The Founder's Dilemma: In-House Hire vs. Marketing Agency

When it is time to bring in marketing help, the instinct is to hire one person internally. Gerard argues that for most startups, an agency is the stronger play.

Marketing is not one skill. It is strategy, paid, SEO, content, brand, CX — all running at once. A single hire gives you the shape of one person's expertise. An agency gives you a stack: visionary, planner, specialist, executor, bundled into one partnership at a fraction of the salary load.

In-house makes sense later, once there is enough operational complexity to justify a mid-weight marketer bridging the internal team and external partners.