Samantha Leal's Linkedin Analytics

Your product tells me what you do. Your brand tells me how I’ll feel doing it with you. I didn’t always get that. When I first started working in startups, I was all in on performance. Growth, funnels, CAC –that’s where I lived. Brand felt like a nice to have. But over the past 5 years, that’s completely changed. Working with dozens of founders, across different industries, I kept running into the same pattern: → Confusing features for brand → Talking about “benefits” that were actually specs → Skipping the emotional layer that drives connection and loyalty Now Brand is part of every engagement I lead. We always come back to it. Because brand is the context everything else lives in. Features ≠ brand Attributes ≠ benefits Specs ≠ story Look at Nike: → Product benefits = breathable fabric, arch support, durability → Brand attributes = inspiring, bold, energizing Their marketing isn’t “we have great foam.” It’s “Just Do It.” And that emotional layer is what makes people stay, even when someone else builds a cheaper product. So ask yourself: What emotional outcome does your brand own? Because the strongest brands don’t just solve problems. They shift how people see themselves.

The dangerous gap between strategy and execution: Recently, I met with a founder who shared their plan with me and said: "We're going to be the Salesforce of (industry)" I asked: "Who is your ICP?" Their response? A list of features they're building. This is the trap I keep seeing: → Founders obsessed with their solution → Teams focused on beating competition → Roadmaps full of "game-changing" features But they skip the only question that matters: Who are you serving? And more importantly, who aren't you? You can't be the Salesforce of anything if you don't know *who* needs you to be. Real strategy isn't about what you'll build. It's about the painful choices of: → Which customers you'll disappoint → Which problems you won't solve → Which opportunities you'll ignore Your strategy isn't defined by your features. It's defined by who you're building it for. Building without a clear ICP isn't ambition. It's avoiding critical decisions.

Blockbuster didn't die because of Netflix. They died because they fixed everything except their actual problem. While customers screamed about late fees, Blockbuster was: → Redesigning stores → Expanding inventory → Opening more locations Sound familiar? I see this deadly pattern in 80% of startups I work with: → The e-commerce brand redesigning their website (while their ads target the wrong audience) → The SaaS company adding features (while 70% of trials never activate) → The B2B startup hiring more salespeople (while their messaging is not attracting the right customers) Here's the truth about growth physics: Every business has ONE constraint at a time. One bottleneck. One weakest link. Everything else is a distraction. I recently worked with a founder whose company had flatlined at $3M for 11 months. After analyzing their data, we found the true bottleneck: 73% of trials never experienced the product's core value. They dropped every other initiative and rebuilt their onboarding experience. Growth unlocked: 30% more revenue in one quarter. Your biggest problem isn't awareness, features, or headcount. It's having the discipline to find your ONE constraint and fix ONLY that.

We talk a lot about funnels. But not enough about belief. When someone lands on your site, they’re not thinking: → “Is this product good?” They’re thinking: → “Can I trust you with my time, money, and data?” Most funnels try to win with logic. But logic doesn’t convert. Trust does. Here’s the trust stack I look for in every funnel I audit: 🔸 Social proof – Show me others took the leap 🔸 Clarity – Remove friction, kill confusion 🔸 Outcomes – Paint the “after” clearly 🔸 Identity – Let me see myself in your story great positioning answers four questions: What is your product? Who is it for? What does it replace? Why is it better? That’s step one. Step two is building a trust stack to support that message: → Show proof → Remove friction → Make the “after” vivid → Speak their language This is what most teams skip. They chase tactics. But conversion happens when people feel seen, safe, and sure. No trust = no traction.

A hard truth I've learned working with founders: What YOU think is valuable is not necessarily what your CUSTOMERS think is valuable. This gap is killing your growth. I've seen companies spend thousands on: → Features nobody uses → Messaging nobody connects with → Benefits nobody cares about All because they defined "value" through their own lens, not their customers'. To fix this dangerous disconnect: 1/ Look for the story behind the story Talk with your customers. Discover their personal experiences to truly understand their pain, needs, motivations, and objections. 2/ Observe, don't just listen Don't just ask for feedback, observe how your customers interact with your product. Look for patterns and behaviors that can reveal what they really value. 3/ Embrace their struggle Don't shy away from the challenges they face. Embrace them and use them as opportunities to find solutions that align with their values. 4/ Dare to be different Don't copy what others are doing. Your business is unique, show that off. Doing something different can make us stand out from the crowd. The most successful founders don't have more resources or better ideas. They're just better at seeing value through their customers' eyes, not their own.

