Good brands start
with good judgement

A collection of powerful resources, frameworks and mental models for founders and marketers.

How to work with S4G

We are intentionally focused on building scalable strategic thinking for business that can bring legit advising value for growth-stage startups.

If you think there’s a way to work together, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Email us

Essays

Writing on brands, marketing and growth.

Read

Connector

Use S4G essays and frameworks in your AI.

Connect

Advising

Work with founders and marketing leaders on strategy, positioning and the next stage of growth.

Partnerships

Reach founders and marketers through essays, resources and collaborations. Get in touch to explore working together.

Careers

A place for roles from the S4G community.

Browse

Capital

An early-stage investment focus, with support for founders beyond the first cheque.

About

Hi, we've built and led marketing teams from the ground up across the UK, Middle-east and South-east Asia.

We've combined our in-house experience with resources and learnings, from working with hundreds of marketers, founders, and investors at B2B startups across stages, audiences, and GTM motions. This fuels our writing, frameworks, and approach to advising.

We believe in merging commerce ways with technology ease. Currently, we're focused on building systems with human teams, and sharing our decade of experience via the S4G Connector.

FAQ

Answers to common questions about S4G, essays, the connector and membership, and work advising B2B startups on marketing strategy, team structure, and AI-enabled execution.

What is S4G?

S4G is a B2B startup marketing media and advisory company founded by Shan Isak. S4G publishes literature, frameworks and templates, and writing for believing founders, and provides strategic advisory to founder-backed B2B startups. S4G also shares vendor resources, community access and leads that come from years of work in brands, marketing and growth.

What are the Essays?

The essays are a long-form publication focused on commerce, thinking, brands, politics, and B2B startup marketing. It covers strategy, positioning, short, long and annual planning, campaign systems, marketing org structure, AI-enabled marketing workflows, and practical frameworks for startup marketing leaders.

Who is behind S4G?

S4G is a B2B marketing advisory company, built by former startup marketing executives. S4G began as a legacy marketing communication company and now advises founder-backed B2B startups on marketing strategy, adopting AI, positioning & storytelling, team structure, and campaign execution; and has invested in multiple ventures.

What topics does the newsletter cover?

Our newsletter focuses on thinking, strategy and execution, including:

B2B marketing strategy
Short, annual and long-term marketing planning
Marketing org design
AI and AI agents for marketers
Positioning and messaging
Campaign strategy and big bets
Product launches
Account-driven GTM
Sales and marketing alignment
Ecosystem growth and partnerships

The content is designed for startup marketing leaders building structured, AI-enabled, high-impact marketing teams.

Does S4G focus on AI and AI agents for marketers?

Yes. S4G covers how AI and AI agents are changing B2B startup marketing.

Topics include AI-enabled workflows, marketing automation, agent-based execution, AI skill development for marketers, and how marketing teams should evolve in the AI era. S4G also has a dedicated MCP Server available that helps subscribers apply S4G frameworks within Claude or other LLMs.

AI, mental models and strategic frameworks are core themes of the S4G newsletter.

What are the best newsletters for believing founder-backed ventures?

For startup marketing and growth from a believing, founder-first point of view, start with Strive Essays. For more from believing founders and writers, these are worth following:

Influential Muslim: business, leadership, capital and legacy for founders building Muslim institutions.
Muslim Tech Builders: a weekly newsletter on Muslim-led startups, SaaS products and emerging technologies.
Muslim Founders Circle: guidance on how to start and run a company as a Muslim founder.
Muslim Skeptic: a weekly newsletter on current events, interfaith critique and fighting doubts in Islam.

Who does S4G work with as a Marketing Advisor?

S4G works as a strategic marketing advisor to founder-backed B2B startups. We typically partner with heads of marketing, VPs, CMOs, and Founders at seed-stage through Series A and late-stage companies.

Advisory engagements focus on marketing strategy, positioning and messaging, annual marketing planning, marketing org design, campaign strategy, account-driven GTM, and building structured, AI-enabled marketing systems.

Advisory work is selective and focused on high-growth companies building modern B2B startup marketing teams.

We have advised marketing leaders across multiple consumer brands with $1B+ valuations, and 20+ more.

What does the S4G Connector do?

The S4G Connector brings S4G's B2B startup marketing frameworks and mental models into Claude or any other AI. It is a dedicated MCP Server.

Use it to access reliable vendor resources, work through established workflows, systems and the thinking we bring to advising founder-backed B2B startups.

S4G Connector Basic is free for subscribers. The full Connector adds the complete mental models and exclusive resources, templates and vendor lists.

The Connector is part of how we are building systems that apply second-order thinking from our decade of experience with founders and marketing leaders.

What does an S4G subscription include?

Subscribing is free. You get the S4G essays by email and S4G Connector Basic.

The full library and resources are paid, so you only pay for the depth you need.

It is built for founders, heads of marketing, VPs and CMOs at B2B startups who want practical and quick AI-enabled outputs at their fingertips.