Ben Lang

How to find and join the next breakout startup

Notion

atSpoke

Formerly early team at Notion. Serial community builder and angel investor.

The story behind how I discovered Notion early and joined the company, without formally interviewing.

A case study: how I joined Notion

Tactics on how to find interesting companies before others and best practices on evaluating the right company for you.

Finding and evaluating breakout startups

Non traditional strategies you can use to get your foot in the door.

Creative ways to get in the door

Brand operators, especially in growth-stage companies, are expected to ship new work and creative at the same time as developing the brand's core strategy and thinking on a long-term, strategic level. That's an extremely difficult balance—especially when alignment from the top and across the org is not a given. The demands of your job mean coming up with winning creative, shipping brand campaigns, reporting on your results, and sourcing insights—all the while building a differentiated, consistent brand that can scale with the needs of the business... needs that are changing all the time. Building and growing respected tech brands—especially through the most challenging, chaotic growth phases—is what I do best. I was Brex's #1 marketing hire and led Brex's successful rebrand. Most recently, I built out the global brand &amp; integrated marketing team at Notion. I've coached hundreds of operators over my career, helping brands grow from $1B →&nbsp;$10B+ valuations and scaling from under 50 employees to over 1,000. This cohort-based program is extremely tactical. It's built around real-life templates, pulled from my own experience, that you can use right away to: 1) Drive alignment and alliance across your entire org, through the brand 2) Revamp your internal processes around messaging, resourcing, launches and campaigns and 3) Practically apply the hard-won methods of fast-growing, beloved tech brands, helping you apply an executive mindset and elevate your position as a leader over just a few weeks. — Course material includes: Self-paced course content, live 1:1 consulting/office hours, project critique and feedback from Kira, an always-on Q&amp;A channel, and 25+ Notion templates &amp; resources—for you to use and take with you long after the cohort is complete. You will have lifetime access to all course materials.

Transform your brand org into one that leads, not follows

Working in a dynamic landscape means constantly shifting priorities and an ever-evolving landscape. We'll orient ourselves in what success means—and how that changes over time. Overview:<ul><li>Define success: The pillars to scaling a brand</li><li>Identify critical brand opportunities in context of the business</li><li>Accessing Notion templates &amp; resources</li></ul>

Pre-work: Brand Strategy Milestones

Are you working on the right thing? Figure out your brand's biggest opportunities by diving into a case study from Brex on building foundational alignment. Notion Templates:<ul><li>Taste-Making Exercises</li><li>Brand Discussion Guide</li><li>Corporate Strategy Summary</li></ul>

Week 1: How to Find the Gaps

You've heard that consistency builds a brand. What builds consistency?Alignment—everyone needs to be on the same page about what you're building. We'll continue the Brex case study that led to their successful rebrand. Notion Templates:<ul><li>2x2 Grid: Brand Differentiation</li><li>Competitive Positioning Framework</li><li>Brand Foundations Framework</li></ul>

Week 1: How to Close the Gaps

The best ideas in the world don't matter without buy-in—or $ investment—from your leadership, your peers, or your team. This is how you get that buy-in. Notion Templates:<ul><li>Persuasive Brand Budget Requests</li><li>Brand Budgeting Spreadsheet</li><li>Pre-Mortem Brainstorms</li></ul>

Week 2: How to Get Buy-In

Build a multi-year marketing or campaign calendar that keeps all GTM teams aligned and informed on what you're putting out in front of customers. ﻿Notion Template:<ul><li>The Ultimate Marketing/Campaign/Launch Calendar</li></ul>

🔓 Bonus: Your marketing calendar needs a makeover

Craft brand-led, industry-leading campaigns that leverage the entire GTM function, with Notion as a case study. Notion Templates:<ul><li>Crafting an Effective Campaign Playbook</li><li>Define Internal SLAs for Cross-Functional Alignment</li><li>The Ultimate Campaign Brief (International, Multi-Channel)</li><li>Strategy Framework Library</li></ul>

