Start With the Crowd, Not the Cart: The Case for Audience Before Product

The old DTC + performance marketing playbook? Dead. Too costly, too risky, too easy to copy. And if you’re chasing outside funding, investors (at least the smart ones) want something more defensible.

So what’s left? The hard stuff: actually building a brand online. That means owning your reach and audience—not renting it through ads. It’s a tough but worthwhile road, and it challenges the old script: product first, audience later.

Here’s the real question founders should be asking: Do I perfect my product first or build my audience first?

The Growth Framework: Content > Community > Product

We believe the script has flipped: it’s audience first, product second. Or as the wisdom goes: “First-time founders focus on product; second-time founders focus on distribution.”

Look, we get it. Product-obsessed founders love tinkering first. But in CPG especially, that’s a risky move. Instead, focus on consistently providing value—whether through helpful content, inspiration, or community—before asking for value (money). It’s the principle of reciprocity in action: give, give, give, then ask (or in Gary Vee’s words, “jab, jab, jab, right hook”).

This doesn’t mean ignoring product quality. It means letting your audience pull your product development—ensuring you build something people actually want. Get them involved early, and you’ll improve both engagement and your final product.

Who’s Already Doing It?

Why the framework works: A built-in feedback loop ensures constant improvement, established trust makes conversions easier, lower customer acquisition costs keep marketing efficient, and a strong community amplifies your brand organically.

But enough theory. Let’s talk examples. These founders nailed their unique content strategy, grew a loyal audience, and successfully funneled that attention into sales:

• Monday Swimwear (US) – Launched by Natasha Oakley and Devin Brugman after years of building a loyal audience through their blog A Bikini A Day, where they reviewed and tested swimwear. Their content strategy blended aspirational lifestyle imagery with honest, body-positive conversations around fit and confidence. By the time they launched their own product line, they had cultivated a highly engaged community, now reflected in over 970,000 Instagram followers and a dedicated customer base.
• Tonic Health (UK) – Founded by Sunna van Kampen, Tonic Health offers high-dose vitamin supplements free from sugar and additives. The brand's content strategy revolves around educational social media content on healthy living, amassing over one million followers and more than 45 million monthly organic views. Their products are stocked in major UK retailers like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, and Holland & Barrett, contributing to significant growth (we are happy investors).
• Pick'em (DE) – Sells flavored toothpicks with a bold, playful brand voice. Their content strategy centers on highly shareable TikTok stunts and storytelling, from collabs with the UFC Heavyweight Champion to outrageous challenges like trading a toothpick across America or attaching one to a submarine. This relentless creativity earned them over 700,000 TikTok followers, 150M+ organic video views in 2024 alone, and fueled a staggering 1400%+ revenue growth last year.
• Mous (UK) – Specializes in protective accessories for tech devices, such as phone cases and screen protectors. Their content strategy focuses on highly visual and entertaining social media content—think dramatic drop tests, lifestyle photography, and viral-friendly product demos that showcase real-world durability, resulting in 2.9 billion social impressions, 260K Instagram followers, and 5.5 million monthly YouTube views. (Source)
• All Things Butter (UK) – Co-founded by professional chef, content creator, and restaurateur Thomas Straker, the brand produces artisanal butter with bold flavors. Its viral 'All Things Butter' content series, featuring recipe demos and high-energy kitchen clips, has racked up over 500 million views—building hype and audience long before the product hit store shelves.

The takeaway? Build an audience that actually cares. Then, when you launch a product, they’ll be the first in line to buy.