You have PMF but no one outside your company and your core customers can explain what you are 
.
Meanwhile, competitors with worse products are thriving 
and your team can't seem to tell the same story 
.
Gate Check Studios finds what you actually believe, creates editorial that customers love, and turns it all into a marketing system 
.
No more random acts of content. No more explaining who you are for the 100th time 
.
It's in your founder's head. Or in your best performing content. We extract and sharpen your viewpoint into something only your company could produce. Features are a commodity. Brand, community, and audience are a moat. Build it.
Original, opinionated content built from exhaustive research, interviews, and data to make your company the most interesting voice in your category. Anyone can ask AI for a blog post. But not everyone has something compelling to say.
We take what's been working and scale it with editorial workflows and AI systems informed by 15+ years of running brand-building teams. Stay focused on producing great creative work, not shuffling information between systems.
"I don't know about you, I've never seen a 90% open rate on a 10,000 person list. That's insanity."— Benyamin Elias, ActiveCampaign
"Being a partner with you has allowed us to transition from random acts of marketing to consolidated messaging. That's been the glue to bring it together."— Erin McInrue-Savage, ActiveCampaign
"We couldn't have done that on our own. We couldn't have got a freelancer in there to do a cross-functional exercise with the C-suite to align on the brand message."— Joe Kevens, Wisedocs
We work best with companies who are:
We get under the hood and produce an editorial asset you've always needed but didn't have the time or clarity to produce.
(Past projects have included everything from a full microsite to a definitive category guide.)
Go 0 to 100. We find your POV, hone it, create months of content, and develop a distribution system so you're not dependent on platforms or algorithms.
4-6 monthsWe continue to iterate and produce work, acting as (or supplementing) your in-house team — continuing to improve our creative and AI systems.
Quarter-to-quarter
Gate Check Studios is run by Sean Blanda. He's built content engines that became the #2 lead source at Crossbeam, grew 99U to 1.2M subscribers for Adobe, and reached 2M subscribers at InVision.
He's built new categories (like "Ecosystem-Led Growth" and "Autonomous Marketing"), produced conferences at places like Lincoln Center, and grew content programs that outlast and outgrow the products they supported.
That's 17 years of experience. Book time with him here.
Strategies for brand, content, and audience building in the AI age. Informed by our work. Sent every other week. See more here.