Week 2: How to Build Winning Brand Campaigns

There are a thousand ways to measure a brand's impact, not all of them useful or practical. This module emphasizes strategies to glean actionable insights about your brand that help quantify its impact and inform future investments. Notion Templates:<ul><li>Social Proof Survey</li><li>Brand Health Survey Questions</li><li>Sourcing Brand Insights</li></ul>

Week 2: Actionable Brand Insights

Rebrands are often the culmination of all the skills referenced in the syllabus above. This bonus content, based on Brex's successful rebrand, covers tactical resources for maintaining alignment all the way through launch and beyond. Notion Templates:<ul><li>The Ultimate Rebrand Tracker</li><li>Internal FAQ for Rebranding</li></ul>

🔓 Bonus: Leading a Rebrand

My personal tech vendor roster is my rolodex—essentially my shortlist—of agencies and partners I've worked with or been in talks with over the course of my career, giving you an easy resource when you're ready to get work out the door! Even better, it's a Notion template. 😊

🔓 Bonus: Access my tech vendor roster

Course syllabus

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

Self-paced lessons

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.

Practical projects

Join Kira for two live, 1:1 consulting sessions to ask questions about the course or get real-time feedback or advice. Kira will also respond to questions and provide feedback throughout the cohort async. 🕘 Tuesdays, between 9am-12pm PT / 12pm-3pm ET

Office hours

Course schedule

VPs &amp; Heads of Marketing at growth-stage&nbsp;startups&nbsp;developing your brand strategy and growth levers alongside founders &amp; C-suite

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

Experienced marketing leaders&nbsp;seeking to refresh and deepen your tactical approach to modern brand strategy and campaigns

Senior leaders who are experts in other areas&nbsp;of marketing, like PMM or Growth, and want to get stronger in Brand

⚠️ This is not a Branding 101 course—we're going beyond the fundamentals and deep into daily operating rhythms (read on for 101 resources)

For Early & Growth-Stage Brand Leaders

What you’ll get out of this course

You'll get total access to my paid and unreleased <a href="https://www.notion.so/@kira" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Notion templates</a>, created from the frameworks I've developed 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.

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

Apply actionable brand measurement strategies at all stages of growth, yielding insights you can actually use. Proactively navigate conversations with senior leadership so they invest in brand, keeping the brand front and center throughout organizational shifts &amp; planning cycles.

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

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 &amp; community, and growth marketing—with or without agency support.

Build award-winning, recognizable brand campaigns that also boost morale—not burn teams out

Practice tactical approaches to leading through major moments of change, especially rebrands—that you can also apply in strategic pivots, brand refreshes, reorgs, or roadmap/audience changes. Change management is just one of the critical skills we'll practice.

Confidence in surviving—and piloting—critical moments, like rebrands

Take the growth-focused approach to Brand Leadership—with 25+ templates for getting buy-in, building campaigns, & proving your brand's value

Kira Klaas

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

Cohort 5

Cohort 6

Most people think that corporate partnerships are about selling and pitching, it’s really about listening, planning, and collaborating. Position your startup to work with corporates and win that first pilot, proof-of-concept, or deal.

Stop pitching and start listening

<ul><li>Knowing who is the customer is not always as easy as it seems and picking the right markets to focus on is life or death for your startup.</li></ul>

What markets do you want to reach?

<ul><li>You'll be able to identify key decision makers in your target customer and tailor your message to speak directly to them. </li><li>﻿You'll practice finding and listening for keywords that point to their biggest pain points which keep them up at night.</li></ul>

How do you map stakeholders?

<ul><li>See what it takes to get people over the hump and try before they buy. </li><li>Find ways for you to introduce new concepts and behaviors into a big company culture.</li></ul>

De-risking your solution

<ul><li>Demonstrate the case studies or proof points you need to keep growing and eventually scale!</li></ul>

Get the social proof to scale

Let's plan to test, learn, and iterate right away in your business.

