Garrett Jestice

Community Founder | Startup GTM Advisor | Former CMO | BBQ Judge | Dad x4

Most founders hit a wall around $1M in annual revenue. Growth slows, sales feel random, and marketing turns into a guessing game.

I help B2B startups and agencies build a repeatable go-to-market system that attracts the right customers, shortens sales cycles, and replaces random acts of revenue with consistent results.

My process focuses on four GTM foundations:

1. Audience: Who you’re built to serve
2. Offers: What you package and sell
3. Messaging: How you tell your story
4. Channels: Where you consistently reach buyers

When these four pieces are clear and connected, growth compounds instead of stalling.

That’s the focus of my GTM Advisory work at Prelude Marketing. It’s an ongoing partnership to clarify your strategy, refine your positioning, and align sales and marketing around one system that works.

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I also run 10x Solo, a private community for full-time consultants, fractionals, advisors, and micro-agency owners who want to scale income without growing a big team. Inside, we participate in peer pods, growth challenges, and systems that make independent businesses simpler and stronger.

If you’re building your own solo business and want clarity, accountability, and a network of peers doing the same, 10x Solo is where that happens.

My background:
• Built Lucidpress from launch to acquisition, where I led the marketing team (2015–2021)
• Tripled revenue at Eddy as CMO, launched an award-winning community, and was named Utah Business Marketer of the Year. (2021–2023)
• Now helping founders and solos build consistent, scalable growth on their own terms

Connect:
👉 Learn about GTM Advisory → PreludeMarketing.com
👉 Apply to join 10x Solo → 10xSolo.com

GTM Advisor / Fractional CMO

Startup Marketers is a free, Slack community for startup marketing leaders, freelancers, and fractionals. If that sounds like you, join us to connect with others and share ideas, feedback, and resources to help us all get better.

Join us here: https://bit.ly/StartupMarketers

If restaurants were like B2B SaaS, we would be in big trouble…

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You walk into a restaurant and ask to look at the menu.

The host replies, “I'm sorry. We can’t show you the menu yet. We need to confirm your dining intent score.”

A Menu Qualification Rep appears with a clipboard.

They ask for your annual dining budget, your cuisine ICP, your urgency level, and whether you’re the real decision-maker or if it’s actually your wife.
(Of course it’s her.)

After a 15-minute interrogation, they say, “Great news. You’re now an SQD. (Sales Qualified Diner.) A waiter will call you in 3 to 5 business days.”

Four days later, someone calls.
You tell them you’re hungry.

The waiter asks if they can “walk you through a short, 45-minute curated menu experience” and show you only the dishes they think you’ll care about.

Would you eat here?
Me neither.

But this is exactly what buying software feels like when companies hide their product behind calls, forms, and slow follow-up.

Interactive demos exist so buyers can see the food before they ever enter the funnel.

But most teams avoid them because they assume they’re too painful to build.

That’s why Guideflow caught my attention when Gab Bujold told me about it.

It's ranked the number one easiest demo automation platform on G2, and after trying it myself, I can see why. 

You can turn your product into a guided, clickable demo in minutes. (Seriously, so fast and easy.)

Quit selling your software like it’s 2010.
If buyers can’t understand what you do in 30 seconds, they won’t stick around.

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Now the fun part:

What would you name this fictional restaurant?
Trust Us Tavern? Soc2 Sushi? Funnel & Fork?

Funniest name wins 1,000 points. Go. 👇


#sponsored

I’m grateful this Thanksgiving for something I never want to take for granted.

I get to work from home while my kids are still young.

There’s a basket on the shelf in my office filled with notes they’ve pushed under the door while I was on calls.

There’s a sticky note on my monitor that says “I ❤️ U dad!” from my daughter.

There’s usually a drawing on the whiteboard on my wall from whoever wandered in last.

None of it shows up in a dashboard, but it’s the part of self-employment I value most.

It beats every office perk I’ve ever had. Even the good ones. (Talking to you, Free Pizza Fridays. 😉 🍕 )

I know a lot of people don’t get this setup. 

I’m grateful I do, especially right now, in this stretch of life where my kids still think it’s fun to interrupt me.

What’s something about your work you’re thankful for this year?

Every solo or fractional I know runs into the same two growth problems.

First: How do I get enough leads to replace my old salary? That’s the survival stage.

