Channels

Ranked by our judgement; thresholds are hypotheses for the founders to change.

1. Founder network. The 12 October tracker showed 29 names, 7 contacted, 0 demos and 0 referral terms: untested.
2. Founder-led LinkedIn. Alex's figures (roughly 30,000 followers, 500,000 to 1,000,000 impressions a week, three to five inbound leads a week; his own, re-confirm) prove the method, not the product, because he writes his posts. From a declared date, draft through Holly, disclose the method, measure. Add "how did you hear about us?" to every signup.
3. Referrers and affiliates in recruitment. No commission figure appears in any seller-facing or partner-facing text until D19 ("commission is set out in your partner agreement"). The pack lead recommends the Affiliate Referral Agreement basis (10% of first-year revenue for 10 or fewer paid users, 15% for 11 to 50, 20% above 50; 20% on every referral past 200 combined users; six-month registration window). The research says it may be thin (suggested default 20% recurring for 12 months). Worked illustration: a six-seat Spark account earns its referrer about £497 in year one at 10% (£994 at 20%). Test whether 10% moves referrers before changing it. Every affiliate passes the academy's claims check before getting a link.
4. Law design partners, which double as the law channel.
5. Recruitment software partners: never sold as "your engagers arrive in your CRM" (RED until D1); no co-marketing claimed before it happens. Plan on nothing until a tracked send.
6. Events. At no-selling events, talk about the problem, let people ask, follow up afterwards with permission. The Recruitment Agency Expo slot (16 to 17 March 2027) pays back through follow-up, not stage time. Law events are walk-the-floor until there is revenue.
7. Podcasts. A recruitment podcast network offers 10 to 20 appearances at a reported £2,000 or £5,000 an episode (unreconciled). No paid appearance until five free or low-cost episodes produce tracked demos; never commit to a series up front.
8. Free tools and the academy certificate (D26). An "AI slop" checker is never tuned to exempt anyone, our customers included.
9. Long shots, gated: agency partners once priced; outbound to researched trigger accounts only, after D20. The 6,000-company list and the commission-only agency stay RED until Karl rules: PECR consent covers sole traders and some partnerships, DMs count as electronic mail, and fines reach £17.5M or 4% of turnover (ICO guidance, strong). Nothing sent may imply Maktura replaces the social media hire they are advertising for.

Channel tests#

Ideas we recommend against (the decision is the founders'): lifetime deals; "Made with Maktura" on users' posts (contradicts the own-voice promise); job adverts for roles that do not exist; retrospective "building in public"; traction claims to influencers or affiliates (anything they hear is repeated in public, so it must be literally true); a seven-day trial with auto-charge on day eight (consider a money-back guarantee, D21); a QR-code "£50 off the first month" (a discount, against the no-discounting rule).