Katelyn Bourgoin | A serial entrepreneur and growth geek... in glasses

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Katelyn
Bourgoin

A serial entrepreneur and
growth geek… in glasses.

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Katelyn Bourgoin,
Halifax marketer.

Featured in

Stop Guessing. Start Growing.

Launching something new? Need to boost sales? I teach frustrated product teams how to use customer insight to figure out what buyers want and how to attract more of their ideal customers.

No. I’m not clairvoyant. I’m just a skillful ~~stalker~~ analyst.

let's chat

Want to know a secret?

I planned to be a millionaire before my 30th birthday…

I’m Katelyn Bourgoin.

And, by age 28, I was well on my way to making it happen. I’d launched two companies — RedRiot (a branding agency) and The Fork Project (a restaurant consulting business). And the dolla-dolla bills were rolling in.

The Fork Project got acquired in under two years and RedRiot was growing quickly. I’d built a rockstar team of creatives and we were reeling in clients like Target and Holiday Inn.

On paper, everything was going according to plan. I knew that if I stayed the course I could grow RedRiot into a seven-figure consulting agency. Yup. I’d be living the dream. There was just one problem…

I was bored out of my mind.

I wanted to do more than design logos, build websites, and develop social media marketing strategies. Truthfully? I wanted to change the world. I wanted to design a company, from the ground up, that would become a household name. You could say I was ambitious.

So, I did something crazy. I walked away from my safe, growing business to launch Vendeve — a high-risk tech startup. The next 18 months went by in a blur. We built an MVP, raised a little venture capital, grew our team, won pitch contests, pivoted our product, and wooed the press.

Forbes was calling Vendeve “the next LinkedIn” and they’d named me as an influencer. We were being recruited by TechStars. Even Randi Zuckerberg (Mark’s big sis) had her eye on us.

We were on a roll. And the timing was puuurfect because my 30th birthday was just around the corner. I felt invincible. What could go wrong? Well, as it turns out… a lot.

I’ll save you the dirty details of what happened next. The year that followed was a rollercoaster of calamities, fuck-ups, and unfortunate events. Suffice it to say…

I am not a millionaire… yet.

I am however battle worn, wiser and fully committed to helping other entrepreneurs to learn from my mistakes.

Do you want to change the world? I can help. But before we chat, you should start by following these simple rules…

simple rules.

stalk your customers

You don’t need to guess what your customers want. They’ll tell you. They’ll tell you with their words and they’ll tell you with their actions… or their lack of action. The world’s fastest growing companies aren’t mind-readers. They’re just better listeners (aka stalkers) than the competition.

test then invest

Every great business, product or marketing campaign started as a shiny new idea. But here’s the thing about ideas: ideas are cheap. Execution is expensive. Don’t waste your precious time and money working on the wrong projects. Smart businesses always test before they invest.

optimize for personalized

I hate to break it to you… but your target customer doesn’t care about you. They don’t want to buy your product, or read your email, or watch your demo. They just want personalized solutions to their specific problems. When you make it about them, you win.

niches build riches

Think that choosing a small niche will stop you from building a BIG business? Think again. Facebook started with college students. Amazon started with books. Google started with search. See a trend? Targeting “everyone” isn’t a business strategy. It’s a death sentence.

trust comes before growth

Did you know that 65% of new business comes from referrals? The best growth hack is building products that people love, solving real problems, and partying where your customers party. Great marketing will create demand, but no amount of marketing can make up for a shitty product.

hire me.

This is Katelyn Bourgoin.

Slow growth is rarely the real problem. It’s a symptom.

Are you ready for some cold, hard truth? When struggling with slow growth, 9 times out of 10 the root problem is the product itself or the product positioning—not sales and marketing.

Many teams know they should be talking to more customers. Yet they’re constantly challenged with who to talk to, what to ask them, how to analyze the feedback, and how to share what they learn with their teams. I work with teams to help them overcome these common hurdles.

let's chat

My clients

pick my brain

You don’t need someone to kiss your ass and tell you that biz idea, strategy, or investor pitch is genius. You need strategic, actionable advice — advice that helps you to move fast, avoid roadblocks and get shit done.

Don’t waste another minute feeling stuck. If you’re ready for fluff-free real talk, I’m your gal. Katelyn Bourgoin is a Halifax marketer!

customer discovery

The world’s fasting-growing businesses aren’t just lucky. They have a unique DNA. They stalk their customers, test their assumptions, work strategically, and measure their results so they can scale their impact much faster.

It’s not rocket science. It’s a simple process. I’ll teach you how it works so you can do it too. Katelyn Bourgoin loves digital marketing.

workshops

There are many perks to living in Eastern Canada. It’s beautiful. People are friendly. Donairs! But, if you’re trying to build a fast-growing product company, there is one BIG downside: there’s a serious shortage of skilled growth strategists here.

Don’t worry. My workshops are designed to help your team up their game… fast. Katelyn Bourgoin.

speaking

I love riffing about business. Sometimes I talk on big stages with 300 people watching. Sometimes I do it in more intimate settings with just a handful of folks. And sometimes I talk in the shower, which totally annoys my husband.

If you’re interested in either of the first two options, let’s chat. Katelyn Bourgoin is a startup advisor.