Historically start-ups were terrified of anyone outside their immediate organization learning the secrets of their innovations for fear they’d be copied. Those days are gone. Start-ups and even some established companies now view opportunities to share their ingenious products and service features through teaser campaigns and progress updates, as key to future success. Seeding interest and viral referrals can organically generate buzz and broaden target awareness and anticipation, so when the product ultimately launches, the audience is ready and waiting.
range of pre-launch tactics that many startups and some established companies are using a include:
Waitlists, analogized as selling tickets to a concert performance. They fuel anticipation, feelings of scarcity and status (if the waitlist is invite-only), and urgency to act. As the result of its well-executed and gamified waitlist program, Robinhood, the investing and trading platform, reportedly accumulated 1 million sign-ups before they launched. In some cases, early sign-ups also generate revenue, providing much needed cash flow, a chronic concern for startups. Waitlists that fill up quickly, add a positive flywheel dynamic that reinforces that the product or service is unique and worth the hype. Adding gamified referral overlays further amplifies the impact. As part of Robinhood’s promotion, those who referred others got to move up on the waitlist.
Social media coverage of consumer trials & product development progress. Gatorade trialed their GX sports bottle at high school soccer competitions globally. Booths were set up at the matches with branded backgrounds for participants to share the experience on social media with their friends and family networks around the world. Gatorade also shared the development progress of its new GX ecosystem that includes customized formulas, hydration bottles, and sweat patches that analyze electrolyte loss, through social media for years before it launched internationally. The fans enjoyed feeling valued by the brand and being part of the process.
Engaging influencers to share early product news & waitlist programs can significantly magnify reach and credibility at relatively low cost. Fans trust the influencers they follow to curate new products & services for them.
Restricting early sales to limited niche audience provides feedback that enables brands to make product and marketing communication adjustments prior to the full-scale launch. It can result in testimonials and reaction videos like the CyberX eBike received that can be used in post-launch marketing.
Briefing the press can result in pre-launch coverage and awareness if they find the imminent new product or service newsworthy, different and better enough.
Presentations at conferences & white papers can create awareness among key influencers, and generate more publicity, awareness, and anticipation
Creating exclusive, early user Discord and Slack communities can give the most ardent fans early intelligence, making them feel appreciated by the brand. It can also result in valuable feedback and ideas from users who are passionate and knowledgable about the category.
Founder led marketing, pre-launch is a trend brought to my attention by Vansh Wadhwa, a master’s student in the NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Management of Technology Program. He alerted me that increasingly start-ups are sharing more about their new products and services before even launching. He has personally seen and followed many Gen Z start-up journeys. We spoke with 5 start-up founders, all of whom talked about the value and power of “founder-led marketing, pre-launch”. To quote Vansh, “In an age where people” crave connection, audiences are not just searching for startups to support – they’re searching for founders to believe in.” What follows are insights into how founders are telling their stories, adding credibility and authenticity, and gaining valuable learning, and fan support prior to launch. All the founders felt it played an important role in their successes.
Nikhil Naglapur who with Rithu Hedge co-founded Unison, an online social media platform, began sharing his start-up journey even before the product idea was fully formed. He researched other founders who were also content creators, about their journey doing founder-led marketing and saw “how crazy the conversion rates were and how effective it was”. For his own launch, there were no paid ads. All the community outreach was 100% organic and on Instagram. As he stated, “My audience was with me and behind me while I was building the product. Although many people who build in public are afraid of being copied, I knew that my audience and how I executed the idea would be my differentiators.”
Tanya Charlesworth, founded of Charlesworth Engineering, a woman-led structural engineering firm, that delivers precise, practical, collaborative solutions to support builds from concept through completion. She’s worked on some of the most important building projects in Manhattan, 270 Park Avenue, JP Morgan Headquarters, Hudson Yards, Manhattan West and the Waldorf Astoria. Tanya relayed that “I only spoke to my network before the launch, primarily through LinkedIn, and it helped me a lot, especially posts where I featured photos of myself as a founder working or talking with clients. Those posts performed very well. I feel that posts featuring me, even just working or engaging in conversations, created a lot of impact.”
Sophia Mullins, Founder of Wall Street Wellness LLC , a wellness consultancy that helps fast-paced companies enhance employee wellness for improved performance and reduced burnout, shared some of her learning with us. “I started my company a year ago, and it was important to test the product on a small scale before going fully live. I wanted some early wins to have proof of concept. For 6 years before I launched, I had an Instagram account called Wall Street Wellness where I shared my experience balancing a demanding career on Wall Street with my own health and wellness journey. So when I launched my company, I already had organic interest, a community, and my own personal brand. People trusted me because of that. Founder-led marketing gives you a strategic advantage, because today, people want to engage with founders, not just brands. They want a story. Consumers aren’t just connecting with products or in my case, services, any more — they’re connecting with the mission, vision, and values, and all of that comes through with founder-led storytelling.”
Whitney Eckis, a serial entrepreneur and founder of a new restaurant concept is documenting the journey and sharing it with her community. As Whitney shared, “we want people to be involved, and even before launch, we’ve seen community members showing genuine interest. Those early supporters are part of our story. Whitney feels younger generations, in particular, are experiencing advertising fatigue. They have a clear sense of what they like and what they’re being sold, and are hesitant to engage with traditional ads. Instead, they’re gravitating to founders who share their lives openly. When customers feel they know the founder and can relate to them, it builds a unique trust dynamic between the customer and the brand. This type of sharing isn’t just a trend anymore — in some ways, it’s becoming a necessity. People want a story. They’re interested in the campaign’s story, and in seeing someone like them build something. Consumers today don’t just connect with products or services; they want to connect with the founder, their story, their mission, and their vision.”
Krish Bajaj founded Roam, a marketplace that simplifies international student moves by facilitating all they need to start their lives in a new country, saving the4m time, stress, and unnecessary costs. Krish shared the benefits he discovered from founder-leg marketing: “Being publicly available as the face of the company increases authenticity, builds trust with customers, and helps create a loyal base. People resonate with people. When you think Apple, you think Steve Jobs. When you think Microsoft, you think Bill Gates. When you think Nike, you think Phil Knight. Founder-led marketing creates an edge over competitors. If you share your journey with authenticity, consistency, and honesty, people will follow. Building in public not makes founders accountable to their audience, it also provides support and motivation. It reassures the founder that the market exists and there are people waiting for the product.”
Roam began with a waitlist, posting vague teasers on LinkedIn to build hype and alpha-test it with early users. The selective launch allowed them to validate the product before scaling it. Eventually, they opened Roam to a wider audience, using video campaigns to expand reach. “Although many people who build in public are afraid of being copied, I knew that my audience and the way I executed the service would be my differentiators.”
Sharing new product details prior to launch is not completely without risk, but for many, the benefits outweigh those risks. The opportunity to uncover product and marketing communication improvements can be invaluable. For small businesses, that may be too small to hit potential competitors’ radar, the chance to have a supportive fan bases that is ready and happy to support and share the launch when it happens, can make a huge difference.