When I started Market Chemistry, I had just left my position as a director of marketing at an Austin startup where I co-wrote the deck that closed the largest seed round in Texas history at the time.
Taking that leap to work for myself was intimidating, but it felt like a natural progression.
What began as a simple pitch deck service has now evolved into a full-service fundraising company – and we managed to 3X our business last year without falling into the typical agency growth trap.
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Finding My Path in Fundraising
I never planned to build a fundraising company. My journey began with a simple service: building pitch decks for founders.
After about four or five months of operating solo, I brought on a business partner, and together we expanded our vision of what Market Chemistry could become.
Today, we help founders with both the marketing and investor relations sides of fundraising.
Whether it’s digital outreach for equity crowdfunding and small investments or building relationships with venture capitalists for larger rounds, we’ve found our niche in the fundraising ecosystem.
But growing Market Chemistry without relying on the traditional agency model required a deliberate strategy – one that allowed us to scale efficiently while maintaining our core values and work approach.
The Partnership Strategy That Changed Everything
The single biggest factor behind our growth was our targeted approach to partnerships.
Every quarter, my business partner and I would sit down and select a handful of extremely niche corporate partner targets.
Rather than casting a wide net with aimless networking (which I’m honestly not a fan of), we focused on building relationships with very specific organizations.
Our methodology was simple but effective:
- Identify businesses whose customers need our services: We asked ourselves, “What people and services need our offerings to make their customers have better outcomes?” This question led us to broker-dealers, lawyers, and other professionals in finance who regularly work with companies seeking funding.
- Leverage existing relationships: We used our current network to directly connect with these targeted individuals rather than cold calling.
- Formalize partnerships: About 75-80% of our targeted relationships turned into formal or informal active partnerships.
The beauty of this approach is that it created a natural referral system, where our partners would recommend us to clients who needed our specific expertise.
These weren’t random referrals – they were highly qualified leads from trusted sources.
Small Things That Moved the Needle
While the partnership strategy was our primary growth driver, several smaller initiatives contributed to our success:
- Focused service offerings: Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, we maintained a clear focus on fundraising-related services.
- Client-centric approach: Understanding the unique pressures facing founders seeking investment allowed us to tailor our services to their specific needs.
- Building our expertise: We continuously refined our fundraising knowledge, allowing us to offer more sophisticated guidance and build our reputation in the space.
Each of these elements compounded over time, helping us establish Market Chemistry as a trusted partner in the fundraising ecosystem.
Looking Forward: New Growth Initiatives
Building on Market Chemistry’s success, we’re implementing two major initiatives to continue our growth trajectory:
1. Community Capital Club Newsletter
This quarter, we’re launching a newsletter called Community Capital Club. It’s going to be a founder-first publication focusing on the intersection of fundraising, storytelling, and founder sanity.
What makes this newsletter different is our approach to content.
Each edition will blend insights with humor, providing actionable tips, investor psychology breakdowns, and even “funny founder scripts” that highlight relatable situations founders encounter.
We’re purposely keeping it concise and stripped of any fluff – it’s built for builders with just a touch of humor to make the fundraising journey a bit more enjoyable.
2. Product Lab for Micro-SaaS Development
We’ve also started a product lab inside Market Chemistry where we build and incubate relevant micro-SaaS products related to our core business. These tools focus on marketing operations and fundraising – areas where we’ve identified needs through our client work.
While I can’t share specifics about our first product just yet, I’m excited about how these tools will complement our service offerings and create new revenue streams.
Conclusion
What I’ve learned through this journey is that growing a service business doesn’t have to follow the traditional agency playbook.
By focusing on strategic partnerships, maintaining a clear service focus, and developing complementary products, we’ve been able to achieve significant growth without the typical scaling challenges agencies face.
This approach has allowed us to maintain our quality of service while expanding our impact – helping more founders tell their stories effectively and connect with the right investors for their vision.
As we continue to grow, I’m excited to see how our community initiatives and product development will further enhance our ability to serve founders on their fundraising journeys.