Place’s Network-First Marketing: How They Built a 50-Customer Base Without Traditional Marketing

While most startups rush to build their marketing teams, Place took a different approach. Before hiring their first head of marketing, they built a 50-customer base through strategic networking and word-of-mouth growth.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, founder Snorre Jordheim Myhre revealed how they turned research relationships into a sustainable growth engine, challenging conventional wisdom about early-stage marketing.

Starting with Research

Place’s network-first approach began with their initial customer research. “Within a month or so, we interviewed almost 50 different companies, everything from Starbucks in our way to the small restaurants just on the corner, mom pop shops and so on,” Snorre explains. These interviews laid the foundation for their network.

Leveraging Institutional Networks

Being part of Antler’s startup program provided crucial early connections. As Snorre notes, “We leverage the network of Anthra. And Anthra was started by a bunch of ex machines, our business school people. So they had a really good network here, both in Norway and internationally.”

However, the network alone wasn’t enough. The key was having something compelling to offer. “Because what we suggested was so interested for many of them, they accepted meeting us,” Snorre shares.

The Word-of-Mouth Engine

Place’s marketing approach remained deliberately minimal. “It’s been pretty network based, so we get some press and attention. In Norway, we’ve got about 50 paying customers and it’s more word of mouth based use LinkedIn, and we don’t do much on search engine optimization,” Snorre explains.

This strategy proved remarkably effective. Their first major enterprise client came through their early research network, and as Snorre notes, “One of the customers, I mean, that came in during that first initial interview phase, I mean, they’re still our biggest customer. And it’s a mall company, mall operator, 40 plus shopping malls around Norway, and now almost the whole organization are they using our tool.”

The Transition to Formal Marketing

Only after building this substantial customer base did Place decide to formalize their marketing efforts. “We just hired our first head of marketing,” Snorre shares. This delayed hiring wasn’t due to oversight but strategy. As he explains, “I think now we’re going to improve drastically and start turning this more into a product led marketing effort, where we try to pull as many potential users as possible into testing and using the product.”

Results of the Network-First Approach

The effectiveness of this approach is reflected in their growth numbers. Place tripled their annual recurring revenue from $150,000 to $450,000 last year, all before having a formal marketing function.

For B2B founders, Place’s experience offers several key insights:

1. Early customer research can build your initial network
2. Strong institutional partnerships can provide crucial early introductions
3. A compelling product can make network-based growth more effective
4. Traditional marketing can wait if word-of-mouth is working

Their story challenges the common startup assumption that you need to build out marketing immediately. Instead, it suggests that focusing on building strong networks and delivering value can create organic growth that sets the stage for more formal marketing efforts later.

Place’s approach shows that sometimes the best marketing strategy isn’t about content calendars or SEO – it’s about building and nurturing relationships that create natural evangelists for your product.