A collective work co-written by Hirondo and numerous experts from the French tech scene. This book offers essential marketing strategies to grow through marketing, just like the best startups, scale-ups, and unicorns.
Hirondo presents its first co-written book
In a world where marketing in startups and tech unicorns is constantly being reinvented, “When startups and unicorns reinvent marketing” stands as an essential guide.
Co-written by experts from TechMarketingLeaders, this book brings together the visions and methods of over 30 Chief Marketing Officers committed to sharing their insights and challenges.
In this first chapter, Aurélie demystifies the specificities of marketing in startups and scale-ups, emphasizing that, contrary to popular belief, marketing is crucial for building lasting awareness.
She explains how young companies must adopt community-building, customer engagement, and rapid innovation strategies to compete with established players. Aurélie highlights three key elements: the importance of building an authentic brand, aligning marketing and product, and adopting an agile approach to market changes.
No need for a grand strategic marketing plan. You need to know how to be there at the right time, act quickly, and react to trends in real time.
Expert insights from: Romain Doutriaux, Head of Marketing at Pigment; Jordan Chenevier, CEO at Bulldozer.
About the author: Aurélie Fliedel is CMO at Alan and co-founder of TechMarketingLeaders. She loves creating bridges between tech marketing leaders to exchange practices and overcome manager loneliness.
Recruiting in a startup or scale-up requires a rigorous and strategic approach. The authors stress the importance of identifying talents aligned with the company's culture and values. Desired skills must include curiosity, creativity, and a strong ability to use data. Particular attention is paid to soft skills, such as resilience and adaptability, necessary for evolving in constantly changing environments.
To build a high-level marketing team, it is crucial to foster collaboration and set up an agile organization. The authors recommend structuring work around methodologies such as OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to ensure goal clarity and strategic alignment. They also highlight the importance of investing in continuous training to strengthen skills, particularly in areas like AI and data.
Finally, the authors describe how startups and scale-ups innovate to train the marketers of tomorrow by focusing on environments conducive to learning and the development of transversal skills.
“Startups and unicorns innovate to train tomorrow's marketers by fostering curiosity, creativity, and mastery of data and AI."
Expert insights from: Roxane Labat, Head of Performance Marketing and SEO at ManoMano
About the authors: Joël Gaudeul is VP Marketing at Swan, expert in Business Operations, RevOps, Management, Communication, and Digital Marketing. Geoffrey Vion is VP Marketing EMEA & APJ at the French unicorn Contentsquare.
Camille and Leslie explore the challenges of building an effective marketing team in a startup. They detail the importance of recruiting generalist profiles in the beginning, while progressively integrating specialists as the company grows.
The ideal team is flexible, autonomous, and motivated by a clear vision. Three key ideas are: the importance of inspiring leadership, structuring according to strategic priorities (like branding or acquisition), and optimizing internal resources to maximize creativity despite often limited budgets.
The perfect marketing organization doesn't exist. It's about building the best possible model for your company's needs at a given time.
Expert insights from: Aurélie Fliedel, CMO at Alan
About the authors: Camille Moreau is CMO at LittleBig Connection, a specialist in brand strategy. Leslie Tedgui is VP Marketing at CoachHub, with solid experience in developing growth and loyalty strategies.
In this chapter, David Remaud explains how marketing can align with a company's strategic priorities by collaborating closely with the CEO and the board.
He emphasizes the importance for the CMO to demonstrate marketing's contribution to growth, balancing short-term goals (like acquisition) and long-term goals (like branding). Understanding investor expectations (Private Equity or Venture Capital) is also crucial for defining priorities.
Finally, the chapter explores strategies for building a trust-based relationship with the CEO and communicating effectively with the board.
“The CMO must prove that marketing is not just a cost center, but a true engine of value creation.”
Expert insights from: Emmanuelle Benoliel-Kleinmann and David Remaud
About the author: David Remaud is Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at iBanFirst, an expert in entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, sales, and business development.
