Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with François Royer Mireault, Founder of highlow, located in Montréal, QC, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Highlow is a group of marketing strategy experts for growing tech startups. Our focus: entrepreneurs in emerging technologies (scientists, engineers, inventors). We help startup founders and small marketing teams to better understand their target customers, clarify their positioning and communications, and build and track solid marketing plans.

Tell us about yourself

My name is François Royer Mireault; I founded Highlow in 2018. I am a veteran of the marketing, advertising & e-commerce industry in Montréal, with the idea that innovative local businesses should have access to the best marketing expertise to reach their full potential. Startups go bankrupt or fail because of marketing issues—they don't develop a product that real customers want or fail to market themselves in a viable way. They are often ill-equipped and poorly advised by stakeholders who do not have experience with startups or technological products or who have incentives to "sell something."

The commercialization of new innovations benefits everyone in the economy. Better products and services can improve our quality of life on many fronts – economy, education, health, and environment. It is our scientists, engineers, and inventors who will solve the big problems of tomorrow. It is their businesses that will provide stimulating work environments for future generations.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

We've helped over 50 B2B, SaaS, deep tech, and retail startups accelerate their marketing efforts. But we're very proud to reinvest ourselves in the ecosystem. We've built a model where we've participated in the financing rounds of 7 Canadian startups and plan to invest in over 20 in the next five years.

It's the only way we can align our long-term interests to those of the companies, remain aware of innovation, and continuously feel the pulse of the market. According to the wise words of Nicholas Taleb: "If you do not take risks for your opinion, you are nothing."

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Investing in our own brand & marketing. We spent the first three years 100% dedicated to startups we were working with–as advisors or investors. We completely forgot to treat ourselves as a client too. In the past year, we've invested a lot in research projects to be more visible and helpful in the industry. We've launched a newsletter dedicated to startup marketing, and we've been working more and more with accelerators and incubators in Montréal. The hardest thing is to overcome imposter syndrome and take care of your own business–with the level of care and honesty you would help your best friend with their own business.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Get any kind of momentum. Don't over-strategize. Find a client, get some work done. It's much easier to make decisions when you're moving.
  2. When you removed the risk of execution (you doing things you said you'd do), take some time to narrow down your focus: who are you serving, what are you offering? What are you saying no to? Don't be afraid to be too focused at first.
  3. For marketing and growth, as a business owner, find the things you are good at and like. We call that founder-marketing fit. Don't copy or force yourself to do something you're not good at. Do you like writing long texts? Start a blog and bet on an SEO or content strategy. Do you like meeting people? Structure your networking, attend events or bet on partnerships for visibility. Find the one thing you do naturally every day, and turn it into a marketing tactic. And keep on doing it for years. Don't do anything you would not be amongst the best at in your market. You can't grow your business by doing average things.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

If you are a tech startup founder in Canada and want to reach out, we're always happy to chat about all things related to startup marketing.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.highlow.ca/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/highlowca/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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