Do Comms That Don't Scale
[S]tartups take off because the founders make them take off. There may be a handful that just grew by themselves, but usually it takes some sort of push to get them going. A good metaphor would be the cranks that car engines had before they got electric starters. Once the engine was going, it would keep going, but there was a separate and laborious process to get it going.
- Paul Graham, “Do Things that Don’t Scale”
We usually think of communications as one to many. Media articles, tweets, and broadcast clips can reach an audience of thousands or more in a single swoop.
But the most sensitive communications require a scalpel, not a hammer. This means sometimes good communications need to be one to one or one to few—that is, sometimes you have to do comms that don’t scale.
EXAMPLES
Here are some examples of comms precision strikes:
Sending your privacy team to college campuses to engage with protesters
The COO emailing a thank you to the tiger team who managed a big office move
Having your CEO do a bespoke sales pitch for a potential client
WHY
This phenomenon was brought home to me recently. I spent part of January and February in LA, where part of my daily routine became a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks—an, admittedly paltry, attempt to recreate the high of a good NYC BEC.1
On my third day, the barista looked up as I walked in. Before I even reached the counter, he asked, “What will you be having today, Cameron?” There was a warmth to the interaction that I hadn’t experienced since the brand’s earliest days, before Starbucks started to feel like something between a public rest stop and a bombed-out Kohls clearance rack.
This is, of course, all part of Starbucks’s attempt to get back to its roots as a cozy neighborhood coffeehouse, which the company told us all about via scalable comms like press releases and earnings calls. But actually implementing these changes requires comms that don’t scale: tiny micro-interactions between barista and customer.
Mass communications can build awareness and shape perception, but personal touchpoints actually create emotional connection and loyalty. A well-crafted press release might tell me about Starbucks's commitment to community, but it's the barista remembering my name that makes me feel like I belong there.
WHEN
How do you know when it's time to do comms that don't scale? I'd argue most comms strategies should start there. We should begin with the assumption that personalized, high-touch communication is the default, and only scale up when necessary.
This is especially true for startups, where one customer might represent 100% of your revenue. There’s no point in developing a “customer communications plan” meant to broadly apply to some Platonic ideal of your “ICP.” You need to craft something that will resonate with that one single customer, and maybe even one single decision-maker at that customer.
This pitch may very well not scale. You might not ever be able to use whatever deck or talking points you put together ever again. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth your time. In fact, it’s worth much more than something “scalable” that won’t actually help you close the deal in front of you.
Or take an example from my time at Palantir, when we sent the Head of Privacy and Civil Liberties to college campuses to have intimate conversations with potential candidates.
This was back in 2019. Furor against the first Trump administration was at a fever pitch, and misinformation about Palantir’s ICE contract led to campus protests. Flying an executive around the country to actually talk to students on the ground seemed like an insane misuse of resources, but more scalable approaches, like recruiter talking points or explanatory blogs, weren’t cutting it. The unscalable solution was the only one that actually worked. And then, over time, the messaging from those conversations worked its way into more scalable approaches, like an op-ed from Alex Karp.
Some key moments when unscalable comms are particularly valuable:
Crisis situations: When your company faces serious criticism or backlash, personal outreach to key stakeholders shows you're taking concerns seriously. Form responses feel dismissive.
Relationship-building: With VIP customers, strategic partners, or key talent, personalized communication builds stronger bonds than any marketing campaign.
Complex or sensitive topics: When the message requires nuance or might be easily misinterpreted, one-to-one communication allows for real-time clarification and feedback.
Culture reinforcement: Internal communications that demonstrate your values in action (like that COO thank-you note) create more meaningful culture change than company-wide memos.
HOW TO DO IT RIGHT
Unscalable communications require ownership. Here are some principles to guide your approach:
Be authentic: People can smell a script from miles away. Empower your team to speak genuinely, even if it means slightly inconsistent messaging.
Listen more than you talk: The magic of one-to-one communication is the opportunity for dialogue. Ask questions and actually care about the answers.
Follow through: If you make promises in these personal interactions, keeping them is non-negotiable. Trust is built through consistency.
Measure qualitatively: Success metrics for unscalable comms aren't reach or impressions; they're relationship strength, problem resolution rates, and loyalty indicators.
FINDING THE BALANCE
Of course, no organization can survive on unscalable communications alone. The art is knowing when to deploy your limited resources for maximum impact.
Think of your communications strategy as a pyramid. At the base are your scalable, broad-reach tools like social media, traditional media, and marketing campaigns. But as you move up the pyramid toward your most crucial stakeholders and most sensitive topics, the approaches become increasingly personalized and high-touch.
The most successful organizations are those that understand this balance. They know when a tweet will suffice and when the CEO needs to pick up the phone.
In a world of automated messages and algorithmic content, the human touch is essential to survival.
No, the Starbucks sandwiches don’t compare—but honestly, they’re still pretty good and I’m not ashamed to admit it!!