This chapter explores how marketing must adapt to the different growth phases of a startup or scale-up.
The authors describe the marketing strategies to adopt during launch, growth, international expansion, and beyond. They stress the importance of a Lean approach at the beginning, allowing for testing ideas at low cost, and diversification during the growth phase to strengthen resilience.
During international expansion, they recommend combining a consistent global strategy with adapted local execution.
Teams must constantly adapt to market fluctuations and internal growth
About the authors: Mégane Gateau and Eliott Guérin, marketing experts with over 10 years of experience in tech each, respectively lead marketing at Figures and Skello.
Joël Gaudeul describes how marketing, as a transversal function, can collaborate effectively with other departments in a startup or scale-up. He emphasizes the importance of breaking down silos between teams, particularly with sales, product, and technical teams, to maximize the impact of marketing initiatives.
Alignment on common goals, supported by tools like shared dashboards or SLAs (Service Level Agreements), is essential. The chapter also explores the benefits of an Agile approach for coordinating efforts and improving inter-team interactions.
“Synchronizing teams via the Agile method can resolve many organizational frictions.”
About the authors: Joël Gaudeul has held CMO, COO, and CRO positions in various sectors. His expertise in Business Operations, RevOps, and Growth, as well as his coaching of startup founders, is reflected in his contribution to the TML book.
The chapter highlights the importance of building and disseminating a strong brand in the world of startups and unicorns. The authors explain how tech brands must differentiate themselves in a saturated market through a clear brand platform, a fine understanding of market dynamics, and a strategic approach.
The brand, defined as the set of customer perceptions, rests on tangible elements (name, logo) and intangible values (mission, commitment).
Success comes through authenticity, the creation of engaged communities, and consistent execution across relevant communication channels.
“Building a strong brand is a challenge for startups and unicorns that requires a strategic and visionary approach”
About the authors: Marilyne Dupuy is CMO at Napta and Elsa Magadoux is Marketing and Sales Director at Brut. For their part, Amandine Grémont-Moreau, Aude Romelly, and Antoine Yahia-Cherif are all three consultants, coaches, and fractional CMOs.
Public relations (PR) play a key role in building and maintaining a solid reputation, particularly in a B2B context.
This chapter explores how startups and scale-ups can use PR to strengthen their credibility, increase visibility, and establish market leadership.
It is essential to integrate PR as a strategic pillar within the company and encourage all teams to participate in this effort. PR covers a wide spectrum, from crisis communication to creating differentiated content for key audiences.
PR is not just the responsibility of the communications department. Encourage all levels of the company to contribute to the public relations effort.
About the authors: Julie Asselin, VP Marketing at 365Talents, is an expert in brand, creative marketing, and internationalization. Raphaëlle Béguinel, Head of Content and Communication at Malt, has been a tech marketing and communication expert for over 10 years.
This chapter addresses targeted marketing strategies in B2B, highlighting Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Outbound Marketing. ABM is presented as a highly personalized approach, allowing for the concentration of efforts on strategic accounts through tactics like scoring and advanced segmentation.
It distinguishes three levels of ABM: One-to-One (ultra-personalized campaigns for a few key accounts), One-to-Few (segmentation of small cohorts), and One-to-Many (targeting large groups via semi-personalized campaigns). Outbound, meanwhile, remains a powerful lever for engaging cold prospects, combining automation and human interactions.
The challenges of integrating and executing these strategies in complex organizations are also examined.
“ABM isn't just a marketing tactic; it's a corporate strategy.”
Expert insights from: Priscilla Cavrois, Head of Marketing at Memo Bank
This chapter explores how social media and influencer marketing have become essential tools for startups and scale-ups. Social platforms allow for strengthening visibility, interacting with communities, and converting prospects into loyal customers.
Influencer marketing, for its part, plays a key role in amplifying the message through partnerships with content creators who embody the brand's values.
