Evolving the digital landscape for entrepreneurs—with Mark Petch

Entrepreneur, early stage investor, and Founder of Relative, Mark Petch has done it all, and continues to support the startup community with his consultancy that helps businesses with profitable growth move to the next level of business evolution. His experience in both leading and working for businesses has garnered him an extensive amount of knowledge, particularly in advising how to connect with customers in more engaging and meaningful ways, that he brings to this week’s episode of The Richard Dri Podcast.

Today, Mark talks about his consultancy work with The Maple Network, his own investment projects, including Funnelyics and Thrive Cannabis, a top of the line producer in the Canadian legal market, and his personal investment strategy that includes real estate and cryptocurrency.

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Highlights:

Mark opens the conversation by saying that “it’s not like a whole host of new tactics has arisen as a result of the pandemic,” and continues to recommend that businesses look at what worked prior to the pandemic, “Start with what worked before and don’t restart things that weren’t working.”
Mark walks through The Maple Network, a self-serve Canadian ad platform that is taking the local market by storm due to its local-centric reach (no foreign ads), its fee transparency and its ease of use.
He explains that the Field of Dreams mentality of “build it and they will come” is a common marketing mistake, and that success comes from knowing your customers, which in turn allows you to build a business and brand that truly resonates with the audience.
Finally Mark walks through his own investment planning strategy, which deviates somewhat from the norm, and more towards real estate and cryptocurrencies.

Quotes:

“While a lot has changed [during the pandemic], a lot remains the same. You’re still trying to connect with specific consumers and bring them into your brand world through great storytelling, that’s ultimately what you’re trying to do with the end goal of some type of conversion.”

“In the case studies we’ve seen so far, clients are seeing higher click-through rates [with The Maple Network] than let’s say the Google Display Network.”

“Financial independence to me means being able to operate at that level and being able to have a lot more impact and influence on the entrepreneurial space in Canada and positioning it even more as a global hub and place of opportunity for entrepreneurs.”