We all use AI now.
It's part of how we work now, whether that's ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or AI features already built into our tools.
There's a big opportunity some startups are missing: if you're not using AI to tackle the scaffolding of your marketing operations, you're leaving time and resources on the table.
As a career marketer in the startup world, my time at Anzu Partners, a VC firm, has given me a look inside dozens of portfolio companies building marketing from scratch.
You may not have a marketing team yet, or you may have one person wearing five hats. Either way, a few hours a week with AI can give you a system running beneath your feet.
To be clear, AI isn't a replacement for a real marketing strategy or the team that executes it. It's the foundation that keeps the lights on and buys you time, so you're not starting from zero when you build out that function.
Here's how I personally use AI to cover that ground:
➡️ Social + content: I feed ChatGPT/Claude everything I have on a company (website, decks, white papers, patents) to get first drafts of LinkedIn posts, email copy, and social captions in our brand voice, instead of starting from scratch each time.
➡️ Lead gen + paid campaigns: I use Claude to test multiple versions of ad copy and audience angles for LinkedIn and paid social, so I can iterate faster on what's driving clicks and leads instead of guessing. (This gets nuanced, reach out if you have questions!)
➡️ Research: I use Perplexity to get up to speed on competitors and industry news in minutes, since I'm constantly working across multiple industries and companies.
➡️ Customer insights: I run transcripts through Fireflies to pull out themes and language.
➡️ Design: I use Canva's AI tools for quick design direction, so fresh assets go out the door faster.
➡️ Email + CRM: I use the AI features inside platforms like HubSpot for everything from fine-tuning drafts to reporting.
The goal isn't to have AI "do your marketing," because it can't. It's to take repetitive work off your plate so you can spend more time on strategy, creativity, customers, and the work that actually moves the business forward.
And the biggest unlock isn't the tool. It's giving AI the right context: your positioning, audience, messaging, brand voice, products, and past content. That context is the real foundation, turning AI output from generic to useful. It's how I support marketing for multiple portfolio companies as a team of one, with a head start that gets me to the finish line faster instead of starting from scratch every time.
AI is already part of how we work. For startups, the opportunity is to use it to build a stronger foundation, create consistency, and help lean teams do more with what they have. Skipping this layer doesn't just cost efficiency, it means falling behind teams already moving faster with fewer resources.
Use AI to build scaffolding you can stand on.
#Marketing #GrowthMarketing #AI #Startups
