

Ask HN: How do I find a CMO/Marketing Expert/Consultant for my startup? - mansigandhi

We're a 3 people startup currently in Beta and bootstrapped. We're looking to get someone on board for Marketing. How does one go about finding the right person/team? Most of the folks we know are developers.<p>1. Would giving just (sizable)equity work? We're not yet in a position to pay. 
2. If we are to get a 4th person(CMO), how &#38; where does one find marketing experts?
3. Do Consultants and Consulting Firms do marketing/branding for equity? If not, do you know anyone who is affordable.<p>Any tips/help welcome. Thanks a bunch.
======
cyphersanctus
Depending on your startup, (1) just equity can certainly be attractive to the
right person. (2) The kind of marketing experts you're looking for can be
found by searching on google for blogs relating to growth hacking, SEO, social
media, customer acquisition, UX usability, etc. (3) I havent heard of
Consulting Firms that do marketing for equity. There is a big company in
Germany that takes equity in startups in exchange for ATL media campaigns (on
tv, radio, etc). Its a long process though, like with any other investor.

Could you please share your Beta version so that interested parties can
contact you?

~~~
mansigandhi
Thanks cyphersanctus, that was helpful.

Our startup is <http://www.shoutt.me> It is currently open to Stanford
students only. We're going public early next year.

~~~
cyphersanctus
Im interested in checking out the app, I just sent a request for info with my
email {username} at gmail. I happen to be a growth hacker that will be living
in SV from january onwards. Ill be participating in the AngelHack demo day.
I'd be happy to share strategies over a cup of coffee over there. Cheers.

~~~
mansigandhi
Replied via email. Thanks

------
aorshan
If your site is only open to Stanford students, why don't you find a marketing
student at Stanford who would be interesting in working for you? Go hang out
by the marketing department and introduce yourself to students. Or contact the
career center and see if you can post an intern opening.

~~~
soneill
Be careful of this route. Make sure any internship you offer fits into the
legal guidelines of the US Department of Labor:
[http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm#.UL1vs4Yt...](http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm#.UL1vs4YtL-s)

------
redspark
Have you thought about finding an intern who hustles and just put them to work
reading growth hacking blogs and implementing/testing ideas.

Search for: Dan Martell Patrick Vlaskovits Sean Ellis Noah Kagan Hiten Shah
Dannielle Morrill

etc.

~~~
jyu
Even though interns may not cost any money, they are not free. Whenever you
have interns (marketing or otherwise), be prepared to invest a bunch of time
teaching them, making mistakes which may cost you time and or money, and be
prepare for them leaving after several months.

Your app seems viral by nature, without the need to spend money on user
acquisition. You might have better chances adding an experienced marketing
advisor to your team for nominal equity than hiring someone for only equity.

~~~
mansigandhi
You have good points. Them leaving after lot of training/mistakes is not
something we can afford at this stage.

We have already worked with a few interns. The time and money we invested into
this effort didn't really pay off and we ended up letting them go.

------
josephby
Follow Growth-Hacking on Quora: <http://www.quora.com/Growth-Hacking>

