The Cobbler Finally Got a New Pair of Shoes
Meet the New Clearstart
You know the feeling when you look down and realize your shoes have seen better days? The sole is worn thin, the leather is cracking, and it might even be time to superglue parts back together. As an entrepreneur running a business on a shoestring budget (I could go all day with these puns), I get it. Branding feels like a luxury you just can’t afford right now — something to worry about later, after you’ve got more paying clients. But what if those beat up shoes are actually what’s keeping you from running?
This is at least what I’ve been telling clients for years, reminding them that investing in marketing will help them go further faster than they can imagine. And I fully believe it. Yet at Clearstart, we've always been the cobbler with the worn-out shoes, making up excuses after excuses as to why our brand sucks, claiming that client work took precedence over our own image.
But recently, I’ve been unable to shake the feeling of hypocrisy, as I’m preaching the importance of branding and well-run marketing systems while neglecting our own. After all, how could I expect others to invest in their brands if I wasn't willing to do the same?
Clearstart was born out of a simple yet profound mission: to provide startups with the marketing support they need to achieve their growth goals. Having been the first hire at a health tech startup myself, I intimately understood the challenges faced by new ventures working to make a name for themselves. Marketing, I realized, could be the differentiating factor that propelled them forward.
Now it’s time for Clearstart to start practicing what we preach, throwing out our old shoes and stepping into a new pair that will carry us confidently into the future.
The Path That Led Us Here: Clearstart's Journey
We’ve come a long way. Back in 2018, Clearstart was nothing more than myself, a logo and a Squarespace site, all pulled together in an attempt to appear legitimate. But over the years, through dedication and lessons learned, we've grown into a trusted marketing partner for startups.
Our journey began by securing our first four clients and learning quickly that short-term projects weren’t our thing, but building real, impactful relationships was. By 2020, our team and client roster expanded. We brought on new talent and welcomed even more innovative companies into the fold.
Growth continued into 2021, with our team doubling in size once again. We even attempted a rebrand, but we succumbed to the very thing we steer our clients away from: designing a brand for ourselves instead of our audience.
Today, with eight core team members in place, it’s time for a fresh start. Clearstart represents confidence and clarity of purpose: guiding startups to greatness. We're not just a creative agency, we're strategic partners invested in your success.
This new brand signifies how far we've come and will serve us well on the road ahead. It's a testament to the perseverance that built this company and the vision propelling us forward.
Why We Dropped "Creative" From Our Name
If you've been following our journey, you know we started as Clear Start Creative. But today, we're dropping "Creative" from our name and rebranding as simply Clearstart. Why the change?
For starters, "Creative" felt limiting. We're about more than just creativity — we provide startups with strategic guidance and marketing expertise to fuel their growth. "Creative" simply failed to capture the depth and breadth of what we offer.
Dropping "Creative" is a pivotal moment, allowing us to shed our limitations and embrace our future. Clearstart signifies the start of our next chapter, one marked by clarity, confidence in our abilities, and a relentless dedication to client success.
Introducing the New and Improved Clearstart
A Brand That Resonates
After years of false starts, we finally have a brand that resonates with the audience we serve. Our new logo is a nod to clarity: the clarity founders so desperately seek in those earliest stages of a company's growth. The wordmark is simple yet striking, highlighting our commitment to strategic direction. The color palette is energetic yet grounded, reflecting the makeup of our team and what we bring to a partnership.
A Clarified Purpose: Not Just Another Agency, But Your Strategic Partner
We’ve never wanted to be just like any other agency out there. In fact, I founded Clearstart because I realized the traditional agency model wasn’t designed to serve small teams and early stage companies. We truly want to be a strategic partner invested in our clients’ success. Our team of digital marketers, designers, and growth strategists work together to gain a holistic understanding of each client’s needs before developing tailored solutions to help them achieve their key performance indicators (KPIs) and revenue goals.
A Commitment to Education, Networking, and Growth
In addition to the marketing services we provide our clients, we’re committed to educating startups and sharing our insights with the wider community. Over this next year, we’ll be filling our knowledge center with resources on topics that specifically support the marketing hurdles early stage founders face when launching a new high-growth company.
We also recognize that our founders have insights of their own to share, and many of them work in industries that complement each other. That’s why we plan to offer more opportunities to bring our clients together so they can help each other grow.
Looking Ahead: How Clearstart Is Poised for Growth
Our Vision
Today, Clearstart is in the best position yet to achieve our vision of becoming the go-to partner for startups ready to take their growth to the next level. With a revamped brand and clear vision, we’re prepared to continue serving even more founders over these next years.
Our Team
The Clearstart team has expanded to include marketing strategists, writers, designers, and account managers all passionate about propelling startups forward. We’ve assembled a group aligned in our values of transparency, accountability and results.
Our Offerings
We’ve honed our ability to provide end-to-end marketing solutions tailored to startups’ needs and budgets at any stage. From brand building to content creation, social media management to advertising, we’ve got founders covered.
Our Client Base
To date, we’ve worked with over 50 startups across industries like SaaS, healthcare and fintech. Some first-time founders, some seasoned veterans, but all sharing the same drive to create real change in the world.
Stepping into the Future
You know what they say — the cobbler's children have no shoes. And for years, that was us. We were so busy making other brands shine that we let our own gather dust in the corner.
But not anymore. We've stepped into a fresh pair of kicks with this new rebrand. After years of starts and stops, we're finally walking with confidence and clarity into the future.
This new brand represents everything we've learned on our journey. It's a commitment to truly partnering with our clients. It's about strategy, relationships, and results.
Most importantly, it's about living our mission. We're here to give startups the fuel to grow, and to do that, we need to walk the walk, too. No more tattered laces or holes in our soles.
We're even launching with the same strategy we recommend for many of our clients: starting with a single homepage that lets people know who we are and what we offer. We’ll add additional pages over the coming weeks, but why wait for perfection when we can start strong today?
From company culture to client experience, we've never been stronger. It's a new day for Clearstart, and we can't wait to hit the ground running — in style.
