Boston uses the information you provide to us to contact you about Startup Boston Week and related Startup Boston events and content. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. 

Startup Boston logo all white text horizontal
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

hello@startupbos.org

©2025 by Startup Boston, LLC

Code of Conduct

bottom of page