Product Development Marketing for Startups | Andrei Temneanu from Rebel Dot

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Andrei Temneanu: Very well, thank you. It’s been a very full day of work today.

Ernesto: I bet, I bet, connecting from halfway around the world. Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much for being on with me today. I do appreciate you staying up a little late for this.

Andrei: No problem. My pleasure.

Ernesto: Well, Andrei, let’s kick it off, right? I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what Rebel Dot is all about. So, Andrei, in your own words, tell us a little bit more.

Andrei: Thank you. So, yeah, Rebel Dot is one of the fastest-moving product development companies in Europe. I base that on the fact that it’s basically our second year being included in the Financial Times FT 1000 fastest-growing companies in Europe. We’ve pretty much tripled in size in the last three years or so to a total of 250 employees. Right now, we’re present in three countries—Romania, Denmark, and the UK—and we do end-to-end product development for startups and enterprise companies.

Our approach to growing our company is twofold. If I were to summarize what we are doing on a daily basis, it’s trying to create a healthy company culture. We were selected as second in Romanian “15 Euro Best Places to Work,” which is an organization that identifies and recognizes workplace greatness around the world. We are also trying to create real, tangible value for our customers through our services, which are future-proof and include web, mobile, blockchain, and AI development. Our mission statement is, “To create value through technology with honest partnerships.” Our aim is to become a global tech company. At this pace—and I know it sounds like boasting—but I’m expecting this to happen rather quickly.

Ernesto: Definitely. Okay, awesome. Great to hear that. Hopefully, by the end of 2024, it will be that quickly.

Andrei: I mean, not that quickly because our measure for that is being present in six countries. So we have a bit of work to do, but we’re nearing that with extreme speed. Maybe not this year, but definitely by next year that could be the target.

Ernesto: Definitely. Alright, some good stuff there. So, for our listeners who are tuned in, is there a certain vertical segment, or an ideal ICP, that you guys like to go for?

Andrei: We like to think we’re very well distributed in terms of product development and the types of companies we work with. We enjoy working with both enterprise companies and startups in different verticals. Size or industry is not really a selection basis for us. We mainly choose our playground based on how much we believe in what we’re building. We have a healthy ratio of startups and enterprises that we’re working with. Most of our technical team is dedicated to enterprise work, but we do work with a lot of startups. We like working with startups, and for that reason, we actually created an investment vehicle aimed at working with and helping startups grow, not only in Romania but also in Europe and even some in the US. Basically, we help them by providing technology for equity. The investment vehicle brand is Rebel Ventures, and through it, we try to help as many startup founders as we like to build their first product and go through the startup phases with them.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. Great to hear that, Andrei. For our listeners who are tuned in, they can go ahead and visit you guys at Rebel Dot. What role does the website play for client acquisition?

Andrei: Good question. For clients to become clients of a software company or any other service online, it takes 10 to 20 touchpoints. The Rebel Dot website—and it’s not just Rebel Dot because we have rebeldot.com, Rebel Ventures IO, the Rebel Store, which is our merch store, and so on—is really an important touchpoint for either our clients or our future employees. We treat that with utmost interest. We’ve built our website to be a true landing strip for our next clients. We do conversion optimization on it and actually use it as a sales tool. If you go to rebeldot.com, you’ll see that we explain what we’re doing, who we’re doing it for, and what the results are in plain, simple English for everyone to understand. The website is pretty much like a pitch deck for our clients. It’s also a tool that enhances the relationship we have with the local market from which we attract new talent and grow our team. So it serves a twofold mission. It’s the most important touchpoint for converting our clients.

Ernesto: Definitely important. Thank you so much for sharing that, Andrei. Let’s switch gears a bit and talk about your day-to-day work. You’re the head of marketing for Rebel Dot. What are some key tasks you focus on?

Andrei: As many marketers know, being a head of marketing or CMO is basically managing the team that does the marketing—you’re not really doing a lot of marketing yourself. What I focus on is making sure everyone understands our mission, is aligned with our brand, our objectives, and our overall business plans, and has everything they need to do their work. That’s my first and most important mission.

I am a very operational guy, so I do involve myself in the day-to-day operations. I do a lot of social media, I do a lot of content, and I strategize with the team—either with the marketing team or the management team. I also act as a bridge between the two, which is very familiar to anyone in my position—bridging what management thinks and what the team needs to implement to align with business objectives.

Ernesto: Definitely important. Thanks for sharing that. Let’s jump into our next section, Andrei, which is our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Andrei: Go ahead. Let’s see.

Ernesto: Alright, perfect. First up, we’ll start off easy. What is the last book that you read?

Andrei: Oh, okay. I think it was “This is Marketing” by Seth Godin.

Ernesto: Alright, an interesting read for our listeners to check out.

Andrei: One of the basic reads for 2024. I’m a little late to it, but it’s a really good book that sets some fundamentals on how we should do things in 2024.

Ernesto: Important, right? There are a lot of changes happening in 2023, and this year is already seeing a lot of changes too. Great read. Next up, if there were no boundaries in technology, what would be the one thing you would want fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Andrei: Oh, I think this is an easy one. I would like to know what everyone thinks. Being the head of marketing, we always try to gather as much information from the market as possible, to understand the trajectory and stay ahead of it. I think that’s the most valuable asset to have—an analytical approach to what the market is doing, so we can stay ahead. So, knowing what my audience is thinking or where my target audience will be in five minutes would be the most important insight for a marketer.

Ernesto: Definitely. And for someone in your role, that would be crucial. Lastly, you have a lot of experience in the marketing world. What is one piece of advice you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Andrei: I would say be prepared for the fact that someday you’ll have to manage a team, and that’s a completely different game than doing marketing. Being an individual contributor is very different from being a marketing manager. Nothing really prepares a creative person to be a manager. Any help or preparation beforehand would mean a lot. So doing some of the work to prepare for what’s next in your marketing journey is valuable information for your future self.

Ernesto: Awesome, thank you so much for sharing that advice with all our listeners. We are coming to the end of the show, but before we do, I want to give you the last word. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what is the one thing they should remember about Rebel Dot?

Andrei: I think the essence of what we’re doing is that Rebel Dot is trying to become better as a company every day, to be future-proof for our partners. Everything we do—hiring new talent, growing, adding more services, getting more capable in terms of AI, understanding sustainability—all of our efforts are about being a future-proof company for our current and future partners.

Ernesto: Some great insights from Rebel Dot. Check them out at rebeldot.com. They help global brands design, build, and launch digital products that drive business growth. Andrei, thank you so much for being with us today. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I look forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot.

Andrei: My pleasure. It was a pleasure.

Ernesto: Thank you.