No matter what stage your company is in, here's what you need to know about navigating a communications strategy. Photo via Getty Images

The significance of effective communication and its contribution to a company’s success are points regularly stressed by conference panelists and forum speakers. Yet for many founders it’s advice that fuels frustration for how to make communications a priority with a lack of understanding of the practice.

This article combines insights from investors, customers, advisers, and founders, with actionable recommendations that benefit both startups and growth stage leaders who are scaling the impact of their companies.

Why marketing communications is important

Marketing communications combines the use of messages and a broad spectrum of tools to communicate with target audiences in attracting customers, cultivating relationships, acquiring funding, increasing visibility, and growing influence.

To define marketing communications in singular terms limits its impact. “For some, communications is simply a pretty graphic,” says Adam Lipman, managing partner of Ecliptic Capital, “and they don’t think about the importance of communications that speak to the needs of their key audiences in language that will resonate with them.”

It can be tempting to jump straight to producing tools that you can touch, hear and see, but applying thoughtful strategies first has everything to do with how successful those tools will be.

A dangerous misconception

Regardless of how innovative your device, therapeutic or service, there is always competition, including the option of customers doing nothing. “We call it the good enough problem,” says Lipman. “If what’s currently being done is considered good enough, what is the incentive to improve or change it with your idea?”

Comparison is a common method for comprehending a disruptor’s unprecedented concept. Your wearable device that does something no one else’s does will, at the very least, be categorized and compared to other wearables. Your innovative concept for improving cardiovascular patient outcomes will be compared within the broad category of cardiovascular care. To believe there’s no competition to challenge your success, regardless of how unique, is a false sense of security that requires proactive messaging.

“If you don’t define your brand, someone else is going to do it for you, and it may not be what you want,” warns Tatiana Fofanova, co-founder and CEO of Koda Health.

The analogy we use when formulating messaging for our clients is to define their “seat at the table” so that no matter who or how many competitors are seated alongside them, the advantage their solution offers and the beneficial role they fill within the ecosystem is very clear.

Strategically connecting the dots

Distinguishing your company from its competition and motivating action on the part of investors or customers requires communication strategies that connect all the dots.

“Many entrepreneurs think their technology will sell itself,” says Michelle Stansbury, vice president of innovation and IT applications for Houston Methodist. “But for me to understand what we gain by utilizing their product, I want to know what problem are they solving. Does their product increase efficiencies, improve patient satisfaction, or answer a financial problem? Answering these questions is fundamental.”

In addition to messaging that clearly defines how your company is uniquely capable of delivering valuable solutions, it’s important to apply strategies for speaking your audience’s language and identifying the pain points you are capable of relieving. It also requires considering the perspective and experience of an audience’s different members. For instance, if presenting to an investor who is also a neurologist, sharing scientific data will be appreciated. For others, the why and how of what you offer may be better told through story.

The homework you do to fully understand your audience’s needs will not only produce beneficial insights but also demonstrate a level of commitment that can impress influencers and potential funders.

“I’m drawn to founders who want to walk in their customer’s shoes. They are generally deeply empathetic because they've spent time literally walking the halls with them and sat in the chairs next to them,” says John “JR” Reale, venture lead for the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund. “It’s very endearing to see a founder who wants to understand and continue to learn from who they want to serve.”

Actionable advice

Just as marketing communications is defined by multiple components, there are several actionable strategies for getting past the understanding phase. Here are three key recommendations to implement, whether a startup with limited resources or a company experiencing accelerated growth.

As a startup

  • Develop brand messaging that distinguishes your solutions from the competition and captures the compelling purpose and passion of your company’s mission.
  • Establish a working relationship with professional communicators. Though your budget is small, it’s a great way to develop trust and familiarity within the parameters of a single project for when greater resources allow expanded assistance in the future.
  • Identify each of your key audiences, including strategic partners, community influencers, and end users, as well as potential investors and other funding sources. The list may be daunting, so rank contacts in each category and unleash your entrepreneurial curiosity to research their needs and priorities.

The growth stage company

  • Invest in comprehensive communication consultation to elevate your startup marketing communications to the 2.0 level of expected sophistication. This is when the working relationship seeds you planted with a professional communicator really pays off. Trust has been established and there is a fundamental understanding for who you are and why it matters.
  • Just as your business plan provides vital direction, a strategic communications plan functions as an essential blueprint for achieving your goals, including connecting with target audiences, increasing visibility, marketing your company’s services or products, and strengthening your bottom line. Strategies should be tailored to your organization’s specific needs and identify the tools necessary for achieving success.
  • Prioritize and produce marketing tools identified in your plan that promote the company’s impact and build on the brand reputation it has achieved.