Then the next one shows up: How do I grow without trading time for money?

I wanted to see how common that really is.
So I ran a short survey for solos, fractionals, and consultants recently.

Here’s what stood out.
→ 68% said generating consistent leads was their biggest challenge.
→ 58% said growing revenue without trading time for money.
→ 32% said delivering work more efficiently.
→ 26% said deciding the long-term direction.
→ 16% said designing or pricing scalable offers.
→ 10% said closing sales.

When I broke it down by revenue stage, the pattern was clear:
→ Under $100K = fighting for leads.
→ $100K–$250K+ = fighting for leverage.

It’s a simple path.
First you fight for clients.
Then you fight for leverage.

Most people jump to hiring and building an agency.

That works for some, but not for everyone.

I decided I don’t want my job to be recruiting and project management.

So I’m exploring leverage that doesn’t depend on headcount.

If you’re a solo, how have you solved the lead problem? Where are you finding leverage next?

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P.S. We're nearly up to 50 members in the 10x Solo community. If you're a solo consultant, fractional, or boutique agency owner looking for leads or leverage, we'd love to have you join us. Learn more and apply at 10xsolo.com.

The usual advice for solos and agencies is to “just niche down.” 

Pick a vertical. Pick an industry. Pick a lane.

But with a bit of experience, you realize that approach rarely works.

Industry niches are crowded, arbitrary, and built around you rather than what buyers actually hire you to solve.

That was the focus of our Growth Workshop last week in 10x Solo with Joe Daniels 📦. 

He showed why use-case positioning creates far more leverage for solos than picking a vertical ever will.

Clients look for help when a specific job becomes painful or urgent. They want someone who can fix that job quickly, cleanly, and with fewer risks than doing it themselves.

Joe walked us through his Use Case Canvas to map this out:
→ what triggers buyers to seek help
→ the job they believe they’re hiring for
→ the real alternative you compete against
→ the gaps in that alternative
→ how your approach addresses those gaps
→ the features and benefits that fall out of your method

His point was clear. 

When solos position around a use case, their offer gets sharper. 
Their message gets clearer. 
Their sales process becomes simpler. 
And their work becomes easier to deliver.

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Interested in joining future Growth Workshops like this one? We do one a month in the 10x Solo community. Join us. 

Agencies and solos: Need help with defining your own use case and messaging? Talk to Joe Daniels 📦

I recently spoke with a founder who was frustrated:

“When we get people on a call the lightbulbs go off. But before that, we just get blank stares.”

When we unpacked it, the problem was clear.

Their messaging was stuck at 10,000 ft, summarizing the one big problem they solve across all customer segments.

But customers rarely think at that level.

They think at the project or use case level.
They care about the immediate pain right in front of them.

So when you talk at the high-level “industry problem,” their eyes glaze over.

But when you talk about their specific project and the pains they feel trying to solve it, that’s when the lightbulbs go off.

This is also why trying to solve too many use cases at once waters down your messaging.

It forces you to climb in altitude, making it harder for buyers to connect.

The fix?
 → Anchor messaging in a single, specific use case.
 → Speak in your customer’s language.
 → Keep altitude low enough that it feels real, not abstract.

The right altitude is the difference between blank stares and instant clarity.

Where have you seen messaging altitude trip companies up the most?

Many founders think the hardest part of positioning is describing what they do.

It is not.

The hardest part is usually choosing the right problem to hang your business on in the first place.

On a call this week, I said something I find myself repeating often:

If your buyer does not already believe the problem you solve is connected to the outcome they want, the sale becomes ten times harder.

You cannot manufacture that connection.
You either meet them where they are or you pick a different problem.

And this is where most teams get stuck.

They pick a problem that sounds smart but has no urgency.
Or a problem the market does not search for.
Or a problem buyers do not feel deeply enough to pay for.
Or a problem that is real but impossible to describe without a lecture.

Not all problems are worth solving.
And not all problems are worth trying to market.

Finding the right one takes time.
It takes dozens of conversations with the buyers you want.
It takes testing language in the wild and watching what sticks.
It takes cutting ideas you like, but the market does not care about.

When you finally land on the right problem, everything snaps into place.
Your messaging gets simpler.
Your offer becomes obvious.
Sales cycles shorten.
Demand becomes easier to create.

