Agustin Rejon is the founder of martechbase.com, an online community for digital marketers that allows its users to search and discover over 7,000 marketing solutions to grow their business.
Agustin is Head of Marketing Technology at Velocity Partners, a leading B2B content marketing agency based in London, UK, where he helps businesses around the globe identifying the strategy, channels, and tools they need to launch effective, results-driven marketing initiatives.
In an exclusive interview with AsiaTechDaily, Agustin Rejon says:
Just start something. Even if you don’t have all the answers and you don’t know where things will take you. Even if you fail, those learnings will stay with you forever. They will make you wiser and stronger.
Also, think big, start small. Don’t try to boil the ocean from day one! Instead, set realistic goals for yourself and work towards those over time and step by step.
Read on to know more about Agustin and his journey.
4 things you can do with Martechbase right now:
🔎 Discover 7,000+ marketing solutions
📊 Access rich company insights for each vendor
👀 Research tool alternatives and competitors
👩💼 Showcase your own martech stack and find other expertshttps://t.co/SulZJeDnhI— Martechbase (@martechbase) February 3, 2020
Please tell me about your background, and what are you working on currently?
Agustin Rejon: I’ve been working in marketing operations pretty much all my professional life. A few years back, I discovered this passion for the interception between marketing and technology, right when big data analytics and automation were starting to become more accessible for marketing teams. I started specializing in this area and have been loving it since then.
I’m currently working on martechbase.com, a searchable database of 7,000+ marketing solutions to help digital marketers find the tools they need to grow their business.
What motivated you to get started with your company?
Agustin Rejon: All data on martechbase.com is taken directly from the Marketing Technology Landscape supergraphic; an annual research of the martech ecosystem conducted by Scott Brinker since 2011. As of 2019, it includes as many as 7,040 different technologies.
Finding the right piece of marketing tech among thousands of tools can be an overwhelming task, so I felt that there was an opportunity to make something more visual and searchable out of that data. I thought to myself: “If it’s useful for me, it could help other marketing teams too”.
Martechbase is my attempt to make this ecosystem more accessible and useful to other fellow marketers.
How have you attracted users and grown your company from the start?
Agustin Rejon: During its first week, the site had over 19,000 visits and more than 500 new users, which I was really happy about. Part of the excellent performance here has to do with the fact that I had been building the site “in the public” for three months before it officially launched. For example, I started publishing updates on my progress from day 1, and all web stats are public for anyone to check. I’m also active in some maker communities that I love, where I openly talk about my learnings and try to help others with their challenges.
This involvement helps to build organic interest in your work. It gets people to appreciate all the effort that goes into the product, share it with others, and be part of that journey too. Before the martechbase.com even launched, it already had a waitlist of more than 100 early users waiting to try the product.
Building an audience is the most underrated step in the maker’s journey, but it’s key to long-term success. There are no easy shortcuts to getting people to love your service.
What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? What strategy worked best?
Agustin Rejon: Martechbase started as a side project. I want to focus on building the community and improving the product before monetizing it. So in that sense, it’s still very early days. I believe this approach will be beneficial to users in the long run: instead of pushing for ways to generate revenue from the very start, I want to hear what problems and challenges are out there. Then, I can think about ways to bring value to my users based on their exact needs.
How much money (funding) have you raised in total so far? When was the recent funding round? (Additionally, any plan for the future?)
Agustin Rejon: The product has just launched, and there’s no monetization strategy in place yet.
What are some marketing tips to help maximize the success of a product launch?
Agustin Rejon: I’d say understanding the value of growing organic interest around your service should be your starting point – way before spending your marketing dollars. Get your early adopters to help you validate your idea, and don’t be afraid to iterate once you gather enough feedback. That’s been my mantra with martechbase.com.
Understanding your audience is equally important. Every channel and every individual is different, so make sure your message is laser-focused, addresses your audience’s pain points, and shows the value you can bring to them.
Lastly, leverage technology! Especially for solo-founders, automating the most repetitive tasks in those early days can be a massive time-saver. Make sure you spend your time wisely.
What is a good product launch checklist?
Agustin Rejon:
– First and formal, plan things ahead. Set yourself a realistic timeline and commit to it.
– Be prepared. Do your research in advance and map out all the different pieces you need to bring together: What channels you’re going to use, what assets you need, who else you need to involve, etc.
– Don’t rely on just one channel! Leverage multiple ways of getting people to learn about your launch and understand how all those channels relate to each other.
– Don’t “set and forget”. Be active and available to answer questions and provide support during those crucial first few days and make people see how much you care.
What’s the hardest thing about product launches?
Agustin Rejon: I think there’s sometimes too much focus on the act of launching itself, rather than on what it means. Sometimes launches don’t go as well as planned, but that shouldn’t discourage you. A lot of companies have launched multiple times, even if that means changing their whole concept and pivoting to something else.
In the end, your launch is a way to help you kick-start your project, not a measure of long-term success.
What are the most common mistakes founders make when they start a company? (or What should all first-time startup founders know before they start their business?)
Agustin Rejon: Particularly in the startup world, I’d say serving many customers poorly instead of excelling at serving a selected group can be a recipe for disaster.
In other words, you need to find your niche and be great at it. In the case of martechbase.com, my niche is tech-savvy marketers.
Too many businesses try to do too many things for too many people. Focus is key, especially when you’re starting, and your resources are limited. Be the best at that really-specific pain point, get users onboard, and get going. You can always expand later.
What do most startups get wrong about marketing?
Agustin Rejon: Marketing needs to be measurable. Even in 2020, if you accept that principle, you’re already ahead of the game compared to many other companies. Don’t define your marketing strategy based on channels, but in terms of outcomes and results. Your company may need a new website, but this is not a measurable objective. A measurable objective might be to get a certain volume of traffic or get a minimum amount of lead conversions per month.
This “numbers-driven” approach will really help you understand how your marketing investment is playing out and where you should focus next.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? And What advice do you have for someone who is interested in doing similar things like yours or in a similar direction?
Agustin Rejon: Just start something. Even if you don’t have all the answers and you don’t know where things will take you. Even if you fail, those learnings will stay with you forever. They will make you wiser and stronger.
Also, think big, start small. Don’t try to boil the ocean from day one! Instead, set realistic goals for yourself and work towards those over time and step by step.
What are the one or two things that you would do differently if you could go back to 10 years ago?
Agustin Rejon: I wouldn’t change anything. You learn from experience, so even your most unsuccessful decisions did teach you something!
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