I sat down with Britni to learn more about K18’s marketing efforts and the lessons emerging biotech companies could take from their storytelling success.

In 1916, a group of exiled European artists gathered in Zurich and started an art movement that would change the world.

Unhappy with the violence and the horror of the first World War, the artists rejected logic, reason, and modern capitalism.

Birthed at the Cabaret Voltaire, the movement was called Dada.

I love strategy.

The word gets overused but you can’t accomplish a thing without a strategy.

And strategy is simple.

It’s a plan of action to achieve a goal

I teach a class on thought leadership, I always open by saying "Everyone in this room is a leader."

And I always get blank stares. 

Every. Time.

Imagine you had written an article or blog post, or had recorded a podcast or video that answered the most pressing issue in your industry.

Your audience would read, listen, or watch, and would understand your solution.

Their questions would be answered.

The response we got from that article is rare. But the article itself worked because it was really, really good.

What are the elements that made the piece so successful?

Let me tell you so that you can think about this the next time you’re creating a piece of content for your audience. It was...

So, clearly, you are all aware that I’m on an obsessive crusade to help scientist-entrepreneurs tell great biotech and synbio stories, convince investors to back you, build great companies, disrupt the way things have been done, and make the world a better place.

“To live well is to see wisely, and to see wisely is to tell stories.” - Padraing O. Tuama (quoted in Jerry Colona’s Reboot)

A question I’ve been asking myself lately is: Who am I talking to? Right now?

In the past three days, I’ve spoken with:

When you're launching a new company, you want to keep your marketing simple.

The current universe of marketing tactics is overwhelming, so you need to prioritize them.

Let me tell you a story:

A few weeks ago, a post-Series A biotech company called and said, “We need a public relations agency.”

My stock answer is, “We’re not a PR agency. We help clients grow. Public relations is just one of many growth tactics. Let’s figure out if that's what you really need.”

CUE THE FREE JAZZ: We're running a marketing experiment.

Go ahead. Admit you care. You really do.

What? You don’t?

Well, you should because we’re all about to learn something together. Because we're running an experiment.

According to our recent survey, 80% of our subscribers do not have a written marketing or communications plan.

80%.

That's pretty astounding. 

Without a plan, you have no direction. It's like trying to get someplace new without a map.

I just got back from this year’s SynBioBeta conference in San Francisco. It was the most well-attended, most exciting SBBSF so far. I ran two well-attended panels:

A C-suite executive at a clinical research organization wanted to increase his influence and get noticed among internal and professional audiences.

Growing a niche-focused social network requires leveraging existing tools and engaging an audience. Here's how Messaginglab helped grow a physician-only network.