Brand for Growth-Stage Leaders

4.8 (25)

·

4 Weeks

·

Cohort-based Course

25+ proven templates from hypergrowth startups: Get executive buy-in, build winning campaigns, and prove brand value from day one

This course is popular

3 people enrolled last week.

Previously at

Notion
Brex
Gusto
Later
Redbubble

Course overview

Insider Look: Building Multi-Billion Dollar Tech Brands

The reality most brand leaders face: You're caught between creative teams and executives obsessed with metrics. Brand initiatives get sidelined for performance campaigns, and you're constantly justifying why brand matters beyond "awareness," while watching your competitors build stronger market positions.


Where you are now:

Getting your founder or CEO to invest in brand feels like pushing a boulder uphill while you balance urgent demands against strategic thinking. Alignment feels far off or impossible.


I've been there. Now I'm sharing everything I learned building brands at Gusto, Brex, and Notion—what worked, what didn't, and what I wish someone had told me sooner.


Who will benefit most from this course:

- Marketing and brand leaders at post-Series A companies experiencing rapid growth

- Strategic marketers looking to influence executive decisions and secure resources

- Leaders transitioning from execution to strategic brand direction

- Marketers who need to connect brand initiatives to business outcomes

- Growth-stage operators who need practical templates, not theory


This course is NOT for you if:

- You're looking for general brand theory or marketing 101 concepts

- You want a course focused on creative development or design skills

- You believe executives will never value brand—this course is about changing that dynamic

- You're at a pre-PMF startup still finding direction

- You expect transformative results without putting in the work between sessions


What you'll implement:

- Apply 25+ Notion templates to drive alignment and streamline your brand operations

- Translate brand value into metrics that convince executives to invest

- Execute campaigns that drive both awareness and acquisition

- Scale your resources from startup to growth stage (50 to 1,500+ employees)

- Connect brand investments directly to business outcomes


Week 1: Brand Foundations & Opportunities Assess your current position and identify critical gaps and opportunities


Week 2: Brand Alignment Learn proven techniques to secure executive buy-in and cross-functional support


Week 3: Brand Resourcing & Campaigns Build scalable processes that deliver consistent results without burning out teams


Week 4: Brand Insights & Measurement Implement frameworks that connect brand to business metrics executives care about


Plus, you'll get direct support:

- Two 1:1 consulting sessions focused on your specific challenges

- Real feedback on your projects as you develop them

- Ongoing Q&A access throughout the program

- A community of peers facing similar challenges

- Lifetime access to materials and future updates


This course requires commitment: You'll need to dedicate 4-6 hours weekly to get full value from this course. Particularly in Modules 1 and 2, the frameworks and templates are designed for immediate implementation in your current role. My goal is to help you elevate your strategic impact while giving you practical tools to use from day one. You'll make significant progress during our 4 weeks together, and then continue applying these approaches long after the course ends—which is why you'll have lifetime access to the materials.

For marketing leaders & brand operators

01

Marketing leaders (Director-level and up) at Series B–D+ companies responsible for brand strategy

02

Mid- to senior-level brand marketing ICs ready to find your path to leadership and up level your org's brand strategy

03

⚠️ This is not for you if you want Branding 101—we're going beyond the fundamentals and deep into daily operating rhythms

What you’ll get out of this course

25+ real-life templates for scaling a world-class brand (that you can use right away) 

You'll get total access to my paid and unreleased Notion templates, created from the actual documents I've used over 10+ years of operating brands at growing tech companies like Gusto, Brex, and Notion—plus my in-depth voiceover and context on how to get the most from them.

Create the buy-in & alignment you need to build a loved brand that drives growth

Use actionable brand measurement strategies at all stages of growth for insights you can actually use. Learn to proactively navigate conversations with senior leadership so they invest in brand, keeping it front and center throughout organizational shifts & planning cycles.

Build award-winning, recognizable brand campaigns that don't burn teams out

Analyze and level up your team's abilities in developing and executing global, brand-led growth campaigns that involve all key functions of marketing: PMM, social, content & community, and growth marketing—with or without agency support.

Confidently pilot critical moments, like rebrands

Practice tactics for leading through major disruptions and change, like rebrands, brand refreshes, reorgs, or roadmap/audience changes. You'll learn to how to evaluate when change is needed, how to build the case for it, and how to implement without losing momentum.

This course includes

2 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

46 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

14 projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Apr 21—Apr 27

    Course Introduction

    4 items • Free preview

    Brand Opportunities

    12 items • Free preview

Week 2

Apr 28—May 4

    Apr

    25

    Booking Link | 1:1 Consulting Session (1/2) | Brand for Growth-Stage Leaders

    Fri 4/253:00 PM—3:30 PM (UTC)

    Brand Alignment

    12 items • Free preview

    🔓 Bonus: Leading a Rebrand

    4 items

    🔓 Bonus: Brand Guidelines Library

    1 item

Week 3

May 5—May 11

    Brand Resourcing

    9 items • Free preview

    Brand Campaigns

    8 items • Free preview

    🔓 Bonus: Makeover Your Marketing Calendar

    1 item

    🔓 Bonus: Access My Tech Vendor Roster

    1 item

Week 4

May 12—May 16

    May

    9

    Booking Link | 1:1 Consulting Session (2/2) | Brand for Growth-Stage Leaders

    Fri 5/93:00 PM—3:30 PM (UTC)