Your team doesn’t need more ideas. They need to define the right problem. I recently watched a team of brilliant engineers build an "AI-powered dashboard" their users ignored completely. Not because it wasn't well-built. But because it wasn't solving a pressing problem anyone actually had. I've been through this pain myself. Here’s the process I use to stop that from happening: 1️⃣ Define with the problem with precision Use this formula: "We are trying to [objective], but [obstacle], which is causing [impact]." Weak: "We're not growing fast enough." Strong: "We are trying to scale from $1M to $3M ARR in 12 months, but our trial-to-paid conversion rate has plateaued at 1.2%, which is limiting growth despite increased traffic." This helps you diagnose, not just describe. 2️⃣ Break it down (MECE style) Break a problem into parts that don’t overlap, and together cover the full picture. Think of your funnel like a system. For growth issues, my logic tree looks like this: → Acquisition: Traffic volume/quality → Activation: Messaging/Onboarding/Time-to-value → Retention: Product value/Support/Engagement → Monetization: Pricing/Willingness to pay → Referral: Satisfaction/Mechanisms This breakdown helps you isolate where the bottleneck really is, without getting distracted by noise. 3️⃣ Find root causes Ask: "What would need to be true for this NOT to be a problem?" If trial conversions are low, is it a traffic problem? Is the trial too short? Is the value unclear? Push beyond the obvious. 4️⃣ Gather evidence Don't ask customers "why" - ask: → What did you expect that didn't happen? → What almost made you not convert? → When exactly did you realize this was a problem? What happened? This reveals the real story, far more valuable than survey scores. 5️⃣ Synthesize the insight Example: → Product delivers value in week 4 → But the trial ends in week 2 → Users churn before they feel the win That’s the insight you solve for. Not “make trial longer” but “shift value moment forward.” If your team is spinning on solutions without making progress, the problem isn't your execution. It's how they are defining the problem.

This chart should be printed and handed to every founder before they launch brand ads: Awareness = quarters, not weeks Preference = consistency, not sprints Results = time * creativity * memory

Being “better” is no longer enough. In most categories, everyone is good. The tools work. The support is responsive. The pricing is competitive. So why do some brands grow faster, close easier, and win repeat business? Because they’re memorable. I saw Peep Laja’s post yesterday, and he’s right: The USP (unique selling proposition) was built for a 1940s world. A world where being the only toothpaste with fluoride made you stand out. Today: “Better, faster, cheaper” is table stakes. You need to own space in your customer’s mind. To become their favorite. To be the one they talk about, even when they’re not ready to buy. But let’s add nuance. Yes: you still need to solve the right problem. Yes: you still need a clear outcome. But once the basics are covered differentiation comes down to emotional precision. → Speak your customer’s language → Say what your competitors won’t → Own the feeling your brand leaves behind The mistake I see in B2B and even in B2C: → Founders obsess over features → Marketers obsess over funnels → But no one’s owning the memory game And that’s the game that builds your future pipeline. Because in a sea of credible options, the brand they remember is the one they’ll come back to.

Most CEOs don't mean to overwhelm their marketing leaders. But here's how it happens: - Founder has 10+ new marketing ideas. - Marketing leader says yes to everything. - Execution becomes scattered. - Impact is diluted. - Marketing team burns out. The CEO assumes marketing isn't delivering. The marketing leader assumes the CEO is impossible. ❌ The problem isn't the CEO. ❌ The problem isn't execution. ✅ The problem is lack of prioritization. How to fix it: ➡️ Set clear marketing goals tied to revenue. Give the CEO a north star. ➡️ Frame marketing initiatives in terms of business impact. No vanity metrics. ➡️ Proactively lead prioritization discussions. Instead of waiting for orders, bring a plan. ➡️ Push back on distractions (the right way). "That's a great idea. Here's why we should do X first." Marketing leaders: You weren't hired to execute random ideas. You were hired to own the marketing strategy. If your CEO has 100 ideas, your job is to make sure the right one gets done.

If your marketing plan looks like a menu, it's not a strategy. A real strategy makes tradeoffs. Activity ≠ progress. I've worked with dozens of founders who confuse motion with progress: → Posting on 5 social platforms → Running A/B tests on minor landing page elements → Creating content without distribution power They're busy but not effective. Here's what marketing focus actually looks like: → Shopify's massive bet on education (vs. discounting) → Airbnb's commitment to user-generated photography (vs. professional) → Stripe's developer-first documentation (vs. sales-led growth) Each made tradeoffs that seemed risky at the time. Each ignored "best practices" their competitors followed. Each won because of their focus, not despite it. The question isn't "what more could we do?" It's "what would happen if we went all-in on our biggest strength?" The difference between good marketers and great ones isn't creativity or budget. It's the courage to focus when everyone else is fragmenting.

The $2M-$5M growth plateau isn't about hustle. It's about systems. I recently worked with a founder stuck at $2.4M ARR for 8 months. Everything in their business flowed through them: → Sales required their personal touch → Marketing depended on their voice → Decisions waited for their gut check → Customers expected their direct attention They weren't building a business. They were building a treadmill. This reminded me what a 9-figure founder once told me: "At 7-figures you've built a liability, not an asset." The skills that got you to $1M ARR will prevent you from reaching $10M. Here's what I've seen founders do to break this plateau: 🟠 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 If it only exists in your head, it can't scale. Create SOPs, playbooks, and decision trees so your team isn’t dependent on you. 🟠 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Make frameworks for key scenarios instead of gut-feel choices. If you’re answering the same question twice, it needs a documented answer. 🟠 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 Test → Document → Optimize → Hand Off. If your team can't execute without you, it’s not scalable. 🟠 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 Track what predicts revenue (demos booked, retention signals, referrals), not just lagging metrics (ARR, churn, pipeline). 🟠 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 If your team doesn't know what winning looks like, they won’t chase the right goals. Every function should have clear KPIs they own. The irony of scale: ✅ Systems feel slower but scale faster ❌ Chaotic hustle creates hidden bottlenecks Your next phase of growth won't come from working harder. It will come from building a machine that that thrives without you at the center of every decision