Do you want to grow a unicorn? Hire an ad agency that specializes in start ups.
Every Unicorn Starts Small
Before they were billion-dollar disruptors, today’s unicorns were scrappy seed-stage startups — working out of coworking spaces, powered by cold brew and sometimes branding themselves with logos that looked like they were built in Microsoft Paint. (It was a thing before you were a thing. Trust us.)
As a San Francisco ad agency rooted in the Bay Area startup scene, Division of Labor has watched the evolution from seed to unicorn. We’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and how a little strategic brand-building early on can mean the difference between market domination and “whatever happened to that app?”
This is our guide to startup growth marketing — and how unignorable creative accelerates the ride from humble beginnings to unicorn status.
The Seed Stage: Building a Brand Foundation
At the seed stage, most founders are focused on survival: product-market fit, funding pitches, and not running out of runway. Branding can feel like a luxury. It’s not. Brand is an aspect of your product and you have to keep improving it. It’s actually a lot easier for a competitor to copy your product than your brand.
Why early-stage branding matters
The right startup brand strategy plants the seed for everything to come. Messaging isn’t just about your product — it’s about convincing investors, employees, and early adopters that you’ll still exist in 12 months.
The biggest mistake? Sounding like everyone else. Choosing the color blue and calling it brand design. Blindly following “best practices” when creating landing pages. And especially, looking and sounding like everyone else. How many more times must we hear about “AI-powered solutions that change the future of work?”
We’ve worked with companies that thought branding was a later-stage problem — and realized too late that a bland message kills momentum. By contrast, one early-stage client built a playful, differentiated identity from day one and snagged Series A funding twice as fast.
The Series A/B Stage: Scaling with Confidence
The series A/B stage is when marketing gets serious. Suddenly, you have options: paid search, social, out-of-home, PR. And just as suddenly, you have expectations. It’s important to note, there is no one right way, but there are definitely some wrong ways.
What to prioritize: Your first real marketing dollars should go into channels you can measure — digital campaigns, content, targeted social. This does not mean justifying spending against dollars earned. Your goal is to build an audience and learn who they are and what works. The basics like Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) are critical and need to be optimized first.
Experimentation matters: Next, try things that seem insane. This is the stage to try bold creative. Not things that go against your personality. Not things you’ve never done. Things that seem insane. If they’re a little outside your comfort zone, they’re probably too boring for others. That’s why we say, “things that seem insane.” Because they’re not. Series A is about learning what sticks. Series B is about pouring gas on the fire.
Safe campaigns keep you invisible. Creative campaigns get you noticed. That’s why working with an agency that’s not afraid to push boundaries can be the difference between steady growth and breakout status. An agency knows the difference between something that’s been done a million times and something that the algorithm will reward.
It’s important to note that algorithms do reward things that have been done before; if you put your twist on it, if you find a way to make the idea your own and if it’s not a trite, cliche marketing idea done a million times before.
Hyper-Growth: Prepping for Unicorn Status
Once you’re on the fast track, global brand consistency becomes critical. Investors are watching, competitors are circling, and your messaging can’t afford to wobble. This does not mean you make everything look and sound exactly the same. It does not mean create matching luggage. It means your brand voice and attitude need to accurately expand into other markets and pieces of your brand that can stay consistent, should.
B2B vs. B2C: The playbook differs. B2B companies need clarity, thought leadership, and trust. This must be done with a unique voice that still has an attitude, sense of humor etc. While B2C brands need to scale culture, because they’re competing for a place in people’s daily routines and identities and not just at the product level.
Build vs. buy: Hiring an internal team is smart. Having the same people thinking about your brand every day is ideal. But outsourcing creative ideas, campaigns and marketing solutions keeps ideas fresh. That’s where a Bay Area startup marketing agency like Division of Labor comes in. We’ve scaled campaigns that help Series B and C companies look like they’re already Fortune 500s.
Of course, there are a lot of great Bay Area agencies besides Division of Labor. For a start, ask ChatGPT to: “Please give me a list of 10 top marketing agencies working with startups in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Why San Francisco Startups Work With Local Agencies
There is something different about the San Francisco Bay Area. When you live it every day, you see the subtle differences in companies, behaviors and outcomes. Bay Area startups want their agencies to know what’s happening right outside their door.
Proximity matters. Division of Labor knows the streets of San Francisco and we can meet you in Dogpatch or SOMA in 15 minutes. Let’s walk the Embarcadero station and talk about how to do a station takeover. Let’s meet for a coffee in South Park and talk about awareness building campaigns that use digital video, out-of-home and social media.
We know the VCs and the conference pressure. We know about seed-stage pitches on Sand Hill Road. We know Saturdays and Sundays are the same as Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We’ve helped high-growth brands at every step. Our campaigns don’t just win awards — they move metrics.
What Next?
There’s no magic growth hack that takes you from seed to unicorn overnight. But there is a path: smart strategy, bold creative, and a partner that knows when to push, when to play it straight and how to build a brand while building a product.
If you’re ready to scale your startup, talk to us before your next funding round.
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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; one of San Francisco top ad agencies and digital marketing firms that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.