Fundraising Pitfalls & Upskilling with Foti from GrowthMentor

“If you’re in it for the long run, start with SEO, and do it strategically. SEO is the gift that keeps on giving ”Hello hello! During this episode of the Flying Cat Marketing podcast, we sat down with Foti Panagiotakopoulos, the founder of GrowthMentor, to discuss the ins and outs of bootstrapping a start-up and managing the workload with a small team.GrowthMentor is a platform that lets solo marketers and solo founders receive one-on-one mentoring from vetted growth-marketing, start-up, and marketing mentors. The platform allows you to “get on-demand mentorship from people who have more experience in the fields that you’re struggling with,” says Foti.In this interview, we talk about why diving straight into raising funds isn’t the best way to make your start-up successful. We also discuss the importance of knowing your strengths and those of your team, upskilling yourself, and how SEO can be your strongest tool if you use it right. Foti has boot-strapped GrowthMentor and, although he was aware of the risk he was taking, he and his team were able to make the platform a success. During our conversation today, Foti shares his experience with growing his platform and how he was able to make it happen. As a solo founder, it’s incredibly easy to get overwhelmed by fear and doubt. Should you hire more talent or should you do the task yourself? How can you upskill yourself if you’re focused on managing a team of freelancers? How can you keep yourself and your team from burning out? Is it possible to focus too much on raising funds? What happens if you do? If you’ve ever asked yourself any of these questions, you’re not alone. Tune in to this episode and give yourself the chance to walk away less overwhelmed and with some actionable tips on how to grow your SEO.In this episode we talk about:- Upskilling- Raising Funds- Growing SEOTimestamps:00:00-02:00  What is GrowthMentor02:02-03:30 Don’t obsess about raising funds prematurely03:30 -05:15 How difficult is it to raise funds?05:16 - 07:58 How to not burn out your team in a start-up07:59-08:59  Upskilling yourself vs delegating or hiring somebody09:00-11:31 Does the desire to hire ever end?11:31- 12:52 How did SEO become your biggest channel?12:53- 17:25 Talk to people before you go to Ahrefs (JTBD)17:25-18:48 Other ways to grow SEO as a one-man SEO team18:49-23:30  Backlinking Strategy23:31-25:50 Takeaways on bootstrapping and SEO strategies when you're a very small team?Connect with Fotios Panagiotakopoulos on LinkedIn: Foti PanagiotakopoulosWhile you’re hereFollow Flying Cat Marketing on the following channels to get more tips, tactics, and knowledge on content marketing:Listen to the Flying Cat Marketing Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7dCyOzFGosoNYJhbDOvfQdApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/flying-cat-marketing-podcast/id1535206202?uo=4Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=579505&refid=stprFollow me onInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/flyingcatmarketing/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flyingcatmarketingLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flying-cat-marketing/