I’m what people call a “kitchen sink” chef.
Evidently, I have the (somewhat rare) ability to take stock of whatever is in the pantry or refrigerator at any given moment and throw together a sensible meal. Over the past few months, I’ve realized just how well this gastronomical hack transfers to my day job: startup marketing.
Most modern marketing recipes pull from the same ingredient list: a heavy dose of digital, a bracing amount of social, a dash of paid advertising, and some events on the side (let’s not forget to smother a bunch of quasi-targeted emails on top for good measure).
While each company is largely tapping into the same ingredients list, it’s the creativity, execution, and presentation that determines if users see fast food, instagram worthy fine dining, or something else entirely. Nothing like a disappointing meal at a fancy steak house, right?
Building a meal together
I spent the last few weeks creating our “go to market” (GTM) plan for 2026. While we can’t taste the final product in advance, we did our best to take stock of the ingredients at hand and decide what kind of marketing magic we could create.
What made this effort particularly challenging for me is the early stage of our company. While our journey went public in November when Datum exited stealth mode, we hit the streets with a product waitlist. It was an exciting moment, but nothing screams “we’re still building” more than a waitlist. In other words, please take your seat and a waiter will be with you shortly!
Surprisingly, I’ve really enjoyed building a GTM plan for a product that’s still developing. Besides it being quite literally in the name “go to market”, the early stage of our product requires everyone to work as a team. While my engineering, design, and infrastructure colleagues create our product one line, pixel, PoP and commit at a time, my only choice is to put on an apron and get my hands dirty. From rewriting the menu on the chalkboard as the menu changes and setting the tables, to making sure we’re attracting our next star chef, it’s all part of the experience we’re developed for our users and customers.
Working in an open kitchen
This chaotic (but also creative and gratifying) process has reframed how I think about marketing. Add in the fact that Datum is organized around working fully in the open and it’s clear that I’ve had to examine some uncomfortable truths about how I operate.
As an ex-agency gal who was raised on “grand reveal” presentations, working at a truly “open” company has challenged me to my core. Putting my earliest work and thinking in a public, documented space like GitHub goes against my instincts. And a big part of that is because I don’t want to look stupid.
Although I’ve been deeply invested in learning the inner workings of the internet for the better part of six years, I often feel out of my depth. Like landing in a foreign country without a translator, digital infrastructure and networking can make even the most savvy marketer feel insecure. It’s because of this insecurity that I tend to keep my feedback loops small: I share my presentations and writing with my manager (thanks for creating a safe space!) and worry about sharing things too early in case they’re not right.
Because then I’ll be found out for the imposter I am, right? Wrong! And it’s only in the last few weeks (while building this year’s GTM plan) that I’ve realized how my own journey these last few months is a great example of what we need more of in 2026.
How imperfections fuel authenticity
As Mark LaRossa (one of the operating partners at Amplify, a Datum investor) wrote recently, the AI era has ushered in a new wave celebrating grit and imperfection. Initially, I read Mark’s post and immediately I bemoaned the loss of carefully curated creative work. And I know I’m not alone.
I’ve seen similar reactions from friends and creative industry colleagues who are watching AI challenge overnight the talents (and careers) they’ve carefully crafted over the years. For many creatives, their work is an extension of themselves, and AI is threatening the core of their value with pixel-perfect, effortless-created words, images, memes, podcasts, and videos.
Or is it? Thankfully, I’ve come through the other side and have a different take. There is, in fact, beauty in imperfection. It’s what makes us human.
In pottery, the Japanese have a unique way of repairing broken ceramics: kintsugi. Shattered ceramic ware is stitched back together with a powdered gold or silver, a method that serves to celebrate resilience and imperfection.
Here’s the thing: AI is noisy. Between the AI-generated LinkedIn posts to the AI-driven ads, blog posts, cold emails, and cover letters, it’s clear that creating stuff isn’t a problem. But creating experiences that are meaningful, or compelling, or honest…that takes a different approach.
Or to quote James Halliday in Ready Player One:
As terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can get a decent meal. Because, reality… is real.
So, what’s on the menu at Datum? It’s still a work in progress, but the mix is starting to feel right. We’re laser focused on the awareness and activation phases of our flywheel, and here’s what it looks like:
Core / Baseline (70% of our time, energy and money)
Website
Personal brands
Monthly product loops
Product assets
Events
AEO / SEO
Tech stack + Milo
Rock Star Moves (30% of our time, energy and money)
Creative drops
Big moments
PR / AR
The ingredient that you’ll taste throughout all of our marketing efforts in 2026 will be an authentic, human one. It’ll be messy, far from perfect, but it will be honest and genuine.
We will take the time to film our videos with actual humans in front of the camera (because trust is built on knowing the faces behind the tech you’re using).
We will take the time to write our own blog posts, changelogs, newsletters, and website copy (because clarity of thought is created in the struggle of the written word).
We will continue to host our monthly community huddles (because we’re committed to sharing our journey, our learnings, and our setbacks, even if things aren’t “perfectly” ready for prime time).
This year is likely not the year to expect a loud bang from us here at Datum. You can, however, expect a quiet yet steady, and reliable rhythm for product release communications, an ongoing dialogue with our executive team, and in-person less than perfect moments to connect with our community.
And we hope you’ll find it delicious.