Tuff

Ellen Jantsch had a clear frustration driving her: she saw startups constantly derailed by hiring traditional agencies or in-house marketers who wasted their time and money with sloppy execution. Having worked as Head of Growth & Marketing at Uppercase and on marketing teams at Adaptly (acquired by Accenture) and Nielsen, she had the expertise but also the conviction that there had to be a better way. "I believe entrepreneurs and startups with unique ideas deserve access to the best growth marketers available," she said. The traditional agency model felt broken to her, and she wanted to build something different.

Ellen's entry into entrepreneurship was gradual. She started freelancing, and her first client came through a warm referral—a marketing agency that was over capacity reached out because they knew she could run Google campaigns. That first client became a long-term partner, validating her approach. The transition from one-person freelancer to founder took time. "Being out on my own was easy and I felt confident as a one-person team. I didn't have much overhead, I could travel, work on my time and schedule, deliver results fast, and pick and choose who I worked with." But after about a year, Ellen knew she wanted something bigger and more meaningful with a team of smart, talented people.

Tuff's growth strategy is built on a 5-step framework that Ellen applies to both her clients and her own business. The framework lives in a Google Sheet and centers on rapid experimentation: foundation research, listing growth tactics (paid, affiliate, content, events, PR, partnerships), selecting high-impact experiments, executing campaigns, and analyzing results. They test 3-5 new experiments per month. Ellen treats Tuff as a client of Tuff, practicing what she preaches. The company has worked with 35+ startups ranging from bootstrapped founders to established players with multi-million dollar ad budgets.

One major challenge has been hiring and culture in a fully remote environment. Ellen admits her biggest mistake was not acting quickly enough on hiring misalignments and not building a career framework earlier. "It took us two years to build," she said. She also spread herself too thin by saying yes to too many commitments, learning that being selective about what deserves her attention is critical for effective leadership.

As of the interview date (May 2020), Tuff had five full-time employees and was planning to double the team by year-end, with two open positions posted. The company operates with intentional, slow growth—not trying to churn out as many ads as possible or handle more than four or five client accounts at once. Ellen's top three priorities are providing value to clients, testing and running experiments, and creating a great place to work. The company's values emphasize creating a work environment where people can make mistakes, have ownership, and grow.