The starting point for LaunchMappers was my decision to leave my previous job. If you’ve changed jobs in the past, you were probably asking yourself the same questions: what drives me, and what am I good at?
Suppose you’re in this situation at the moment. In that case, I strongly encourage you to try and answer these questions knowing that, obviously, the answers might change as you evolve as a person, and you will continuously discover new drives.
Back then, I was curious about consulting (I applied for positions in south-east Asia and got rejected by all Big 4 companies when I finished university). Thanks to my previous experience growing a startup and helping startup customers, I knew how to bring companies to market. I also knew early-stage founders could benefit from my services.
I was lucky enough to meet someone as the idea flourished in my mind. In just a few weeks, that person became my first customer. I’m extremely grateful to him because he gave me this first opportunity; from then, it was pretty straightforward. If I had done it once, I could do it again.
Tell me about the business - what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on?
Launch Mappers maps and implements growth strategies for ambitious startups who want to invest in their growth as a way to generate profits.
We always structure very defined objectives when onboarding a new client. Most of the time, it’s focused on increasing the number of leads and conversion rates from lead to customer. But we are always making sure that the companies who work with us make more money thanks to the strategies we’re developing.
I believe that our startup scene has greatly changed from the 2010s. Most founders I work with are not interested in growth at all costs. Instead, we tend to share the same vision that marketing/growth is a source of profits for the business, and that’s the direction we’re always taking in our work.
How has the business evolved since its launch? When was this?
We have evolved a lot as an organisation, and I’m sure there will be more changes in the future.
Initially, my team was made exclusively of self-employed. The reasoning was that I acted as a generalist and strategist for my clients and was working with some of the best subject-matter experts to tackle a specific suite of projects (PPC, SEO, Data Analytics…).
I do my best to ensure that the freelancers we work with understand they’re not just a supplier but part of a team. In that sense, the more I worked with them, the more I understood that they needed operational resources.
That’s why I started to build a full-time team in parallel, to support the existing freelance team and, ultimately, our clients. The first key hire was a copywriter, then a designer and lately, a more generalist growth marketer.
Tell us about the working culture at Launch Mappers?
I believe anyone working with us shouldn’t compromise on their personal aspirations. We work as an entirely remote team. In fact, most of my team tends to change countries at least once a quarter, if not more!
On top of that, every team member is KPIed against their learning progress, and it’s part of our DNA and the job that we do to keep learning new things.
What matters is that the work we’re being contracted to deliver is delivered and on time. Outside of that, everyone is entirely free to work in the way they prefer, and I will always support my team in achieving that.
How are you funded?
I used my personal savings to invest in my business in the early days. However, we became profitable quickly enough, and I never looked back from there. The strategy is and has always been to be a profitable and conscious business. I didn’t want to raise external capital.
How does Launch Mappers answer an unmet need?
As an early-stage entrepreneur, you need to demonstrate traction. To get traction, you need talent. But to hire great talent, you need money.
On top of that, assuming you’re able to hire an 80K per year CMO early on, that person has their expertise. Still, you cannot expect them to excel at everything; they will always need support.
In our case, we can cover a lot of ground with our capabilities, but when we do deliver on something, it’s because we have the right expert for that task.
That’s why I’m convinced we are the best choice for startups who want to achieve their next commercial objective.
What’s in store for the future?
I want the business to keep growing at a controlled pace. I want our entire workforce, full-time employees and freelancers, to find meaning in what they do while experiencing the ideal work-life balance.
In that regard, it will include launching new products that can be sold with little to zero people intervention.
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
Work on solving something that actually disturbs you or that you are passionate about. It will be like Confucious said long ago: you’ll never have to work again.
And finally, a more personal question! What’s your daily routine and the rules you’re living by at the moment?
I try to break my routines as much as I can; that’s pretty much my current rule. I’m the wrong person to ask this question!
David Odier is the founder ofLaunchMappers.