To help you get there, I am sharing a simple diagnostic I often use.

It helps you isolate the one high-stakes problem your business should solve.

What problem are you hanging your business on right now, and how confident are you that buyers feel it the way you think they do?

Problem Focus Diagnostic for Founders

A week ago, I launched something new.

A weekly newsletter for 10x Solo.

The idea came from a simple pattern I kept seeing.

Every independent consultant I talk to is sharp, capable, and experienced.

But almost all of us are navigating big decisions alone.

What should I sell?
How should I structure my work?
How do I grow without creating a job I don’t want?

I’ve spent the past three-plus years trying every model myself.

Fractional leadership. Advisory. Coaching. Productized consulting. Even early attempts at an agency.

Each version taught me what creates freedom and energy and what quietly erodes them.

That’s why I built the 10x Solo community.

A place for independents to compare notes and build smarter businesses without chasing someone else’s blueprint.

The newsletter is just an extension of that work. Two practical ideas each month to help you sharpen your positioning, strengthen your offers, and build leverage in your business.

Just what’s working for solos who want to grow without giving up the freedom that pulled them into this path in the first place.

If you want a clearer, saner path to solo growth, I'd love for you to join us here:

10xSolo.Substack.com

What topics would you want me to cover in future issues?

Open article: The 10x Solo Newsletter | Garrett Jestice | Substack by 10xsolo.substack.com

The 10x Solo Newsletter | Garrett Jestice | Substack

I was on a call last week with a fractional leader who said something I’ve heard a hundred times this year:

“I just need more at-bats.”

He was stuck in the same cycle that many founders fall into:

Posting. 
Commenting. 
Hoping for referrals and inbounds.

Then he said the quiet part out loud:

“I don’t actually have a system for referrals. I just hope they happen.”

That’s the real problem.

Most solos, agencies, and startups treat referrals like rain:

Nice when they show up.
But completely out of their control.

The smartest founders build systems that turn referrals from occasional rain into a reliable irrigation system.

They know the warmest opportunities aren’t out in the wild but in their existing network.

After our call, I pointed this leader to something that Dan Englander wrote for my newsletter last week.

Dan’s built referral engines for 200+ agencies, and his core idea is simple:
→ Stop asking, “Do you know anyone?”
→ Start asking, “Can you help me connect with these three people?”

It removes all the homework.
It turns vague goodwill into specific intros.
And it gives your network something they’re happy to do: help without thinking.

The truth is, you don’t need more random LinkedIn activity.

You need a repeatable way to activate the trust you've already earned.

If you want the step-by-step process Dan shared, including how he builds referral maps, connector lists, and intro templates, it’s in the newsletter:

https://lnkd.in/g56-snew

Do you have a referral system, or are you still relying on luck?

GTM Advisor helping B2B startups grow without guessing

Open article: How to Scale Your Agency with Systematic Referrals: A Complete Implementation Guide by gtmfoundations.substack.com

How to Scale Your Agency with Systematic Referrals: A Complete Implementation Guide

Most of us don’t need bigger goals. We need clearer wins. Visible momentum.

Inside 10x Solo, we run Weekly Growth Challenges to create that.
One focused action. Under an hour. Done by Friday.

This gives us one small win to stack each week.

This week’s challenge is tied to Thanksgiving.

It’s a natural moment to slow down and notice what’s actually working.

So the challenge is simple:

Every night, write down three wins from your day. Doesn't matter if they are big or small. Personal or work-related.

The idea comes from the book "The Gap and The Gain" and helps shift your attention from what’s missing to what’s improving.

You’ll start spotting things you normally overlook:
→ A client who trusted you
→ Advice that landed at the right moment
→ A small win that confirmed you’re on the right path

Do it each night.
Review the list on Friday.
You’ll see more progress than you think.

If you want to join me in this one, go for it.
No need to be in the community.

And if you want to share your reflection at the end of the week, DM me. I’d love to hear it.

Growth Challenge: Focus on the Gain

I help B2B tech companies with launches, website messaging, and go-to-market.

That's how we can work together:

- fractional marketing roles and advising
- projects (homepages, launches, LinkedIn, content) 
- consultation

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY:
"We had the pleasure of working with Olena on our product marketing strategy, and her impact was clear from the start.
She has an impressive ability to break down complex market insights into actionable steps, helping us refine our positioning and reach the right audience more effectively.

