Jonathan Thirkill – Launching a tech start-up whilst working full time

“If you build it they won’t come – you have to market your product” 

Key Takeaways

• Boostify started as a hobby – let’s develop some software to solve a problem at work
• Marketing has been a big focus for us and we’ve chosen more cost effective methods that have a bigger impact including PR which has worked very well for us
• Marketing is all about starting conversations – if you’re building something new and different you have to get it in front of people
• Start by marketing your MVP first and keep talking to people about it
• If you build it they will come is a myth 
• PR has worked well for us and we know this because we have to speak to all of our prospects before they invest and they tell us they found us as a result of reading a PR piece
• Events have been another successful marketing strategy and we put in a lot of effort. We put together battery packs to give away to people at the event and we went through and charged each one individually – we knew everyone there would have a phone and that battery life is a challenge so this would be something that people would actually use
• Always be prepared when you go to an event to make them work for you
  You’ve got to make an impression digitally as well as physically
• Be relevant online and tell stories about why you’re doing what you’re doing and what you’re working to solve
• If you build it they don’t come – you have to market your business. 

Mentioned Links and References:

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-thirkill-769b9b9/ 

BOOSTIFY Website – www.boostify.co.uk