Why startups need leaders who span creative and marketing. And what happens when they don’t. At most startups, brand and marketing are two very different functions. One is storytelling, the other is sales. But in my experience, the most effective brand leaders do both. I’ve led social, content, events, and product marketing initiatives, alongside rebrands and creative direction. And I’ve found that having one person across both camps avoids a ton of wasted time, misalignment,

There’s nothing inherently wrong with hiring a branding agency. Sometimes you need outside perspective, senior strategy, conceptual...

“How did you pull that off with such a small team?” It’s not sorcery. It’s strategy. Most of the rebrands and creative campaigns I’ve led had no agency of record, tight timelines, and very little money. But they landed. They stuck. And they shipped. 1. Get discounts. Really, just ask. A founder I worked with once said, “Don’t ask, don’t get.”  I took that to heart. I've gotten startup pricing from media giants like Channel 4 and JCDecaux just by asking the question. Be transp

Why creative leaders need to speak business. And what it actually looks like. One of the biggest myths in fast-growing companies is that “marketing teams” are there to ~ make things pretty ~ , or to write clever headlines. The truth? The best creative leaders don’t just shape how a company looks —they help shape how it works . Over the last few years, I’ve found myself increasingly sitting in the space between creative and commercial teams: translating product features into p

Why the structure behind the scenes matters just as much as what you ship. When people think about creative leadership, they picture outputs: campaigns, rebrands, pitch decks, product launches. But one of the most valuable things I’ve learned is this: Great work doesn’t happen without a well-designed team behind it. At Curve, Flipdish, and PrimaryBid, I’ve either built creative teams from scratch or reshaped what existed. Here’s what I’ve learned about building the team as we