Grow & market

Should I even be running paid ads at this stage?

The short answer

Only if you already have retention and a clear sense of what a customer is worth; otherwise you're paying to fill a leaky bucket. Most early startups can't profitably acquire on Meta or Google and should exhaust founder-led and organic channels first. Paid is an amplifier for something that already works, not a substitute for it.

Go deeper, your way

2 hand-picked resources, 2 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it A blunt, practical guide from Demand Curve's founder on which paid and organic channels fit which business, and why most startups can't profitably buy ads early on.

Startup Handbook: Customer Acquisition Channels

From julian.com by Julian Shapiro Long-form guide

  • Most companies cannot profitably acquire on Meta/Google without high margins or strong referrals.
  • Match the channel to your product's format, targeting, audience, and device.
  • Great creative and a promise-keeping landing page beat obsessive targeting.
Open julian.com →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it The definitive explanation of why every marketing channel decays over time, from an a16z general partner who wrote 650+ essays on growth.

The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs

From andrewchen.com by Andrew Chen ~8 min read

  • Over time, all marketing channels drift toward terrible click-through rates.
  • Banner CTR fell ~1500x from 1994 to 2011 as novelty and arbitrage disappeared.
  • Win by refreshing creative and finding the next under-priced channel early.
Open andrewchen.com →

Terms in this answer

Retention

People also ask

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