VC Fund Marketing Strategy

Portfolio-Wide GTM Pattern Recognition.

Three to five companies. One strategist. Monthly briefings on what works across your portfolio.

Discuss Your Portfolio

You Are

Venture partner or fund founder at a seed or Series A VC firm. You have 15-40 companies in portfolio. Their marketing is uneven. Some are clear on go-to-market; most are guessing. You see patterns but lack bandwidth to coach every founder on GTM.

73%
Of Series A companies have unfocused go-to-market in their first 18 months post-funding

Three Portfolio-Wide GTM Failures We See

Across portfolios, we see the same patterns breaking companies. Each is fixable.

Practitioner GTM to Economic Buyer

Company lands the product with practitioners. Users love it. Then they try to sell to the economic buyer. The economic buyer hasn't heard of the product. Sales stalls. Company blames pricing or product.

Positioning Indistinguishable From Competitors

Founder copies a positioning template or past job language. Sounds like 30 other startups in the category. Differentiation is invisible. Sales process is price-based. Company is commoditized before launch.

Sales Motion Undefined

No clarity on: Who calls whom first? What is discovery? When does the pitch happen? How do champions reach economic buyers? Sales team improvises. Deals take 9 months. Close rates are random.

What the Portfolio Retainer Covers

Monthly work across 3-5 companies, plus strategic synthesis for the fund partner.

Per-Company Monthly Strategy

60-90 minutes per month per company. GTM review, positioning refinement, buyer architecture, sales motion coaching. Asynchronous + monthly call.

Cross-Portfolio Pattern Recognition

Monthly briefing: we flag patterns across your companies. Whose positioning is working? Where are the common buyer journey breaks? Peer learning opportunities.

Fund-Level GTM Briefing

Quarterly board briefing to the fund. Portfolio health snapshot. Standout companies. Strategic recommendations for portfolio wide initiatives or coaching.

Founder GTM Coaching

Each founder learns to pitch their own go-to-market. We coach clarity, narrative, repeatable story. Founders leave feeling confident about their GTM strategy.

Why We Do This Work

The Pattern Is Consistent

Fund with 18 Series A companies: Started with 5 companies. Most were 6-12 months post-seed, unclear on go-to-market. Within 90 days: 4 companies had clear buyer architecture and sales motion. Within 6 months: sales cycles dropped from 8-12 months to 4-6 months across the cohort. Fund now asks all new Series A companies to engage in retainer. Expanded from 5 to 14 companies.
Early-stage fund partner noticing marketing spread: Was getting asked constantly for marketing advice by portfolio founders. Hired his own marketer; didn't scale. Started the portfolio retainer. Now he briefs portfolio monthly on patterns, sits with companies when needed, and founders get coherent strategy without clogging his calendar. Estimated 40 hours saved per quarter.
Seed fund with 30-company portfolio: Focused retainer on 5 highest-growth companies. In 12 months, 3 of 5 hit Series A with strong investor interest. Positioning was clear. Go-to-market was repeatable. Founders could pitch themselves. Fund credited retainer strategy as material to their ability to raise.

How It Works in Practice

You select 3-5 companies. Monthly cadence: 60-90 min per company (could be founder call, sales team review, positioning workshop, or async documentation review). We synthesize patterns monthly and brief you.

Month 1: Company diagnostics. Buyer interviews. Sales process review. Positioning audit. Deliverable: quick briefing on top 2-3 GTM gaps per company.

Months 2-6: Ongoing strategy. Buyer architecture refinement. Sales motion clarity. Positioning narrative. Board readiness. Monthly fund briefing on patterns and wins.

Month 7+: Scaling and iteration. Companies are operating from clear strategy. You're coaching founders in group calls. Portfolio pattern-sharing becomes peer learning.

The founder, whose broader strategic work is at stantscherenkow.com, leads the work with your companies directly. You also get direct access. Quarterly in-person briefing recommended. Monthly async work via shared docs and Zoom.

Is This the Right Fit?

Perfect Fit If

  • Seed or Series A focused VC firm
  • 10+ portfolio companies, want to coach 3-5 on GTM
  • Companies have product-market fit, need go-to-market clarity
  • You see patterns across portfolio and want to systematize them
  • Founders are willing to engage monthly on strategy
  • You value cross-portfolio peer learning
  • You have a budget for marketing support without hiring in-house

Not a Fit If

  • Pre-PMF companies. We come in after proof of concept.
  • Companies with full-time CMOs. Different engagement.
  • You need execution. We do strategy and coaching, not implementation.
  • Less than 3 companies to work with. Retainer model doesn't scale.
  • Budget under $25K/quarter. Work doesn't pencil.
  • You prefer not to involve your companies in process.

What Happens Over 12 Months

01. Clear Portfolio Positioning

Each company can articulate its difference in one sentence. Investors get it. Your founders pitch with confidence and coherence.

02. Repeatable Sales Motion

Your companies have defined go-to-market. Sales cycles are shorter. Founder can explain the motion. Board updates include repeatable narrative.

03. Peer Learning Culture

Companies learn from each other's positioning, sales motion, investor conversations. Shared language across portfolio. Founders become advisors to each other.

04. Your Time Back

You're not the marketing consultant for every founder. You have strategic advisor on call for monthly briefings and quarterly deep work. Founders have confidence in GTM.

Let's Talk About Your Portfolio

Tell us about your fund, companies, and what's broken in their marketing. We'll assess fit and recommend how many companies to include.

Stage Focus
Portfolio Size
Main Marketing Challenge
Fund Location

Ready to Fix Portfolio GTM?

Tell us about your portfolio. We'll discuss which companies to engage and what the first 90 days might look like.

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