Minimal-viable / Selective- / Strategic AR

04.04.23 08:26 AM

The right startup AR intensity

Founders struggle with capacity, for everything, all the time :-) So how can they have capacity for something as powerful as Analyst Relations? I've looked into this for many years working exclusively with startups and scaleups. Here's what I found:


  1. The smart ass answer...
    You can't afford not to do AR (says data).
  2. The Startup AR Pro answer...
    AR can and must flex to startup maturity.


Startup AR is not a baby version of enterprise AR. Startups evolve and so do their needs, capacities and resources – but also the tools and offers that are only available to them.


The key to making sense of AR for startups is to consequently align AR instruments and practices to founders' priorities along the funding- and maturity cycle.  


The great news is: As a startup you can achieve a lot before spending anything on analyst subscriptions and other offerings. And you should. It's part of the journey.


Here's my framework that's proven effective and flexible:


Minimal-viable AR

At pre-seed to seed stage, all you need is to be on the radars of the analysts that really matter in your field. You want them to know you exist, remember your positioning, understand your innovation and develop confidence through key differentiation examples.

  • We can achieve this without any subscription. In all high-reputation analyst firms, the individual analysts are entirely independent from the firm's sales teams. It goes so far as that an analyst firm's account executive is not allowed to schedule a briefing for her client.
  • We need to be very targeted at identifying analysts.
  • We need to be brilliant at briefing them.


Selective AR
At seed stage, especially when getting ready for your Series A, you may need to solve specific and critical challenges e.g. sharpen your ICP, your messaging, your GTM-plans, prove the ROI of your solution, or simply generate high-quality leads.
  • We can achieve this with a targeted AR project. Still no subscription needed.
  • We select highly specialised analyst support in form of data, insights, custom research, or marketing/sales materials to get the job done.
  • Often best with boutique analyst firms!

Strategic AR

Once analysts request in-depth sessions on your roadmap, technology, case studies – or better yet – want regular update briefings, this means reliable PMF confirmation for you and your (future) investors. It's your ticket to earning analyst advocacy. If you're also racing against intense startup competition and/or try to snatch market share from mighty incumbents, it's time for strategic AR. 

  • Get a startup-tailored analyst subscription that matches your business strategy and GTM plans. Make it part of your AR strategy and planning.
  • We'll run analyst insights-actions-results cycles to support your best products, programmes, projects, priorities and people – and grow analyst mindshare and confidence in passing. 
  • This is not a project, it's the infinite game. We learn from and inform analysts to move the playing field our way, influence the winning criteria, or even invent an entirely new game. It's about making better decisions sooner. 

Whichever AR intensity you're leveraging, one thing is crucial from the start: Measuring the impact. That's not just in numbers of briefings, or analyst sentiment. But in terms of impact on the key business functions across your startup: Product management, Marketing, Sales, Strategy, Operations, HR, etc. Think that can't be done? Oh yes it can, but that's for another post.

Have questions on startup AR intensities and wonder how this might look like in practice for you?
Let's talk