How a Google Ad Got an Investor’s Attention

This is a ripper of a silicon valley tale.  Never think that there isn’t a newer way to skin a cat in the online marketing game.  In this case, maybe a $100 investment in some “ego” advertising results in both key influencer awareness, amazing PR reach, and ultimately millions in funding.

Tadabase is a no-code startup looking to raise money.

Their CEO, Moe Levine, was a fan of investor Mark Suster. So he set up some Google ads targeting Suster’s name, reminding him that he’s yet to invest in no-code startups.  Levine had read that Suster used Google Alerts to track mentions of his own name. So in theory he’d see the ad.

As it happened, Product Hunt’s founder, Ryan Hoover, beat him to it:

Suster saw Hoover’s tweet and immediately contacted Levine to set up a call.

Creative marketing is underrated

I’m sure Levine could have tracked down Suster’s email. But then he’d be one of a hundred other emails sitting in his inbox. The extra effort Levine took signalled he was someone worth talking to.  He skipped the queue. And was also rewarded with a write up in TechCrunch.