CHRIS MATTHEWS
START TELLING PEOPLE
The Guide to Marketing Strategy and Brand Building for Future-Defining Startups
4.7
At some point, every early-stage startup needs to stop being a secret and start telling people. As your company begins to take shape, building fast attention and strong demand become essential - and just buying ads won't be enough.
Matthews provides frameworks, examples, and interviews that reinforce the book’s central thesis: marketing is a discipline, not just an activity. The book offers practical, jargon-free ideas that seamlessly blend marketing fundamentals with the functional realities of fast-paced, growth-focused startups.
Key topics: how to design & build your first marketing team, mastering product demos, building customer-centric go-to-market models, and team dynamics. Plus, how it all links together to build the foundations for a cohesive brand.
TESTIMONIALS
"If you're a hardware founder, 'Start Telling People' will stop you from screwing up your biggest opportunities to shine."
— Andra Keay
Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics,
IEEE Entrepreneurship Vice Chair, 2023
"I've always believed that the marketing function is only a tiny fraction of what marketing departments actually perform! This gem is a perfect illustration of why we need to think about marketing more as a discipline, a way of thinking, and a philosophy!"
— Dilip Soman
Author of "The Last Mile" and "Managing Customer Value: One Step at a Time"
Director of the Behavioural Economics in Action Research Centre at Rotman [BEAR], University of Toronto
"No one wants to read a lecture on marketing theory. That's exactly why we need books like Start Telling People. It gives practical advice with real-world examples, and as a bonus, it's entertaining. Marketing is a large and not well-understood investment for most startups. You need to know what to invest in and when. Start Telling People hits on all the important areas: customer experience, positioning, foundational tactics, team-building, AI & data, and the underrated, but important topic of giving great demos. The book doesn't focus on overnight successes or crash-and-burn failures, but rather on the hard work that goes into building a company day-to-day. If you're a startup founder, read this book."
— Megan Lamb
Co-Founder and Senior Partner,
Cutline Communications