Building and Marketing Disruptive Digital Products | Simi Valda from Oaks Lab

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Simi from Oaks Lab, head of marketing with them. How are you doing today, Simi?

Simi Valda: I’m doing great. Thank you for having me today. I’m excited to have this conversation.

Ernesto: I’m excited to learn a little bit more about Oaks Lab. And I’m sure our listeners are tuning in, wondering as well. So, let’s kick it off with that. Simi, in your own words, can you tell us a little bit more?

Simi: Yeah, absolutely. So we are a technology partner for companies, and we specialize in product development. We can work with a company at any stage in the product development lifecycle. We view ourselves not just as an outsourced option for development, but actually, we work together with the clients that come to us on their business goals and make sure that the products we build are successful. We care about the business outcomes. So I would say we are a true business partner to our clients from the technology side.

Ernesto: Okay, great. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. So that way our listeners can get a good understanding of Oaks Lab. Simi, what would you say is a key problem that you guys like to solve for clients?

Simi: We work with clients across different sizes and stages of maturity. They can be startups, scale-ups, or enterprises, so we have a very customized approach based on their needs. For example, a startup can come to us at any stage between ideation and Series A, and one of the services we would offer is an MVP. A scale-up might want to build out new features that unlock new revenue streams, so we might offer them software optimization. For enterprises, they might want to build out a completely new product and design it for market share. It really depends on the client, where they are, and what they’re trying to achieve.

Ernesto: Definitely. So, then is there a certain vertical segment? Is there an ideal ICP that you guys have at Oaks Lab?

Simi: We are industry-agnostic, so we work with clients across all kinds of industries and different stages of maturity. That’s exciting because we work with clients based on their needs. Recently, we’ve worked with a lot of fintech companies, so the fintech space is definitely an area where we’ve started to make a name for ourselves.

Ernesto: Okay. Let’s say I’m in the fintech business. How would I usually find out about Oaks Lab? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Simi: We have a couple of channels. I would say that we’re very lucky that one of the ways we get a lot of clients is referrals, which shows that our current clients are happy with our services, and they refer us to their network. Another way is directories. We list ourselves on all the relevant directories within our field of expertise. Also, in-person events are a great way to put yourself in the same room as the people you want to work with. Right now, these are some of our main acquisition channels, but going forward, we definitely want to launch some new channels as well.

Ernesto: Awesome. Great to hear that from you. So that way our listeners who are tuned in can go ahead and visit you guys at oakslab.com. What role does the website play for client acquisition?

Simi: We just relaunched our website two weeks ago, which was really exciting. We were working on it for six months, and we wanted to reposition ourselves and restate our value proposition. The website is really important, and it was the first thing I wanted to work on before driving any traffic. I wanted to make sure that where we’re driving the traffic is optimized as much as possible. When approaching a website redesign, it’s important to think about the goals that your business wants to achieve and know your business inside out. For us, there are three pillars within our marketing strategy: trust, quality, and people.

With trust, we wanted to establish credibility at every touchpoint, so we provided client testimonials and associated ourselves with bigger brands. For quality, our positioning is more premium, and we wanted to showcase quality at every touchpoint, whether it’s the copy, design, or brand. We paid a lot of attention to small details. Lastly, with people, we wanted to humanize ourselves and show the founders we work with and the people in our company who build these products. On our website, you’ll see many photos, video content, and visuals of people. It’s important to approach your website in terms of business goals and tailor it around those goals, and we hope we’ve been able to do that with our new release.

Ernesto: Great to hear that from you guys at Oaks Lab, Simi. So, are there any tools, tips, or methods you would recommend to our listeners for website lead generation?

Simi: It’s very back to the basics—it might sound simple, but it can be harder to execute. One thing I try to do is make sure that the way you explain your business is clear and articulate. It’s not just your client that should understand it—anyone who comes to your website should understand who you are, what you do, and how you provide value within a few seconds. This is very important in terms of copywriting. Second is design and branding. Design and brand can bring alive who you are. For us, we wanted to show that we’re innovative, technical, and premium. The colors and design elements we use help convey that. Also, you need to make it easy for people to contact you—have forms or contact points where they can reach out. Make it as easy as possible for the prospect. It’s really about doing the simple things well.

Ernesto: Great advice for our listeners. Thanks for sharing that. Let’s switch gears a bit and talk about you as a leader, Simi. You being the head of marketing at Oaks Lab, what are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?

Simi: I’m responsible for the big picture—where we’re going, why we’re going there, the vision, and the direction. That means the overall marketing strategy, and making sure we’re doing the right things and prioritizing activities. I’m currently in an exciting phase where we’re building the team. We have a couple of people, and we’re continuing to hire specialists, like a copywriter or a digital marketing specialist. Hiring people takes time, but it makes a big difference when the team comes together. My role also varies depending on the company’s priorities, like launching the website, organizing events, or creating content. It’s dynamic and versatile, which makes it exciting.

Ernesto: Sounds like you have a full plate, especially with hiring and building the team. In your downtime, how do you stay up to date with trends in the marketing world? Are there any preferred channels?

Simi: There’s a lot of content out there now, and we’re lucky to have so many formats available—podcasts, YouTube, blog articles. I personally prefer reading, and I focus on the written word. Many marketing tech companies like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Semrush have great blogs that are very detailed and informative. Google also has free courses and resources. This is what I do to stay updated with the latest trends and market updates.

Ernesto: Great channels for our listeners. Now, let’s jump into our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Simi: Sure, let’s do it.

Ernesto: First off, what is the last book you read?

Simi: “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin.

Ernesto: Interesting read for our listeners. Next up, if there were no boundaries in technology, what would you want to fix for your role as a marketer today?

Simi: As a head of marketing, the role is packed—there’s hiring, website work, social media, SEO, PPC. I would love to have a project management tool focused on senior marketing professionals, to help manage tasks, stakeholders, approval processes—something to make it all more streamlined.

Ernesto: Great idea. Next, if there’s one repetitive task you could automate, what would it be?

Simi: Competitor research and staying on top of market trends takes time. If I could get a monthly, automated competitor and market analysis with suggestions, that would be amazing.

Ernesto: Lastly, you have a lot of experience in marketing. What one piece of advice would you give yourself if you restarted your journey today?

Simi: If you have a good idea and execute it well, you can be in the same league as the big players. Aim high and execute well—you’d be surprised by the results.

Ernesto: Great advice. Thank you for sharing that. Simi, before we end, I want to give you the last word. If someone forgets everything about today’s interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about Oaks Lab?

Simi: We are a technology business partner. If you want to build or optimize a product, we’re a great option. If you want a true business partner who cares about results as much as you do, Oaks Lab is a great company.

Ernesto: Awesome. Check them out at oakslab.com—product design and engineering for business innovators. Simi, thank you so much for being on with us today. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Looking forward to our next episode of Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Simi.

Simi: Thanks for having me.