As a startup, getting press for your product is an essential part of your growth engine. But why would any major outlets be interested in what you do?
Well, on this episode of the GrowthTLDR, we talk to Nathan Resnick, the CEO and Founder of Sourcify, a platform that helps large brands simplify the process of bringing products to market, about how he has attracted press from every major news outlet you can think off.
We talk:
- How Nathan capitalized on a popular trend to secure press from outlets like Hyperbeast, BroBible, and how Nathan became a regular guest on CNBC.
- The story of how Nathan went from selling fake Dr.Dre headphones to helping fortune 500 companies add millions of dollars in revenue to their business.
- How Nathan generates business from tradeshows without having to pay for a booth.
Happy Growing
Time Stamped Notes
[2:50] - Nathan talks about how they launched a replica of Conor Mcgregor's 'Fuck You' suit made famous during the press conferences with Floyd Mayweather. Nathan did it to promote his company Sourcify, and it got them a lot of press from major outlets, including Hyperbeast and Bro Bible.
[4:40] - Eventually, the site got shut down by lawyers, but it netted Nathan, a bunch of press.
[5:45] - Nathan goes through his process for getting PR coverage in major outlets like CNBC, Forbes, Huffington Post, and many more.
[7:30] - The key with PR and press is building great relationships, responding quickly to journalist requests, and providing lots of value.
[8:30] - Nathan leveraged LinkedIn to build thought leadership around topics relevant to his industry. That lead to a journalist from CNBC reaching out to ask him to be on their show. Since then, Nathan has appeared on CNBC and CNN several times.
[10:20] - Nathan first started selling products online when he lived in China as a foreign exchange student. He first began importing products and selling them online. He then became obsessed with the production of those products and how he could optimize that process. That's where the idea of Sourcify came from.
[11:45] - One of the earliest products that made Nathan a bunch of money selling online was fake Dr. Dre beats. He then moved into producing his products and selling them online.
[14:50] - Nathans's ideal fit customers are companies selling between $5 million to $60 million of products online.
[16:55] - Sourcify was part of the YC combinator. Nathan was one of the few founders, were both solo founders, and non-technical. He felt the main upside from the program was both the network it gave you access to, and the capital to get some initial traction.
[19:30] - One of the things Nathan took from his time in YC was to continually optimize your pricing and packaging.
[21:15] - 70% of Sourcifys sales come from inbound marketing. The rest of their demand is coming from specific tradeshows and different events for his target personas.
[23:15] - Partnerships are another source of growth for Sourcify - examples would be Shopify and BigCommerce.
[23:40] - A quick hack Nathan has for forming profitable partnerships is the five for five. Nathan will ask partners for five introductions to their customers who could be an excellent fit for his product, and he'll do the same for the partner.
[27:38] - Nathan sees a lot of value in going to tradeshows and just touring the floor and talking to potential customers. He doesn't bother with a booth, he goes and meets people.
[31:45] - Nathan talks about the advantages and disadvantages of founding a software company vs. eCommerce company.
– Nathan on LinkedIn / Twitter
– Kieran on Twitter / LinkedIn / Medium
– Scott on Twitter / Linked / Medium
Topics: Podcast, Founder, Customer Acquisition
