Key Takeaways
- Your co-founder doesn’t need to understand marketing — they need to understand how it drives revenue. Focus the conversation on business outcomes, not tactics or trends.
- Treat marketing like a growth engine, not a gamble. Reframe it as a system with measurable inputs, consistent outputs, and clear goals tied to ROI.
- Short-term signals build long-term trust. Even if you’re playing a long game (like SEO or brand), show tangible progress early — traffic, leads, conversions, pipeline impact.
- Translate, don’t dumb down. Speak in their language (finance, product, sales) so marketing feels connected to the broader business — not like a separate universe.
If you’re leading marketing at an early-stage company, you’ve probably had some version of this conversation: your co-founder wants growth, but they’re not totally sold on the value of what you’re doing. They think in product, finance, or operations. You’re talking about SEO, email flows, and brand trust. And somewhere in the middle, wires get crossed.
The problem isn’t intelligence. It’s translation. Your co-founder isn’t stupid — they just don’t speak marketing. So if you want buy-in, resources, or even just less resistance, you need to reframe the way you talk about what you do. Here’s how I’ve seen it work.
Step One: Reframe Marketing as a Revenue Lever
The first mindset shift is foundational: marketing isn’t an expense, it’s a growth engine. That may sound obvious, but if your co-founder thinks marketing is just a string of campaigns and content ideas, it’s no wonder they don’t trust it. Explain that just like product development is iterative and sales is pipeline-based, marketing is a system. It’s a repeatable, measurable process designed to bring in qualified attention, build trust, and convert interest into revenue.
Once you get them to see marketing as an investment — not a gamble — the conversation changes. They stop asking, “Why are we doing this?” and start asking, “How can we make this perform better?”
Step Two: Anchor Every Conversation in Business Outcomes
Your co-founder likely doesn’t care about clickthrough rates or engagement percentages. What they care about is how marketing impacts pipeline, revenue, and cost per acquisition. So when you report on performance or propose a new initiative, don’t lead with the tactics. Lead with the outcomes.
Instead of saying, “We’re launching a new content series and trying out TikTok,” say, “We’re testing new acquisition channels to lower CAC by 20% over the next quarter. We’ll evaluate each one based on how many qualified leads they generate and kill what doesn’t perform.” You’re not pitching an idea — you’re making a business case.
Step Three: Show Progress in the Short Term, Even When Playing the Long Game
Brand marketing, SEO, and content strategy take time. But if all you ever say is “Trust the process,” you’re going to lose trust. What you need is a way to show that momentum is building — even if it’s early days.
Point to measurable signals that indicate the strategy is working: rankings improving, organic traffic trending up, demo requests increasing, sales cycles shortening. These aren’t vanity metrics — they’re early indicators of long-term ROI. And if you can show that your bets are paying off, even in small ways, you’ll build credibility fast.
Step Four: Speak Their Language — Not Yours
If your co-founder is product-led, frame your efforts in terms of user behavior and lifecycle stages. If they’re financial, bring numbers — CAC, LTV, conversion rates, attribution. If they’re sales-driven, position marketing as pipeline fuel and objection-handling infrastructure.
The goal is to connect your world to theirs, so they can see marketing as part of the business engine — not an abstract creative department floating in its own orbit. The more you can meet them where they are, the less explaining you’ll need to do.
Final Thought
At the end of the day, your job isn’t just to do good marketing. It’s to communicate its value to people who don’t live in it every day. That means translating strategy into outcomes, creativity into numbers, and ideas into traction. You don’t need to simplify what you’re doing — you just need to frame it around what your co-founder actually cares about: growth, clarity, and results.
Marketing doesn’t have to feel like a mystery. If you can bridge the gap, it becomes what it should’ve been all along: one of the most powerful levers in the business.
FAQs
How do I explain brand marketing when it doesn’t directly drive immediate sales?
Focus on leading indicators — improved engagement, organic traffic growth, and stronger conversion rates down the funnel. Brand builds trust, which shortens sales cycles and lowers acquisition costs over time.
What if my co-founder only cares about performance marketing and direct ROI?
Meet them there. Show how your long-term plays support short-term wins. For example, strong brand and content improve retargeting performance and email conversion rates.
How often should I report on marketing performance?
Regular check-ins (weekly or biweekly) with clear, simple summaries tied to business goals are ideal. Keep the format consistent and focus on trends, not just snapshots.