Weekly projects

Course Schedule

Founders and CEOsYou want to be more strategic in your approach when identifying the best markets and industries.

Business DevelopersYou want to find the right decision makers and establish traction by partnering with big companies.

Marketers and Product ManagersYou want to make progress even if you don't have product-market fit. We'll focus on how to get going.

Who is this course for

Key outcomes

Be more strategic when it comes to market size and sectors, find the best industries and decision makers who need their products, then understand how these prospects think.&nbsp;

Get the right strategic footing

Conduct world class customer development. Everyone's got problems in big companies. So are you good at identifying them? That's the secret to great customer development that makes your product better and creates new channels for your business.

Solve Valuable Problems for your Future Customers

How do you ask people to take a bet on you? I'll share the importance of building a pilot program. Together, we'll go create one. You will de-risk your startup's product/service for decision-makers so they will advocate for you.

De-Risk your Solution for Decision Makers

You'll need social proof to succeed. Turns that first win into a compelling case study for others to follow

Develop Results that Produce Momentum

Discover the secrets to influencing decision-makers and designing a pilot program that gets a YES. (Now in a one-day workshop).

Vijay Rajendran

20+ years of investing in and supporting entrepreneurs on their journeys

Cohort 7

Cohort 8

If you have &lt;3 years work experience, unlocking how to create value for your Manager/Team is a force multiplier. If you are able to take what you learn from this course and get a promotion (let's say, a $7,500 raise), then the cost of the course ($750) then that's a 10X ROI. My goal is to help you reach your career goals, faster. - Sometimes, that's in finding you a new project.- Sometimes, that's in how you position your asks. - Sometimes, that's in how you find ways to provide value to your team that is unique to you. Doing all of this will result in you being better at your job. And when you get better at your job, you get harder problems to solve. And those harder problems tend to get you promoted. ___ You're a high achiever who's used to success and you landed your dream job, right out of college. But since starting your corporate job, things have been off. Your hard work isn't paying off, and you're not getting the opportunities you deserve. It's frustrating and you're starting to doubt yourself, wondering "where did I go wrong, where did I go off track?" Boy, have I heard that before. You don't know what you don't know, and if this is your first job or you have &lt;3 years of work experience, you're facing topics that school never prepared you for. Such as: → Being "manageable"→ Staying top of mind for your busy Manager→ How to take negative feedback (constantly)→ Picking the right projects with outsized impact→ How to ask for a promotion→ Not knowing where to start HAVE YOU EVER... → Been a top performer in school, only to struggle when you entered the corporate world? → Felt stuck because you're working hard but you're not getting the accolades you deserve? → Seen co-workers (less talented than you) get selected for projects that match your skill set? → Prepared hours for a presentation to senior leadership, only for them to zone out? → Struggled with talking about your work in a way that minimizes the ick? → Thought you were aligned with your Manager, only turns out you were both on different pages? → Thought something was wrong with you and wondered if you're cut out for the corporate world? NEWSFLASH: THE CORPORATE JOB IS A GAME. And this course will help you learn the rules so you can play the game to win the game. Look, I've been there and done that. I graduated from an Ivy League school, got an internship and a full-time job at one of the best companies to work for... and thought I was going to be on the CEO path by the age of 25. Boy, was I wrong. When I entered the corporate world, I stumbled. I couldn't figure out why people who were putting in half the amount of effort I was were getting more visibility, better projects, and faster promotions. And then I started studying the people who were successful and jotting down what they did. And once I started executing that plan, I started to be successful. AND I'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO DO THE SAME. In this course, I will share everything that I have learned (as well as from others) during my 12+ years in Big Tech, including my approach for handling ambiguity at work, making the work shine, and becoming a go-to expert for your team.

More recognition, more impact, learning the new path to corporate success

Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

If your events are recurring and at the same time, it might be easiest to use a single line item to communicate your course schedule to students

Tuesdays & Thursdays

Feel free to type out dates as your title as a way to communicate information about specific live sessions or other events.

