In the fast-moving world of startups, founders often look for silver bullets—quick ways to get traction, attract investors, and prove momentum. Paid media frequently becomes that go-to lever. Push a button, spend some money, get traffic. But as many leaders learn the hard way, relying heavily on paid media can become an expensive habit rather than a strategic tool.
What follows are the most important insights and lessons distilled from a conversation between two experienced startup leaders discussing the realities of fundraising, early-stage growth, and long-term brand building. Their perspectives offer an invaluable roadmap for founders navigating today’s funding climate and customer acquisition landscape.
1. The Funding Environment: There’s Money Out There—Just Not How You Expect
Despite apparent “coldness” in the market over the last 12–18 months, venture capital is not drying up. Funds are still sitting on massive reserves—they’re simply deploying more cautiously after years of overheated valuations.
Key insight:
VCs haven’t stopped investing; they’ve just collectively slowed down to reset valuations to something more realistic and favorable to them.
This means:
- Early-stage companies—those still validating ideas—are feeling the pinch the most.
- Later-stage companies are raising, but often at adjusted valuations.
- The cost of over-capitalization is becoming painfully clear through down rounds and mass layoffs.
This environment is exactly why alternative models like venture studios exist—to help early concepts reach validation before needing large amounts of capital.
2. Paid Media Isn’t the Enemy—But Over-Reliance Is
Too many early-stage startups turn to paid media as the first and only solution for generating traction. But paid media is not synonymous with growth—it’s only a traffic tool, and one of many.
Here’s the mental reset founders need:
Paid Media = Traffic. Traffic = Learning. Learning = Better Decisions.
Paid media lets you:
- Test messaging quickly
- Validate creative
- Identify target segments
- Understand conversion rates
- Build foundational data
Even $100 experiments can generate insights that guide smarter long-term decisions.
But if your product costs $20 and it costs you $100 in ads to acquire a customer?
You don’t have a traffic problem—you have a unit economics or positioning problem.
The most powerful takeaway:
Paid media should be used for experimentation, not dependence.
When you do crack the formula—e.g., spend $3, make $40—that’s when paid media becomes “free” because it funds itself.
3. Build Your Brand While You Build Revenue
At some point—often after Series A—startups face a dual mandate:
- Drive revenue
- Build brand
Balancing the two is challenging but essential. Strong brands take years to build and become powerful differentiators when products become indistinguishable.
Consider this example:
Liquid Death didn’t invent water. They invented a story, an identity, and a community.
That’s what made them a billion-dollar company.
The lesson for founders:
Share your purpose, mission, and values consistently and boldly.
A great brand can create:
- Inbound investor interest
- Warm audiences for sales
- Higher pricing power
- Deeper customer loyalty
- Better talent attraction
One founder shared how a major investor opened a meeting by explaining that she had followed their content for over a year. She already understood the mission, values, and culture—before the pitch even began. The brand did the talking.
4. What Every Startup Needs: A Multi-Level Elevator Pitch
This is one of the most powerful brand storytelling tools founders rarely use.
Brand strategist Bill Plueger taught a simple but transformational framework:
You don’t know what “floor” someone is getting off on—so you need layered versions of your pitch.
- Floor 1: One sentence
- Floor 2: Add one more sentence
- Floor 3: Add one more
- …and so on
This keeps your message clear, consistent, and compelling whether you have 10 seconds or 10 minutes.
If you can’t explain your purpose and value at multiple depths, you don’t have a brand story—you have a ramble.
5. People Remember Stories, Not Data
Founders often overwhelm audiences with stats, charts, and metrics. But psychologically, humans remember narratives, not numbers.
A story shared with conviction:
- Builds trust
- Establishes credibility
- Helps others advocate for you
- Plants seeds that pay off later
Some investors came back years later saying, “Everything you predicted came true—are you still raising?” That’s the power of story + patience.
6. The Truth About Valuation: Cash in the Suitcase vs. Fantasy Numbers
One of the most eye-opening lessons came from a story about a founder who walked away from a solid acquisition offer because another buyer offered “cash in a suitcase.”
The moral?
Valuation is theoretical. Cash is real.
The obsession with unicorn status has misled an entire generation of founders. Most unicorns today are facing down rounds, layoffs, or collapse—not exactly the glamorous outcome founders imagine.
Crunchbase data shows the average exit is around $155M—not $1B.
What matters isn’t the vanity valuation—it’s:
- Healthy margins
- Sustainable growth
- Prudent capital usage
- A brand people care about
- A product people love
- A company that will last
7. The Real Bottom Line for Startups
If you’re building a company today, here’s the distilled wisdom:
1. Use paid media to learn, not to rely on.
Small experiments → data → smarter decisions.
2. Tell your story relentlessly.
Brand is a long game—but it pays back in ways performance marketing never can.
3. Master the layered elevator pitch.
Clarity = memorability = advocacy.
4. Avoid chasing inflated valuations.
You want “cash in the suitcase,” not imaginary numbers.
5. Stay true to your purpose.
Conviction attracts investors, customers, and partners more than any ad campaign ever will.
6. Play the long game.
The founders who win are the ones who build patiently, sustainably, and authentically.