The author emphasizes the importance of measuring campaign impact and prioritizing authentic collaborations that generate real engagement. The balance between long-term strategy and targeted actions is paramount to maximizing results.
“Social media isn't just a channel: it's a place for engagement, conversation, and loyalty.”
Expert insights from: Gaëlle Le Goff, Selma Chauvin
This chapter highlights the importance of customer-centric marketing and building an engaged community. It stresses the necessity of actively listening to customers to understand their needs and expectations and co-creating solutions with them.
The community is not only a loyalty lever but also a vector for innovation and growth.
Startups and scale-ups must prioritize authentic and lasting interactions and measure the impact of their community efforts to adjust their actions.
“Customers aren't users; they are partners in your growth.”
Expert insights from: Jolhane Leite, Elsa Magadoux
This chapter explores how events can become a strategic lever to strengthen awareness, generate leads, and engage communities. The authors highlight different types of events (workshops, conferences, trade shows, flagship events) adapted to various objectives and stages of a company's growth.
They emphasize the importance of integrating an event roadmap into the global marketing strategy, measuring performance, and testing hybrid formats.
Flagship events, like Contentsquare's CX Circle, illustrate how a major event can evolve to bring together a global ecosystem.
Integrate your event roadmap at the heart of your marketing strategy
About the author: Geoffrey Vion is a versatile marketing expert; after 10 years at the Renault-Nissan group, he transitioned to tech startups (humanoid robotics, SaaS).
Growth Marketing is presented as an evolution of Growth Hacking, integrating more sustainable and ethical practices.
It is a strategic discipline based on data analysis, experimentation, and continuous optimization of the customer journey, from acquisition to loyalty. The chapter addresses the CTVP (Channel, Target, Value Proposition) and AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral) models, which help structure growth strategies.
This collaborative approach rests on synergy between marketing, product, and sales to maximize impact and adapt to technological developments.
“The AARRR model is a fundamental framework for structuring the customer journey into key stages.”
About the authors: Jordan Chenevier is the CEO of Bulldozer, a collective of marketing & growth experts; Thibaut Davoult, an expert in B2B acquisition and Product-led Growth, manages growth for the webinar platform Livestorm.
ABM, essential in B2B, optimizes results on strategic accounts through targeted personalization. With One-to-Many, One-to-Few, or One-to-One approaches, it maximizes ROI by aligning marketing, sales, and SDRs to manage complex sales cycles and high-value customers.
ABM relies on precise segmentation, data enrichment, multichannel campaigns, and total alignment between teams.
To perform, ABM requires solid resources, rigorous measurement of results, and adapted tools to constantly refine actions.
“ABM relies on the ability to precisely identify and qualify target accounts. This requires reliable data on market companies.” 
This chapter explores the challenges and opportunities related to internationalization for startups and scale-ups. It emphasizes the need to adapt marketing strategies to cultural specificities and local expectations.
Internationalization is not a simple duplication of the existing model, but a series of tailored campaigns.
Choosing the right markets, strategic timing, and effective resource allocation are essential for success. A structured and flexible approach, integrating local feedback, helps optimize chances of success while avoiding costly errors.
“A well-executed local strategy always beats a rigid global approach.”
Expert insights from: Aurélie Fliedel, Amelie Seguret, Geoffrey Vion
This chapter covers the planning and strategic management of the marketing budget in startups and scale-ups. It highlights the importance of allocating resources effectively according to priority goals, whether acquisition, loyalty, or branding.
Rigorous budgetary management, coupled with an agile approach, maximizes the impact of investments. Performance monitoring and constant spending adjustment, based on reliable data, are essential for adapting to a perpetually evolving environment.
“The marketing budget is not an expense, but a strategic investment.”
This chapter highlights the importance of surrounding oneself with mentors, strategic investment funds, experienced advisors, and peer communities to support the marketing development of startups and scale-ups.
These relationships provide not only valuable expertise but also networking opportunities and emotional support. Mentors help navigate complex challenges, while funds and advisors bring strategic perspectives and resources.
