Firebrand is five. It has been our best year. We grew fast, driven by the increase in startup funding. We’ve been in the right place at an extraordinary time.
Big deals
The unprecedented level of funding has defined this year. We’ve announced 18 deals, many of our clients have had two rounds, one has had three in nine months. It’s great to be part of that. Comms around funding are high stakes with high expectations, multiple parties involved, and far too much competition. These are the frontlines of startup PR at the moment.
After the funding, the real fun starts since there are revenue milestones to hit. To get there, you need brand awareness (increasingly for recruitment as much as customer preference), and you need demand gen. So we’ve seen our programs quickly escalate as that funding gets put to work. That’s been a good model for us whether launching companies from stealth or taking them through Series C and D. We had our first unicorn this year too (congrats Human Interest), and another acquisition as Nexient joined NTT Data.
More Firebrands
We brought on some great talent this year, both in PR and digital marketing. I’m also proud of the fact that we had no staff churn – in fact, none for 18 months. So that says something about the camaraderie and work we do. It also says a lot about them, just an amazing group of people.
Thanks to the village
We spent the first half of this year hitting growing pains. The most obvious of those was the website which had a complete overhaul thanks to our friends at Brand Navigation. It’s a joy to work with people who think visually with a modern aesthetic. We also hit step-changes in functions like IT and recruitment where we now have stellar partners. Quick shout out to Stride, our accounting partners from day one, who continue to support us. Of course, thanks to our clients for their support, keeping us sane and adding some crazy at times too.
Amid all this year has wrought, we’re grateful to celebrate our fifth birthday. That’s partly down to judgment and hard work like everyone else, but also a decent slice of luck. So thank you.
About the Author
Morgan McLintic is the founder and CEO of startup marketing agency,Firebrand. Firebrand works with early- and late-stage startups to help raise awareness and drive demand. It does this through integrated programs involving PR, content marketing and digital marketing. The firm was recently recognized as the Boutique Agency of the Year by the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) and awarded Gold Winner of theB2B PR Campaign of the Year by The Drum. Firebrand works with startups in sectors spanning fintech, cybersecurity, AI/ML and infrastructure such as Emburse, Human Interest, Planful, Weaviate and Yubico.
Prior to Firebrand, Morgan was the founder in the US of LEWIS, a global communications firm, which grew to $35m in revenues and 200+ staff in the US, and $75m with 600 staff globally. He has over 30 years' tech experience, both consumer and B2B. At LEWIS, Morgan lead the acquisition of three companies - Page One which was integrated and rebranded as LEWIS Pulse; the Davies Murphy Group, a 65-person PR and marketing consultancy; and Piston, a 50-person full-service digital advertising agency.
Morgan has been a speaker at events for AlwaysOn, Holmes Report, MIT / Stanford VLABs, OnHollywood, PR News, PRSA, Social Media Club, Social Media World Forum, Venture Capital and Private Equity Group, and WITI. PRWEEK named him to its Global PR Powerbook in 2015 and 2016.
Morgan is the host of weekly startup marketing podcast, FiredUp!
