I studied 105 climate tech startups to see how they’re typically growing their marketing teams. But here’s what this chart DOESN’T show. ⬇
➡ Just how much variance there is during the Series A stage.
For example, many Series A climate tech startups still haven’t hired a single marketer.
Most have just 1 marketer.
A few have already brought 3-4 marketers on board.
This interests me particularly, because most of my clients and prospects are in this Series A stage.
And they’re wrestling with some pretty heavy marketing challenges:
⚫ The go-to-market strategy is changing.
⚫ The business is adding a new business line or source of revenue.
⚫ They’re about to start pursuing new target segments.
⚫ Their messaging, website, and marketing collateral are all out of date.
⚫ Their sales team is playing against competitors with bigger names.
⚫ They’re not generating the volume of leads they want to.
In my experience, these challenges are all 100% normal for Series A climate tech startups.
😫 But they make this stage in startup life one of the most difficult.
So what can startups do (especially if they don’t have the financials to go ahead and expand their FT marketing team)?
✖ Pile these problems onto the plate of that first marketing hire (usually a junior-level marketer) or a non-marketer member of leadership who’s temporarily wearing the marketing hat.
Unfortunately, this sets them up to fail if they’re expected to fix all of this alone — especially given their limited marketing experience.
✅ On the other hand, they can see the writing on the wall and tap an outside strategic expert they can work with in a capacity that fits their budget.
And that’s exactly why I think we’ll keep seeing growth for marketing consultants, fractional CMOs, and outsourced marketing teams in the climate tech space.
Our work for Series A startups is critical in helping them truly go in a clear direction to build their marketing function (and team) in a healthy way at such a critical point in time.
Because what startups do right here in this Series A stage will make or break not just their marketing but their sales success moving forward.