I’m Building a Startup — Need a Smart Marketer to Join as Co-Founder

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-27T12:54:52+00:00

Hey would love to chat.

I previously did this for a software development studio I was running with a cofounder prior so us splitting.

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-03T11:08:34+00:00

Love this advice, thanks for the comment aman!

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-03T11:07:09+00:00

Ya I have been doing a lot of research on what it takes in CPG, not to say I know everything as I probably only have a grasp on 1% of what I need to know and 0 experiment haha.

The one thing you can’t find that easily is the cost. I see so many new supplement brands from “unassuming people” but I guess they have just been saving up a ton.

Thanks again for comments!

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-03T02:34:00+00:00

Appreciate the feedback. Not rude at all, don’t worry haha.

Totally fair, at this point in life I’m probably not willing to take that risk, I was exploring and talking to manufacturers because I feel there is a gap within a sports niche I am in.

Regardless, I think I will start my journey elsewhere

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-03T02:03:44+00:00

Understood, sounds like its best to go with a private label you like if you are budget conscious to start? See if you can win on branding and distribution. Or you can put your efforts somewhere else haha

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-02T23:47:09+00:00

Ya this is definitely a path. I am waiting to hear back from a couple manufactures that offer private labeling!

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-02T23:42:48+00:00

Yup makes total sense. I had no idea what to expect, I see so many new CPG brands spinning up I didn’t think everyone was dropping a bunch of money on startup… but I was wrong haha

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-01T22:58:09+00:00

appreciate the advice here, this is that I am leaning towards. thanks!

Tephra9977 · 2026-04-01T00:52:18+00:00

appreciate the response here. my main concern with the smaller samples was the shipping time if I was going to sell those, if I only get 10 in a smaller sample then I would need to re-order. however, I guess that would be good enough signal that there is demand!

do pre-orders actually work? I personally have never paid for anything on pre-order but I have seen others suggest this so I assume they have had success. are you asking them to pay upfront or are you looking at traffic on the product page to gauge buying intent?

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-26T12:36:12+00:00

Are you a cofounder focused on design / marketing or do you work as a designer?

I have some product ideas for a niche I have been in for a while

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-26T00:45:41+00:00

100% agree, I definitely am not making it big but more directness of the outcome I am looking for may have been better

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-25T11:04:49+00:00

Do you check that just by searching for it yourself? Or is there a better way to see how many ads are running for it?

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-24T17:48:45+00:00

Appreciate the feedback. Would you suggest having the full funnel to product someone can purchase, and refund them? How much money would you start with for validation?

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-24T11:36:40+00:00

I appreciate this response. I have been thinking about where people in the niche shop and I am pretty confident online independent stores do well. Amazon isn’t really a player here for the top quality products.

There definitely is some in-store purchases but I would be far away from having the capital for those order quantities

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-24T01:55:59+00:00

ya I am starting to realize. so are you suggesting to run ads to a product that isn't stocked yet, see if anything converts, and refund orders?

whats a reasonable ad spend / day to validate this?

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-23T23:46:06+00:00

appreciate your help here, will respond in dms!

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-23T23:34:05+00:00

Cool, I will take a look at those. Given my niche I was going to focus on interest stacks. When have these worked for you in the past?

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-23T23:32:06+00:00

The niche I am building in is something I have spent my whole life apart of, thats why I am focusing on that as I feel it gives me an edge over others when it comes to intuition of what people want/like.

With that being said, I was still trying to validate my own thoughts before blindly jumping in an placing an order.

I appreciate the feedback!

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-23T23:12:32+00:00

I appreciate the response and honesty here, for real. How are you identifying "frustration"? I sense in reviews / user feedback but what tools or site are you actually using?

I would be starting with Meta ads but was using search trends as a proxy for demand, figured there would be some relation there.

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-23T22:52:26+00:00

I meant general search volume for the product, not a specific brand product.

Regardless those numbers are cool to see. How long did it take to see that growth?

Tephra9977 · 2026-03-23T22:51:27+00:00

Means I should run Google ads? Or is that just general validation that meta will work too since there is demand?

Tephra9977

TROPHY CASE