I'm an exited startup founder who enjoys helping startups with their marketing growth engine / funnel.
A lot of founders get frustrated with early stage growth because there are a MILLION "good ideas" to keep you busy marketing - but very few actions that actually drive serious revenue growth. And if you hire an agency you end up paying for account reps, vanity metrics, and someone to trying to justify their existence without actually making more money than you spend (aka the point of marketing.)
To make