Part 1 of a 3-part series on scaling from $0 to $1M, inspired by Gregory Kennedy’s Startup Growth presentation at Tech Week

Life is learning. If you’re going to keep moving forward, you need to throw open your arms, and let knowledge hit you in the face like a rain squall. Messy, but exhilarating.

That’s how I felt when I heard Gregory Kennedy deliver his talk ‘From Zero to $1M ARR’ at Seattle Tech Week. What he said left me both excited, and a little humbled.

Kennedy is an accomplished marketer in the startup space. His lessons are proven by the growth curves of the companies he’s worked with.

But his lessons aren’t complex, They’re common sense. As a marketer, let me underline that this is not to be taken for granted. Anyone who has worked on massive packaged goods accounts (as I have) can attest to how inscrutable marketing can get, if you put it in the hands of highly educated people with a title to defend.

Kennedy broke his talk into 3 parts – getting from $0-$100k (getting product-market fit), from $100-500k (scaling and building systems), and from $500k-1M (optimizing and expanding).

There was so much to take in, I decided to break it into 3 posts. Today, I’ll delve into some of his $0-100k tactics, and write 2 more posts for $100-500k, and $500k-1m in the coming days.

$0–$100K ARR: Where Traction Is Earned, Not Bought

Kennedy had 6 great lessons for accelerating this stage of growth. In the interest of brevity, I’ll cover 3 of them, with a bit of colour commentary based on my own experience. If you want the other 3 lessons, I’m happy to chat.

1. Own a Micro-Niche (The D-Day Principle)

First, a bit on the D-Day Principle. On D-Day, the Allies focused all their collective firepower on a few beaches in Normandy, virtually guaranteeing they could overwhelm their foes. If they’d attempted to take France on Day 1, it would’ve diluted their resources, making success highly unlikely.

Kennedy used the example of Doximity – a startup that created a Linkedin for doctors. Instead of aiming to create ‘healthcare SaaS’, they niched down, and down, and down. The goal was to find, and own a smaller audience they could rapidly convert, then expand.

Starting from a tight niche, there are multiple ways to grow. You can add niches – begin with Linkedin for doctors, then move on to physios, and so on. Or, as Jack Newton did with Clio, you can create ‘vertical SaaS’ – starting with one niche of law firm operations (Clio’s beachhead was admin) to eventually SaaS-ify every support function.

The trick, of course, is to niche down to the point where you can build strong bonds with a concentrated audience – without niching so far that it’s no longer profitable. Linkedin for doctors is great. Linkedin for the doctors in your neighborhood, not so much.

2. Make Your Free Trial a “VIP Beta”

There’s a world of difference between “try our product” and “help shape what we’re building.”

Kennedy described the launch of BlueSky. Early adopters got access to product optimization conversations – sometimes with founder Jack Dorsey himself.

Early adopters don’t just want to be first to try a product. Many want to feel like an insider, to put their fingerprint on the product.

I’m seeing this work in real time. We’re in the middle of a biotech launch which features not only a great product (the first 100% bio-based glycolic acid – a big leap forward in the clean beauty movement) but a co-marketing campaign for that bestows a sense of participation and ownership on early adopters. By involving client marketers in the process of developing the co-marketing, we’ve added another level of connection, and created a more binding relationship.

3. Ask AI to See You Like Your Customers Do

Many founders create solutions in search of a problem. This comes from a very human bias: we believe the pain we’re feeling is shared by many – so the solution we’ve created will be universally embraced.

Aligning a product with true consumer pain points is core to what I do. But Kennedy provided a ridiculously simple DIY hack that can help you get there on your own.

Simply put, you ask AI to look at your website from the perspective of your ideal customer.

Here’s the prompt Kennedy uses:

I want you to act as a website conversion and messaging expert.

Here is my Ideal Customer Profile (ICP):

[INSERT ICP HERE — include industry, role, company size, pain points, goals, etc.]

Here is my website URL:

[INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE]

Analyze the website and give me feedback on:

• How the messaging speaks to my ICP
• How the value proposition aligns with pain points
• Suggestions to improve clarity, relevance, and conversion

Be honest and specific, and give actionable advice.

It’s a dead-simple way to flag your biases – before they cost you.

Next: From $100k to $500k

I’m excited to share the next 2 posts based on Kennedy’s talk – From $100k to $500k, and From $500k to $1M. Stay tuned for the next installation.