Communities, for their part, offer a space to exchange and share experiences, thus breaking the isolation often felt by leaders.
“A good mentor doesn't give you answers; they help you ask the right questions.”
Expert insights from: Aude Romelly, Patrice Barbesier, Geoffrey Vion
This chapter explores outsourcing and collaboration strategies within the framework of startup and scale-up marketing. It highlights the importance of knowing how to identify key skills to keep in-house versus those to outsource.
Outsourcing can provide specialized expertise and increased flexibility, but it requires rigorous management to ensure smooth collaboration with providers.
The author stresses establishing trust-based relationships with external partners and the need to integrate freelancers or agencies into the company's culture and goals to maximize results.
“Outsourcing isn't delegating; it's co-building with experts.”
Expert insights from: Jordan Chenevier, Gaëlle Dumur, Mégane Gateau
This chapter explores how startups and scale-ups can leverage their competitors to accelerate their own development. Observing, analyzing, and learning from competitor strategies—whether successes or failures—helps strengthen one's own value proposition.
The author emphasizes the importance of moving beyond a purely competitive stance to adopt a continuous learning mindset. By identifying what differentiates their offering and understanding their rivals' gaps, companies can position themselves more effectively in their market.
“Knowing your competitors better than they know themselves is a strategic advantage.”
This chapter highlights the central role of data in the marketing strategy of startups and scale-ups. Data are not just analytical tools but essential levers for optimizing decisions, improving performance, and creating personalized customer experiences.
The author emphasizes the importance of collecting relevant data, exploiting it effectively through adapted tools, and ensuring its quality. Good data management provides a competitive advantage by making marketing campaigns more precise and measurable.
The focus is also placed on the need to ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
“Poorly exploited data is a missed opportunity.”
Expert insights from: David Remaud
In this chapter, Aurélie Fliedel explores the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the marketing strategies of innovative companies. She shares concrete examples of AI use at Alan, notably the personalization of the company mascot through open-source tools, in-depth analysis of customer data to adapt value propositions, and automating the creation of SEO content via ChatGPT.
Aurélie emphasizes the importance of training teams in AI use and maintaining a human touch in communications to avoid penalties from search engines.
She also stresses that AI does not replace humans but augments their capabilities, thus allowing for more value creation and envisaging new hires.
“AI brings us more creativity, daily time savings, increased knowledge, and faster data processing.”
Expert insights from: Aurélie Fliedel
This chapter addresses the issues related to new technological regulations and their impact on startup and scale-up marketing strategies. The author stresses the importance of proactive monitoring to anticipate regulatory changes and comply effectively.
Companies must integrate compliance not just as an obligation but as a strategic asset, strengthening customer and partner trust.
The chapter also highlights the need to collaborate with legal and technical experts to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.
“Compliance is not a constraint; it's an opportunity to strengthen trust.”
This chapter addresses crisis management, an essential aspect for startups and scale-ups evolving in dynamic and uncertain environments. The author stresses the importance of preparing a crisis management plan well before one occurs.
This includes identifying potential risks, setting up a crisis unit, and training teams to react quickly.
Transparency and controlled communication are essential for preserving the trust of customers, partners, and employees. In times of crisis, the ability to adapt and be resilient becomes a true strategic asset.
“A prepared crisis plan is insurance for the company's reputation.”
This chapter highlights the need to adopt responsible marketing in a world where societal and environmental expectations continue to grow. The author explains that companies must integrate ethical and sustainable practices into their marketing strategies, not only to meet regulatory requirements but also to gain consumer trust.
Responsible marketing is not limited to superficial campaigns but involves a sincere commitment to concrete actions. This paradigm changes the rules of the game by placing positive impact and transparency at the heart of marketing priorities.
“Transparency is the foundation upon which lasting trust is built.”
Expert insights from: Vincent Villaret, Arnaud Delubac
