Thought Leadership
meets Results
THE BRIEF
The AI avalanche makes us want to like, know, and trust people.
Building thought leadership will make you the company's greatest asset.
Scaling Nerds helps you attract funding, talent & sales by being you.
Manual vs. Scaled
You choose
The 1-on-1 Push
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1-on-1 fundraising, recruiting, and sales
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Only relying on traditional company PR and marketing, competing with AI slop
1-to-Many Pull
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Speaking on the top 5% industry and VC podcasts
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Presenting on the main stages of industry events
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Founder-led PR that builds trust, credibility and drives results
The invisible grind
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Endless conference crowds and business card collecting
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A whirlwind of individual marketing attempts, but do they truly help?
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Hustling for individual warm intros
Founder thought leadership
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Investors proactively reach out
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Your LinkedIn inbox is full of opportunities and relevant inquiries
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A dozen corporate leads email you after your speech
Building awareness
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Never-ending - as the company scales the amount of events, meetings and tasks just increases
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Cold: You are constantly re-introducing yourself and your business and building understanding and trust from scratch
Building trust
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Compounding: the more visible you are the bigger your reach and ROI for each hour spent
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Warm: many people you talk to have already seen, read or heard you. They know what you do & what you stand for.
This is for you if you are...
A startup founder or c-level
Serial entrperneurs or past seed stage
working on impact innovation
using science and tech for good
looking for funding or B2B sales
so your visibiity can lead to results
The Scaling Nerds Framework
You likely want to reach several stakeholder groups (various planets). Your Rocket represents the message you want to land: your key arguments, topics, and talking points.
Example outcomes:
- A founder-led marketing strategy that fits your personality
- A clear, strong founder brand & online presence
- Clarity on how you position and pitch your company and confidently answer challenging questions
1. The ROCKET: What you communicate
A rocket needs a competent Astronaut to fly it. Your messaging requires great storytelling and communication skills, so it catches on.
Example outcomes:
- You are highly confident in interviews, negotiations, and on stage, even off-the-cuff, you truly capture people's attention
- You have a stack of strong stories that convince and deliver key messages
- You have a strong pitch, but also have a thought-leadership angle that get's you onto stages & media otherwise unreachable
2. The Astronaut: How you communicate it
When you have a strong strategy and message (Rocket), and you are great at delivering it (Astronaut), then it's time to crank up the heat to reach more people.
Example outcomes:
- Step-by-step climb the ladder of relevant podcasts. From the top 10%, the top 5%, the top 2.5%, and further.
- Get a LinkedIn system that doesn't take much of your time or attention but consistently brings in new opportunities
3. The Boost: Where you communicate it
The Scaling Nerds Framework
1. Communications Strategy
Rocket
Purpose: Ensure visibility leads to measurable results
Working relationship: Consulting
Example outcomes:
- A founder-led marketing strategy that fits your personality and strengths with a 1-year action plan
- A clear, strong founder brand & online presence
- Clarity on how you position and pitch your company and confidently answer challenging questions
2.Storytelling, media, and stage training
Astronaut
Purpose: Build long-term communication skills that
Working relationship: Training/Consulting
Example outcomes:
- You are highly confident in interviews, negotiations, and on stage, even off-the-cuff, you truly capture people's attention
- you have a stack of strong stories that convince and deliver key messages
- You ahve a strong pitch, but also have a thought-leadership angle that get's you onto stages & media otherwise unreachable
3.NEO-PR focused on podcasts, speaking and LinkedIn
Boost
Purpose: Make your message fly. Spin the flywheel of attention and use new media to get in front of the right crowds
Working relationship: Consulting / Agency Work
Example outcomes:
- Step-by-step climbing the ladder of relevant podcasts. From the top 10%, the top 5%, the top 2.5%, and further.
- Having a LinkedIn system that doesn't take much of your time or attention but consistently brings in new opportunities
I'm Marina Schmidt.
I can help you...
…show up on stage with confidence because I’ve been a professional moderator for years. I’ve moderated 4 days back-to-back at the largest food fair in the world, and I get paid up to 7k for a day on stage. I know how to own a room in high-stakes settings, and I can help you do the same.
…get onto podcasts and get results because I spent years as a full-time, sponsor-funded podcaster. I interviewed 120+ nerdy founders, and my audio editors and I routinely reviewed the podcast analytics to re-edit episodes. That process showed me what keeps people listening until the end and what makes them drop off. Over time, I learned how to assess real reach and group podcasts into top 10%, top 5%, top 2.5%, and so on.
…develop strong storytelling skills because I was editor-in-chief of the largest audio documentary covering the entire food system from farm to fork. I worked with 55+ interview guests and turned their input into clear, coherent narratives. I also did voice work, which taught me many practical vocal techniques I can pass on.
…get onto top stages and podcasts because I’ve been on the other side. I still receive podcast guest pitches - every single day. I’ve organised and curated invite-only events for top founders and VCs with the World Economic Forum and been a curator for the largest food fair in the world. I’ve seen endless pitches and know what works and what doesn’t.
…explain complex topics clearly because my experience in market analysis across industries helps me think in clear structures and frameworks. I’ve spent years breaking down sustainable food tech and biotech and my educational work in food tech was rated “excellent” by MIT.
…build thought leadership that creates a flywheel of opportunities because I’ve done it myself. I used the same methods to become known for thought leadership in sustainable food tech. At a conference in 2024, I couldn’t walk 10 steps without being stopped. As I exited a subway, two VCs came rushing after me to stop me and say they had been following my work closely.
A unique approach
Working 1-on-1 with startup founders
Improving the communication skills of founders