    Brand Insights

    6 items • Free preview

    🔓 Bonus: Interview Questions for Brand Leaders

    1 item

Bonus

    🔓 Bonus: Resume Review

    1 item • Free preview

4.8 (25 ratings)

What students are saying

More from Kira's community

        I've fallen behind on the course because I've been busy implementing every bit of the Brand Opportunities module in real time with our executive team this week. It's so practical, and the resources have made it so much quicker and easier to get things moving.
Huntly Gordon

Huntly Gordon

Head of Brand at Yoto
        We’ve been thinking through a refresh, and this course covers everything I wish I’d known before we started the project. We were struggling with misalignment, leadership turnover, and the product team pushed back because they felt like marketing was moving too fast. I remember thinking, "If only I’d known all this a few months back."
Bethel Kidane

Bethel Kidane

Sr. PMM at Mozilla
        I work on an in-house Marketing team where Creative, Brand and more come together to perform in a competitive market. I've sent many teammates Kira's Substack articles and we share a collective understanding through the POV of her work.
Kelsey Ireland

Kelsey Ireland

Director of Creative & Marketing Operations at New Belgium Brewing
        Kira has proven to be an outstanding teacher, generously sharing her valuable insights with our cohort. Her templates and checklists on management and alignment will undoubtedly be instrumental, not only in crafting effective branding strategies but also in various aspects of my work. I look forward to applying these newfound skills and knowledge.
Tetiana Borysova

Tetiana Borysova

Content Marketing at Intellectsoft
        Maven courses are especially high quality and practical! I took Kira Klaas’ brand strategy class at the beginning of the year—and I’m still going back to log in and apply the learnings. 🫶
Siobhan Hayes

Siobhan Hayes

Director of Marketing at Float
        As Kira's former direct report, I can say that her brand strategy expertise and commitment to our team's growth were invaluable. Kira's mentorship was pivotal in shaping my career and fostering a culture of excellence.
Ryan Phillips

Ryan Phillips

Senior Manager at Sprout Social
        Kira’s openness in sharing her thought process with vulnerability at work set her apart from other live event presenters. She didn’t just give a summary of what happened, but included what worked and what didn’t, which made her presentation the most relatable and compelling.
Leigh R.

Leigh R.

Brand Marketing Lead, Reforge Student

Meet your instructor

Kira Klaas

Kira Klaas

VP, Corporate Marketing & Global Brand (Later, Notion, Brex, Gusto)

Kira has 10+ years of experience operating respected B2B & B2C tech brands and advising various early-stage startups.


She's the author of On Brand, a Substack newsletter read by over 3,000 brand operators.


Kira also partnered with Reforge to develop the 6-week Brand Marketing Program for early- to mid-career brand marketers.


Why this course:


"Leading brand orgs, teams, and project isn’t easy—most playbooks are out of date, don’t go deep enough, or don’t provide specific lived examples. Once I became a manager, I focused on taking what I’d learned over the years and turning it into scalable frameworks and playbooks that would help my team. Just like building a brand, nothing is ever "done"—it's an ever-changing landscape that we get to define together."

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Brand for Growth-Stage Leaders

Cohort 7

$1,497

Dates

Apr 21—May 16, 2025

Payment Deadline

Apr 21, 2025
Get reimbursed

Course schedule

4-6 hours per week

  • Self-paced lessons

    3-4 hours per week

    Each week features 1-2 modules plus bonus content. Each of the 5 modules includes a mix of projects, lessons (long-form and video), and 5+ Notion templates that you can use right away.

  • Practical projects

    1-2 hours per week

    Each module pairs with a handful of practical projects, worksheets, or reflections to help bring the course content to life. Every project is an opportunity for discussion and feedback from Kira.

  • Office hours

    Sign up biweekly

    Join Kira for two live, 1:1 consulting sessions to ask questions about the course or get real-time feedback or advice. Kira also responds to questions and provides feedback throughout the entire cohort.


    🕘 Biweekly between 8:30am–12:30pm PT

Free resource

Download my Strategy Frameworks Library | Notion Template ($27 off)

In this course, you'll find several of my paid frameworks. You can preview a few over at notion.so/@kira!


I love this strategy framework library in particular. When you need to communicate an idea, a strategy, or a goal, use one of these tried-and-true strategy and communications frameworks, easy to pop into any product launch doc, campaign brief, or other project where you need to get a point across. This template contains 9 pre-built strategy frameworks and examples for how to use them. I use these in conjunction with my Brand Campaign Framework.

Get the Notion Template

Learn from a real expert and peers

Learn from a real expert and peers

Hands-on, personalized learning

Take advantage of personal, one-on-one consulting with the course instructor to dive deep into specific challenges you're facing

Live feedback on projects

Get real-time feedback on any project you submit—projects are designed to be applied to your real work, right now

Learn with a cohort of peers

Meet a community of like-minded brand leaders who want to learn and grow alongside you

Course FAQs

Join Kira's list

Sign up to join Kira's newsletter & be the first to know about course updates.

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Brand for Growth-Stage Leaders

Cohort 7

$1,497

Dates

Apr 21—May 16, 2025

Payment Deadline

Apr 21, 2025
Get reimbursed

$1,497

4.8 (25)

·

4 Weeks