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Kelli Newman is president of the Houston-based communication strategies firm, Newman & Newman Inc., where she leads a talented team of marketing professionals advancing the success of their purpose-driven clients.

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Houston palliative care startup partners with new platform to expand reach

palliative care partnership

Houston-based Koda Health and Dallas’ Guidehealth, an AI-powered health care services platform, announced a strategic partnership to provide access to tech-enabled solutions to help improve care and reduce costs for patients navigating serious illness.

Health systems and clinically integrated networks working with Guidehealth can now deploy Koda Health’s Advance Care Planning (ACP) platform, which allows patients to document and share their care preferences, goals and advance directives for health systems. Guidehealth’s platform integrates into primary care workflows and allows providers to identify high-risk patients, coordinate care and reduce administrative burden.

Guidehealth also works with a team of virtual caregivers, known as Guidehealth Healthguides, who help patients navigate end-of-life decisions. With this new partnership, the Healthguides will be able to integrate Koda Health’s ACP platform into their workflows.

“Koda Health’s mission is to ensure that every patient’s voice is heard, especially during the most vulnerable times in their lives,” Dr. Desh Mohan, Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Koda Health, said in a news release. “This partnership with Guidehealth accelerates our ability to reach patients at scale, especially those in value-based arrangements where care alignment and quality of life are top priorities.”

Guidehealth works with more than 500,000 patients and major systems, such as Emory Healthcare, according to the release. The company closed a $14 million seed round last year, which included investment from Memorial Hermann.

“Advance care planning is essential to delivering care that is not just high quality, but also compassionate and aligned with what matters most to each patient,” Dr. Sanjay Doddamani, founder and CEO of Guidehealth, said in a news release. “Koda Health brings a scalable, digital-first approach to a historically complex and emotional process. By embedding Koda into our value-based care ecosystem, we’re equipping providers to have meaningful conversations with patients, reduce unnecessary interventions and ultimately improve the experience for families and clinicians alike.”

Koda Health was born out of the TMC's Biodesign Fellowship and was launched by CEO Tatiana Fofanova, Dr. Desh Mohan, and Katelin Cherry in March 2020. It closed an oversubscribed seed round for an undisclosed amount last year, with investments from AARP, Memorial Hermann Health System and the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund. The company also added Kidney Action Planningto its suite of services in 2024.

Student-led startup runs away with prestigious prize at Rice competition

winner, winner

Rice University student-founded companies took home a total of $100,000 in equity-free funding at the annual Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge.

Known as the NRLC, the venture competition features Rice University's top student-founded startups. The competition is open to undergraduate, graduate, and MBA students at Rice.

Five finalists were named earlier this year to pitch their five-minute pitch before the Rice entrepreneurship community on April 22. Each startup walked away with equity-free investment.

Veloci Running took home the first-place prize and $50,000. The company was founded by Tyler Strothman, a former track and field athlete and senior at Rice majoring in sport management.

Inspired by the foot pain he suffered due to the narrow toe boxes in his running shoes, Strothman decided to create a naturally shaped shoe designed to relieve lower leg tightness and absorb impact.

SteerBio took home second place and $25,000. The startup has a patented single-surgery hydrogel solution for lymphedema. It was founded by Mor Sela Golan, Martha Fowler and Alvaro Moreno Lozano. Lozano was recently named to the 2025 Rice Innovation Fellows cohort and Golan was named a Commercialization Fellow.

Third place, and $15,000, went to Labshare, which is an AI-powered web app that streamlines lab inventory and resource sharing. It was founded by Julian Figueroa Jr, John Tian, Mingyo Kang, Arnan Bawa and Daniel Kuo.

Other winners included:

  • Outstanding Undergraduate Award and $2,500: Kinnections
  • Audience Choice Award and $2,000: Labshare
  • Interdisciplinary Innovation Prize sponsored by OURI and $1,000: Haast Autonomous
  • Frank Liu Jr. Prize for Creative Innovation in Music, Fashion, & the Arts and $1,500: Craftroom
  • Outstanding Achievement in Artificial Intelligence Prize and $1,000: Kaducia
  • Outstanding Achievement in Social Impact Prize and $1,000: Kinnections
  • Outstanding Achievement in Consumer Goods Prize and $1,000 : Actile Technologies
  • Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare Innovations Prize and $1,000: Haast Autonomous

The NRLC, open to Rice students, is Lilie's hallmark event. HEXASpec, which develops inorganic fillers that improve heat management for the semiconductor industry, won the event last year. The team also won this year's Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition during CERAWeek in the TEX-E student track.

Lilie also announced its 2025 Rice Innovation Fellows cohort and its first-ever Commercialization Fellows cohort this month. Read more here.