how and when to build marketing teams at deep tech companies

Deep technology startups are responsible for creating groundbreaking advancements that have the potential to fundamentally change how we live and work. The individuals who establish these businesses typically possess extensive technical expertise, which facilitates swift product development but can sometimes present challenges when it comes to bringing those products to the wider market.

This article addresses four crucial questions concerning marketing strategies for early-stage, revenue-generating deep tech companies:

• The specific activities undertaken by marketing teams within deep tech organizations.
• The optimal timing for building a marketing team.
• The necessity of industry-specific experience for marketing personnel.
• Effective methods for identifying and assessing candidates for the marketing team.

The information presented here will enable deep tech startups to develop a robust marketing recruitment strategy and secure skilled professionals to propel their market entry plans. Even the most significant innovations will fail to reach their full potential without effective business implementation.

What do marketing teams at deep tech companies do?

For clarity, I will outline the common initiatives undertaken by marketing teams in the deep tech sector. These marketing efforts differ from those in other industries due to the significant emphasis on product functionality and intricacy, stringent regulatory requirements, and extended development timelines.

Go-to-market

Marketing professionals utilize the power of the company’s intellectual property to forge alliances with major organizations, including pharmaceutical firms and public entities like governmental bodies, universities, and medical centers. To achieve this, marketers devise innovative methods for identifying and collecting data on crucial contacts within these prospective collaborators. They also produce sales materials, such as demonstration videos, presentation outlines, and concise summaries, to more effectively engage and cultivate enduring relationships with potential clients.

In a wider sense, marketers also formulate the go-to-market plan extending beyond partnerships. This involves conducting thorough market analysis concerning business structures, revenue generation approaches, and payment recovery methods.

Communications

Marketing teams generate unique content to position the company as an industry leader, enhance the company’s reputation through social media platforms, and submit applications for accolades and recognition to confirm the value of the company’s technology.

Forecasting

Marketers collaborate with financial and product development teams to create predictions as the company progresses into the clinical trial stages.

When should deep tech companies hire marketers?

In the initial stages of a deep tech company, the CEO and other founding team members typically manage marketing responsibilities. This allows them to gain a thorough understanding of the department’s requirements, potential, and skills before committing to a full-time hire.

A marketing leader becomes essential once the product demonstrates consistent revenue generation. This need arises before securing a substantial Series A funding round, following a smaller Series A investment, or when a significant commercial partner indicates interest in extensive, ongoing agreements. Deep tech startups often designate this role as a chief commercial officer or chief partnerships officer, rather than using traditional titles like chief marketing officer or chief revenue officer.

To supplement efforts during the early phases, companies frequently engage MBA interns and collaborate with their investors. Before a Series A round, venture-capital firms specializing in deep tech often provide direct marketing assistance to their portfolio companies, including executing marketing projects, contributing to long-term strategy through regular feedback, and introducing founders to qualified marketing contractors and agencies.

Companies needing FDA clearance often rely on commercial advisors, consultants, and board members to handle partnership strategy – which constitutes the majority of their marketing efforts – before a Series A round. Likewise, external consultants, such as marketing firms, can manage significant initiatives like launch planning. Should they deliver strong results, these consultants may then be offered full-time positions.

For businesses focused on drug development, a marketing leader is particularly vital when the company begins the clinical trial phase and prepares for those trials, irrespective of their current funding status.

Do marketing hires need industry experience?

While it’s certainly advantageous to bring on a marketer already familiar with selling within the specific market and accustomed to its intricate supply networks and extended sales processes, a different approach can be more effective. When faced with a decision between a candidate possessing strong marketing skills but lacking industry-specific knowledge, and another with industry experience but limited marketing proficiency, prioritizing the candidate with the stronger functional expertise is generally preferable. The existing team can then provide the necessary domain knowledge to support the new marketer’s development.

During the onboarding phase, the marketer should focus on gaining a thorough understanding of the terminology and messaging that effectively connects with the target audience – those they will be selling to or collaborating with. This can be achieved by actively participating in discovery calls, reviewing materials created by potential customers, and engaging in online communities, such as Reddit, where these individuals are active.

What are the best methods for finding and assessing marketing talent in deep tech businesses?

To identify individuals with strong marketing skills, consider utilizing these talent sources:

Consultants – both independent professionals and those working within agencies – who have previously collaborated with your organization or companies operating in comparable sectors.

Founders of companies that have been acquired or ceased operations within your specific industry.

Investors or other personnel (such as platform specialists) associated with investment firms specializing in deep tech.