On top of that, she's super human and it's really a pleasure to work with her. Would happily work with Olena again!"
Jeremy Boissinot
CEO/Co-founder @ Favikon

"We're very happy to work with Olena. She helped us with product marketing, messaging, and our go-to-market strategy. Olena is always responsive, proactive and always suggests new ideas. Will definitely work together again soon!"
Simone Lusenti 
Co-founder @ Bugpilot

"Olena is a consummate professional with exceptional skills in content writing and marketing consulting. Her strategic insights and innovative approaches were instrumental in increasing visits to our platform by an astounding 400%.

"Olena was our hunter on Product Hunt launch and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made through my startup journey."
Tornike Tsiramua & George Tsiramua 
Co-Founders @ Biliki AI

Free marketing resources: https://olenabomko.com/free-marketing-resources/

LinkedIn Top 200 (2022, Favikon)
LinkedIn Top 5 Ukraine (2024, Favikon)
Community Member of the Year on Product Hunt (runner-up, 2023)

Olena Bomko

Modern Reddit marketing. A lot of Reddit agencies do the same.

Thanks to everyone who bought my Reddit Playbook and joined my subreddit r/MarketFit (we're 100+ members).

Check out the Reddit Playbook: https://lnkd.in/g4BMpCfJ
Join the subreddit: https://lnkd.in/daHknQzi

B2B Tech Product Marketer. Launches, website messaging, LinkedIn, and Reddit

I created my LinkedIn account 6 years ago (!!!). I had no clue what LinkedIn was. I'm a person from a small Ukrainian city who
- never used any social media
- didn’t speak English
- studied computer engineering, not marketing
- was a great student (I won 20+ competitions), but I was 0 in business, work, and life.

To
- almost 39K followers and 23.7M views on LinkedIn
- was listed in LinkedIn Top 20 Product Marketing Influencers Worldwide
- created and sold 4 digital products in 43 countries
- connected and worked with amazing clients
- became Community Member of the Year on Product Hunt (runner-up).

During
- the war and life under occupation
- losing my home and relocating through an active war zone
- a stressful life where I'm responsible for more than I ever imagined (all my family members are refugees and can’t work because of health problems or age). 

I’m so grateful to all my customers and friends. You mean more than you know. When I work in a healthy environment or receive happy messages from clients or customers, I feel absolutely happy. I forget about everything.
THANK YOU!

—
 And of course, I'm giving a 30% discount on my playbooks. If you want to get my Reddit, Launch, or LinkedIn Playbooks, the link is at the top of my profile. Code: 6years
If you want to download my free resources (15+ playbooks, templates, and checklists), use the same link.

In the last 2.5 months, I lost weight, almost lost sleep, and eventually ended up with a high temperature. But my favorite snow and good people did their best to bring me back to life. 
I'm so grateful to the people who always support me, work with me and behave decently, collaborate with me, buy my playbooks, and support my initiatives. You mean more than you know.

There's a huge Reddit community r/LinkedInLunatics (almost 1M members!). In this community, anonymous people post screenshots of LinkedIn posts. Yes, I agree, some people on LinkedIn post nonsense. But why is one of the biggest communities not about growth and support, but about mocking other people?

I created a niche community r/MarketFit. I want people to join and post the best from LinkedIn.

Videos that cost $5K–$20K and take 3+ weeks to create? Ping-ponging with designers? By the time the video is ready, your product looks completely different.

What if you could create professional videos and visuals from your interactive demos in minutes?

I got early access to Arcade Creator Studio, and I’m partnering with Arcade because it really solves the big problem marketers have (especially during launches).

- Just record a simple interactive demo.
- Add your website link to generate your Brand Kit.

And that’s it. You can create professional videos, ads, and banners in minutes. No AI slop. And you can make quick edits, too.

Arcade already serves 20,000 companies and 120,000 users. 
If you want to check out the Creator Studio, a link to join the waitlist is in the comments.

Brand partnership • B2B Tech Product Marketer. Launches, website messaging, LinkedIn, and Reddit

Arcade Creator Studio

I think people don't understand what they can do to other people. I can be totally exhausted, or I can't cope with everything. This year was difficult for me. And then, I got messages like this. And I'm full of energy.

