Consider influencer marketing before you hire a marketing professional who doesn't know your products.The phrase may conjure up images of famous people selling hard seltzer. But think again. An influencer can be just as humble as a Reddit user who manages your Telegram account.Jonathan Martinez, Uber's growth marketing manager Jonathan Martinez said:There is no need to look for influencers who have millions of followers. For testing purposes, you can look to microinfluencers, who will be cost-efficient and have the ability to sponsor a wide range of people.He says that if your startup has a strong brand, a compelling offer, and clear next steps, you are ready to reach out for influencers.Martinez shares his tips on how to create offers that maximize conversions and keep representatives motivated to promote your products.Members can only access the full Extra Crunch products.Get 20% off your one-year or two-year subscription by using the discount code ECFridayWe published this interview with Julian Shapiro (founder and angel investor) about growth. He also advises startups about how to present themselves.Shapiro says marketing is data-driven but storytelling is art.You need to connect with customers on an emotional level. This requires a combination of goodwill, what we stand for ideology, social prestige, customer delight, and other affinity-building ingredients.Thank you for reading Extra Crunch this Week!Walter ThompsonSenior Editor, TechCrunch@yourprotagonistEverybody wants to finance the next CoinbaseAlex Wilhelm reports in The Exchange that investors have poured millions of dollars into Coinbases global competitor to celebrate today's earnings report.He rolled up his sleeves and dug into the numbers from Coinbase, FalconX, and FTX to provide some insight on the state cryptocurrency exchanges.How to structure and hire a growth teamCompanies with annual revenues between $5 million and $10 million are more likely than others to form growth teams. This is a smart investment for any startup who has achieved product-market fit.It can also be disruptive. Early product and marketing managers might feel marginalized by cross-functional teams who suddenly assume a leadership role.Sam Richard, Senior Director of Growth at OpenView, explains how to create a growth team, the key players, and how to seamlessly integrate them into the organization. He also shares some helpful experiments that you can run.Richard warns that you shouldn't expect one hire to solve your growth needs.An excellent hire will be able to think up new ideas but they will need support from others to make them real.The CEO of Indiegogos discusses how crowdfunding helped to navigate the pandemicAndy Yang, Indiegogo CEO, spoke with Brian Heater about the impact of the pandemic on the crowdfunding platform, how the new CEO had to adapt, the challenges faced in his role, and how Indiegogo reached profitability.You joined a company that wasn't financially sound.We were not profitable. We weren't profitable when I joined.The future of crowdfunding: Kickstarter's CEOKickstarter announced last week that more than 200,000 people had pledged $6 billion to support its projects since it was founded in 2009. Kickstarter has crossed the $5 billion mark in just 15 months.Brian Heater talked to Aziz Hasan (CEO), about the last year's large layoffs, long-term effects of crowdfunding pandemics and how he is working to make his company more resilient.For us, the most important thing is to understand how we operate the business. We need to be able to feel secure that our team will have stability and that they have the resilience to succeed.Your pitch deck should be centered around the one thing that will really grab an investorWe often publish articles that offer advice to founders working on pitch decks. This is a crucial step in any startup's journey. There are many ways to approach it.Michelle Davey, telehealth services company Wheel, and Jordan Nof from Tusk Venture Partners recently appeared on Extra Crunch Live to discuss Wheels Series A pitch.Nof stated that entrepreneurs need to be honest with potential investors about what they believe in order to get funding for their startup.He said that it takes out a lot of guesswork from the equation for investors and reorients them so they can focus on the right problem set.This is your chance to influence their beliefs in order to obtain an investment. If you don't do this, we might be very off base.Online retailers: Amazon is not the only one to beatAlthough it might seem futile to compete against Amazon, smaller players can still benefit from value adds that help them maintain a loyal customer base. Kenny Small, vice-president SAP and Enterprise at Qualitest Group, said:He writes that Amazons real selling point is its distribution network. This is why online retailers won't be able compete with Amazon's fast distribution network.Instead, it is important to concentrate on the areas that they excel in without needing to become a third party seller on Amazons platform.China continues to crackdown on tech companiesIn recent weeks, the Chinese Communist Party has been focusing on fintech and edtech. Chat apps and gaming are also targets.Beijing brought a civil lawsuit against Tencent for allegedly violating laws protecting minors. State media also criticized the gaming industry for being the digital equivalent to giving drugs to children, Alex Wilhelm writes in The Exchange.He wrote that the news seems to suggest that we should be expecting more of the same from the Chinese government in the coming months: More complaints about excessive capital in its sectors, more tumbling share price and more held IPOs.Five ways AI can mitigate the global shipping crisesShipping delays and disruptions can be a significant roadblock for customer happiness in an ever-on-demand world.Ahmer Inam is chief artificial intelligence officer at Pactera EDGE. He offers five strategies to use AI to help startups understand supply chain disruptions, and plan for a Plan B.Although AI will not protect retailers, startups, and manufacturers from future disruptions, it can help them to anticipate, plan, redirect, and respond more effectively.
