David Alston Doubles Size Of First Marketing Accelerator Cohort Due To Demand
SAINT JOHN – Marketswell Solutions launched its fall 2020 CMO (chief marketing officer) Accelerator program with a larger-than-planned cohort due to strong response.
Instead of the initial five members set to be chosen for the fall cohort, the program will begin with 10 members.
They represent nine of the fastest growing B2B startups in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as well as the New Brunswick Multicultural Council, the umbrella organization for settlement and immigration efforts in the province.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” said founder David Alston.
Alston said he received a lot of calls in the lead up to the start of the program from startups and organizations that are interested, though some were deemed not yet ready to take part in the program.
“What it came down to was, they’re in a stage where the product is ready and you’re either starting to think about how do you start positioning the product, market leadership, thought leadership, that kind of thing,” he said. “Or, it’s already being sold right now and they’re saying, ‘well, how do we scale it up?'”
Alston said he also picked companies whose leadership saw value in investing in marketing as a key pillar for success, and those that have a dedicated marketer in place who will be sitting at the executive table.
This cohort includes Introhive’s Dan Dowling, Naveco Power’s Sarah Arsenault, Smart Skin Technologies’ Scott VanWart, ProcedureFlow’s Amanda Verner, Potential Motors’ Noah Tompkins, Novonix’s Gordon McArthurs, Fundmetric’s Rachel Crosbie, Eigen Innovations’ Scott MacFadyen, Beauceron Security’s Kathryn Cameron and NBMC’s Alex LeBlanc.
The tech entrepreneur founded the company earlier this year with an aim to create more than 25 tech marketing leaders in Atlantic Canada, and perhaps beyond, over the next five years to fulfill a need in the startup ecosystem.
The company is primarily focused on B2B tech startups because that’s Alston’s expertise. But the accelerator aims to include a non-profit each year that’s connected to the growth of the economic, community or startup ecosystem.
“I think this will be a great addition every time because one of the things that non-profits don’t always get a chance to be surrounded by are more start-up oriented practices in terms of building awareness and strategy,” Alston said.
The NBMC’s work with immigration is particularly important because startups often either require newcomers for talent or are started by newcomers.
The one-year CMO Accelerator program consists of weekly one-on-one coaching sessions, focusing on the marketing priorities at hand, as well as on areas of growth for each member.
Participants will learn what to do, how they need to expand their strategic thinking and the kind of culture they need to build to attract successful teams that can take their organizations further.
Participants will also get in-depth, annual marketing planning exercise, as well as cohort group work, a Masterclass session, and a dedicated channel for monthly group chats to allow sharing.
Alston encourages organizations interested in programs like the CMO Accelerator to find funding from various existing programs, including the Labour Force Training program under the New Brunswick government’s Post-Secondary, Training and Labour department.
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