May 7, 2022

Schedule items can also be used to convey commitments outside of specific time slots (like weekly projects or daily office hours).

You're working hard but being passed for opportunities Your work doesn't feel valued or recognized. You feel stalled and need a boost

You're new to working and want to start your career with confidence You know your first job sets the stage for future career success

You're a top performer (and want to stay one) You want the tribal knowledge to accelerate faster in your career

This course is for you if:

Differentiate yourself from your peers by learning the corporate game playbook that you didn't learn in school. This gives you the edge from day 1.

Get the edge in the corporate job so you can succeed and accelerate faster

You'll learn how to speak to your Manager, build trust, and how to handle feedback so you can make them your #1 advocate who supports your career goals.

Make your Manager your #1 advocate by helping them reach their goals (so you can reach your goals)

Discover what it takes to be a good teammate, the types of co-workers you want on your side, and how to leverage them to help you excel in your role.

Turn your co-workers into your work allies who can provide valuable support and advocacy for you

Adopt the behaviors of busy Execs so you can elevate your brand and go from "beginner" to "high performer"

Learn to write emails, lead meetings, prioritize your time, and be more effective on the job

Learn how the most important word in the corporate job is "Impact" and how to showcase the value you're bringing (without feeling like you're the teacher's pet)

Increase your impact, visibility, and overall value you provide to the team

Adapt to the NEW corporate landscape. Elevate your career. Be the person people seek out. Become Top Talent. And future-proof your role. 

Sally Ivester

Cohort 1 - Frustrated Employee's Playbook to Corporate Success   

Dec 2024 Cohort 

If you’re a founder with institutional backing, you’re probably doing a lot right. But if you’re a technical founder, you might be in unfamiliar territory. Building the product is one thing, but now you need to sell and market it—or hire and manage those who do. In short, you need to nail go-to-market (GTM). To succeed, founders need to figure out GTM early because everything hinges on it. Not only does more revenue mean more cash and less dilution, it also means better metrics and higher valuations–for each round, and for your exit. It’s hard to trust or invest in what you don’t understand. Many technical founders learn GTM on the job, leading to critical mistakes. This course aims to prevent that by tactical and practical knowledge–learned and practiced in a group setting with your peers. WHAT TO EXPECT This course combines live lessons, interaction, peer activities, and in depth discussion. You'll receive 9 hours of live instruction over 2 weeks, plus have 4 hours of unstructured, live time with the instructor for your own specific questions. All of it will be recorded and available after the course is over. You'll participate in fun, small group or 1:1 activities, such as practicing negotiating a contract, pitching a sale, or asking questions of a prospect. Every major skill taught in the class will be practiced at least once. You will leave knowing:• How to find prospects, nurture them through the sales process and close sales• How to transition from founder-led to professional sales and marketing• How to hire and manage sales and marketing teams• What terms are typical for sales of various sizes, from self-serve to enterprise, and how to negotiate them• How to find and manage lawyers• How to break GTM challenges into smaller, sprint-sized&nbsp;experiments• What metrics to follow to keep your team on track• How to conceptualize and build a financial model for your GTM efforts• How to communicate with investors, advisors and your board• How and where to leverage outsiders to drive your GTM processes forward (agencies, advisors, partners, lawyers, etc.) COURSE CONTENT• The customer-centric approach to marketing and sales• How to understand your customer's journey and reach them where they are• How to drive top-of-funnel leads and nurture them to be ready to convert or engage with sales• How to create awareness and build a brand• How to nurture relationships with potential acquirers early in your company's journey–without being distracted or giving away the secret sauce• How to run effective campaigns in cold outbound email, social, and other tactics• How to structure partnerships for success• How to structure your customer agreements to increase your chances of closing, retention and growth while reducing sales cycle• How to price at every stage of growth to drive higher close rates and better net revenue retention (NRR) The course also includes:• The top-of-mind questions you&nbsp;and your peers have on GTM• Specific tactics, scripts and questions you can ask to uncover willingness to pay and pains your customers have• Things you can do right now to drive additional leads–without sending a single cold email• Detailed how-tos on things like the Customer Advisory Board hack and other strategies employed by veteran founders• Hands on&nbsp;exercises reviewed by your instructor• Detailed metrics on key channels so that you know if what you're doing is working• Pitfalls and risks to be aware of so that you're never caught in a rut• Optional homework or projects to help retain learnings–that are also useful in your business. If you follow my writing, listen to my podcast, or have been through my sessions at the Alchemist Accelerator, you'll find this course draws on all of it so that you can internalize it and put it to practice. Founders don't have to do everything themselves. You'll learn what you need to DIY everything GTM, but you'll also have the&nbsp;confidence to hire and manage others in various GTM roles. WHO WILL BENEFIT MOST FROM THIS COURSE While the course is open to all, the people who will get the most out of it:• Are founders of technology companies, especially those launching novel products such as deep tech or AI companies• Have a background in product, engineering, design, etc.• Have raised institutional capital (Series Seed or later)• Are at a company with a product either in development or already in market WHO THIS COURSE IS NOT FOR • Junior sales people or people trying to get into sales for the first time. The material is focused on management and board-level issues as much as it is on being good at sales; there are better courses for you if you're learning basic tech sales skills.• People who think their product is perfect and have all their GTM problems figured out. Participants will benefit the most if everyone comes with a beginners' mindset and a curious approach. Nobody knows all the GTM answers (not even your instructor).• People looking for the GTM magic bullet that will solve all of their sales or marketing problems. Sorry, no magic bullets here. But you will learn tactics, approaches, and strategies that might help you solve your problem without a magic bullet.• People looking for a 1:1 coach or advisor, though there will be Q&amp;A sessions, and you will definitely get to know your instructor and peers.