Community managers active in research-focused online communities like ResearchGate and GitHub.

Marketing professionals – particularly experienced individuals currently in junior positions who are seeking increased leadership responsibilities – employed by companies in related or similar fields.

Product managers working within your industry.

In addition to general job boards (like Product Hunt, AngelList and LinkedIn), you can distribute your job postings through:

Industry-specific job sites, including Biospace, FierceBiotech, Biocom, CLSA and MassBio.

Industry-focused Slack communities such as Health Tech or BIOS.

Investors, by requesting recommendations for potential hires in your investor updates.

Employee referral programs, incentivized with bonuses for successful hires.

When assessing candidates, focus on evaluating these key strengths:

Creativity

To gauge the originality of their ideas, inquire: Did the candidate proactively offer suggestions? Do they independently generate ideas and share them without prompting? Are their concepts novel and distinct from those already considered by your team? Are their ideas the result of unexpected insights or connections drawn from their diverse experiences? Do they articulate their approach to idea generation? Is this approach consistently applicable, or did the idea arise from chance? Can they respectfully challenge your perspectives and present alternative viewpoints, supported by relevant data?

To assess the depth of their thinking, ask: Rather than simply proposing slogans, do they elaborate on how their ideas align with the company’s overarching strategy? Do they identify potential risks associated with each idea? Despite acknowledging these risks, can they confidently recommend whether an idea should be pursued? Do they delve into the practical aspects of implementation, such as necessary tools, data integrations, key performance indicators (KPIs), testing methodologies, and estimated budget requirements?

Execution

Assign the candidate a trial project to demonstrate their ability to achieve tangible results within a specified timeframe, such as three weeks. To understand their working methods, ask: Can they produce compelling copy that resonates with your intended audience? Do they carefully consider customer segmentation and audience targeting? Are they focused not only on outcomes but also on return on investment (ROI)? Are they able to prioritize campaigns, channels, or do they allocate resources evenly across all areas?

To evaluate their leadership capabilities, ask: When faced with a decline in campaign performance, can they quickly diagnose the problem and propose and implement effective solutions, potentially within hours? Do they proactively seek answers or independently find solutions? Do they consistently require support from you or your team, or are they comfortable working autonomously?

Analytics

Present the candidate with sample dashboards and ask them to extract meaningful insights to drive Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). Also, challenge them to create improved dashboards. To evaluate their analytical skills, ask: Are they attentive to data quality and reliability? Do they consider the feasibility of collecting specific data points? Can they deconstruct each data field into its fundamental components? Do they understand how to manipulate data fields to effectively visualize marketing performance?

To assess their ability to integrate different perspectives, ask: Can they combine qualitative information with the quantitative data from the dashboards? Do they ask clarifying questions or independently investigate the context behind the data? Do they adjust their recommendations based on broader macro and industry trends?

To evaluate their data-driven insight generation, ask: Do they uncover insights that your team has not previously identified? Can they clearly connect insights to actionable steps? Are they able to move beyond simply describing data to providing prescriptive guidance? Can they estimate potential margins of error in areas of uncertainty?

Final Evaluation

The questions above are designed to provide a structured and objective evaluation. To facilitate comparisons between candidates, develop a scoring rubric based on these three core dimensions and seven subdimensions. Use these questions to assign scores to each candidate. Incorporate a weighted average that reflects the strengths and weaknesses of your existing team (for example, a highly analytical team may require less emphasis on analytical skills). Calculate a final interview score for each candidate.

Combine this interview score with a background score (again, weighted based on team needs and role requirements. If the role involves multiple channels and the industry has short sales cycles, the candidate’s background may be less critical). To assess their background, ask: Do they possess relevant channel expertise? Do they have experience in your industry? Do they have an established industry network? Have they worked in a similar business model (B2B versus B2C)? Do they have prior leadership experience? Have they worked at an early-stage startup?

Finally, ensure that multiple individuals participate in the evaluation process to minimize individual bias. Prioritize the opinions of those who will be working most closely with the new hire. While scores provide structure, they are not definitive. After ranking candidates, consider your gut feeling. Which candidate would you genuinely enjoy collaborating with? Who demonstrated the most enthusiasm for your industry? Who would be the best cultural fit?

Involve the manager of the marketing role, as well as team members who currently perform the tasks the new hire will be responsible for, in this process. If the team struggles to answer many of the evaluation questions, consider hiring a contract marketer (ideally, a trusted marketing contact or investor willing to contribute their time). However, this external perspective should be combined with the team’s input and adjusted for cultural compatibility.