P.S. Reddit Playbook is getting compliments :)

Meme-led growth. The only type of growth that works on LinkedIn now. My niche meme went viral this week:
- Reddit playbook sales
- 20+ new members in my subreddit /MarketFit
- New connections who know that I do Reddit

Join the subreddit :) And here's a 30% off code to get my playbooks (Reddit, Launches, LinkedIn): BLACKFRIDAY
The link is at the top of my profile (Growth Playbooks).

Thank you to everyone who has already bought the playbook or joined the community.

Reddit vs LinkedIn is a bad comparison. My tiny community on Reddit (MarketFit, 155 members, less than a month) can give the same number of views as my LinkedIn (39K, 5.5 years).
But they serve different purposes. I can't even compare them.

P.S. The new LinkedIn algorithm pushed me to create my subreddit. And I love communities.
P.S.S. I also love to be a moderator :)

My small community on Reddit is growing. Join r/MarketFit
- I'm scheduling Ask Me Anything sessions. If you want to be the host, please let me know. 
- I'll create a launch post format (so you can launch your products).
- You can post your questions and growth/learning stories. If you post something useful, I allow links.
- I want to publish more useful resources, behind the scenes, and raw discussions.
- I'm thinking about posting open positions, too.

For everyone who joined, a huge thank you. Don't hesitate to say Hi :) If you're afraid to post, no worries at all. You're invited and welcomed.

Unrelated selfies, posts about LinkedIn, awards, or babies perform the best on LinkedIn. Brandon Hoe Ƭ̵̬̊ tested my LinkedIn guru tip. And it worked. I'm not surprised at all.

Reddit Playbook has started getting compliments.

I published 15 free marketing resources. And I'm working on 3 more.
1. Product Marketing
- Positioning and Messaging Framework
- Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
- Unique Value Proposition Playbook
- Website Messaging. SaaS/Tech Homepages Playbook
- Product Launch and GTM Checklist 
- Product Hunt Launch Checklist 
- List of startup directories

2. LinkedIn
- LinkedIn Profile Checklist
- LinkedIn Growth Checklist
- LinkedIn Content Calendar

3. Reddit
- Reddit Growth Checklist
- Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions

4. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Checklist
5. Social proof examples (120+)

And here's a 30% off code to get my playbooks (Reddit, Launches, LinkedIn): BLACKFRIDAY

The link to check out all the resources is at the top of my profile (Growth Playbooks).

I just scheduled an Ask Me Anything session in my Reddit community with Peter Rota (75K followers on LinkedIn, 14 years in SEO). Please join r/MarketFit and ask all your questions.

Huge thank you to Peter for being my first guest.
The community is growing. And I have a great line-up ahead :)

🎁 I created my Reddit Growth Checklist (it's free). A link is at the top of my profile.
And I'm hosting an Ask Me Anything Session on Reddit now. Please join r/MarketFit and ask me anything.

I've never seen this before. Proton has 5+ big communities on Reddit. And these communities are very cool. Great job on Reddit!
It makes sense. They have 100 million customers. Different products. Strong PLG. Reddit is a great growth lever for them.

Here's what an owned community on Reddit gives you:

- A place for your community and partners.
- Citations in AI and Google. All the discussions are public. AI loves quoting Reddit.
- Reddit marketing. It's difficult to do marketing in other subreddits.
- Personal branding. The team, customers, and partners can host Ask Me Anything sessions. 
- Constant feedback, testimonials, and product questions.
- Distribution channel for blog posts and videos.
- Bottom of the funnel content that ranks on Google.

But you should invest in building your community and really care about the members.

"I want to be featured in ChatGPT. Reddit will solve this problem, right?"
The problem is that Reddit alone isn’t enough.
You need clear positioning and messaging, BOFU content, mentions in “Best X” articles, reviews on third-party platforms, user-generated content, and an understanding of which sources are already being cited in your niche.

Reddit can help. But it’s no longer 43% of citations (as it was in August). They’ve balanced the citation sources.

I created a free checklist with examples in Notion. You can get all my marketing resources at the top of my profile (Growth Playbooks).

taplio

The Battle

Garrett Jestice

Olena Bomko

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Performance ScoreGarrett Jestice's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreOlena Bomko's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Garrett Jestice

Olena Bomko

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Garrett Jestice's LinkedIn Performance

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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreGarrett Jestice's LinkedIn Performance