Get GTM right early to create the best outcome with the least stress

Three live, interactive courses per week covering all things GTM.

Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays

Optional office hours, two days a week including a time Tuesday that works for many global timezones.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Take home projects for your business enable you to apply learning and get live feedback in class and at office hours.

Founders who come from a technical background–engineering, product, finance

First time CEOs and anyone who is in charge of bringing something new to market for the first time

Leaders of companies with a new or novel product that hasn't been sold before, such as deep tech or artificial intelligence

Founders hiring or managing GTM individual contributors for Series Seed and later companies

Understand how to tell quickly the future customers from the time wasters. Build a customer-centric funnel that drives the right customers to your product or sales teams.

Identify and target your ideal customers and customer personas

Become more than proficient at the key channels most startups use to get their first 10-100 customers–from board intros to cold email, paid advertising, social, events and more. Model how you can scale this into your next milestone–whether breakeven, funding round or acquisition.

Implement and test different GTM channels to fill your funnel with quality leads

Details are what lead to more customer conversions. You'll know what details matter and you'll even fill in many of them during the course–like high-performing&nbsp;sales decks, landing pages, or funnels.

Build a killer sales deck, landing page or funnel to convert prospects

With a superior understanding of GTM you'll be better positioned to hire and manage a team. Whether you already have a team, and want more confidence and gravitas, or are still doing founder-led selling, you'll leave armed with a hiring plan, dashboards, and interviewing tips.

Build your GTM team and know how to lead them with confidence and authority, from a place of knowledge

Know the right type of agreement for your goals, so you can create fast, low friction sales cycles–or go toe-to-toe with enterprise procurement and legal teams to maximize the value of each deal.

Structure and negotiate sales agreements that close quickly and drive real revenue

Learn how to build partnerships that support your strategy rather than distract from it. Know how to identify and court potential future acquirers–without ever looking desperate.

Build partnerships that create real value  and possibly lead to M&A

Effectively plan your company's GTM strategy and oversee its execution with confidence and without doubt

Lightning Lessons

How to find and join the next breakout startup