Employer branding · Startups
Programme manager sounds like event coordination until somebody explains it.
An incubator or accelerator hires a handful of people a year into roles nobody outside understands, from programme management to an entrepreneur in residence. Employer branding makes those jobs legible and says how the place is funded, and GullySales writes it with the team running your cohorts.
In one paragraph
An incubator or accelerator hires a handful of people a year into roles nobody outside understands, from programme management to an entrepreneur in residence. Employer branding makes those jobs legible and says how the place is funded, and GullySales writes it with the team running your cohorts.
Also written for
Startup incubators, Accelerators, Venture studios.
For incubators and accelerators
Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.
“Programme manager reads as running events”
The candidate you want is asking whether they sit with founders on their numbers or book the venue for demo day. Both jobs exist, both are real, and both are advertised with the same title.
“How you are funded changes the job entirely”
A university cell, a state-backed programme, a corporate innovation arm and a fund with a carry pool pay differently, last differently and answer to different people. Nobody can tell which you are from your site.
“Your team is small enough that each hire changes the place”
With four or five people, a bad fit is not absorbed, it is felt in every cohort. An honest job description is worth more here than in a company of two hundred.
“A residency ends and nobody says what happens next”
Whether it leads to a company, a partner track or an exit at eighteen months is the first thing a serious candidate asks. Left vague, the role attracts people shopping for a title.
What we do
What we deliver for incubators and accelerators.
Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.
Careers page that states how you are funded
Where the money comes from, what the programme is measured on, and what that means for pay and tenure in the roles you are opening.
Result: Candidates rule themselves in or out before you spend a week on them.
Role posts that separate programme work from investment work
Sourcing, diligence and portfolio support written apart from cohort operations, events and community, with the decisions each role actually gets to make.
Result: Applications from people who want the job you are offering.
Team profiles with what each person runs
Four or five short profiles covering the cohorts, the investments and the operations. Written from conversations and approved by each of them.
Result: A candidate sees who they would sit beside every day.
The terms of a residency, written down
Length, the support that comes with it and what happens at the end, drafted with whoever handles your agreements. The legal position is theirs to confirm, never ours.
Result: Serious founders apply and the title-hunters do not.
A shared post format for your portfolio
One template the companies in your programme use for their own hiring, so a cohort founder is not writing their first job advertisement alone at midnight.
Result: Something practical to hand a portfolio company that costs you nothing to repeat.
How the result is measured
- Applications received per open role
- Careers page engagement and time on page
- Candidate drop-off during the interview process
- Referral hires as a share of total hires
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, then reported every month against it.
How it works
From your first message to the first monthly report.
No open-ended retainer. Each step has a point in time and something you receive.
01 · Day 1
Free audit call
45 minutes with whoever handles your enquiries: how they arrive, how fast they are answered, where they are lost.
02 · Within a few working days
Written, scored report
Six areas scored, fixes ranked by return and cost. If you want our help, the scope and fee come with it, in writing.
03 · Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later month has an honest comparison.
04 · Month 1
The first fix goes live
Usually the cheapest one on the report: reply time, a follow-up sequence or the marketing-to-sales handover.
05 · Every month
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words.
06 · Month 3 to 6
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. No twelve-month lock.
How the work runs for incubators and accelerators
- 1
Talk to current employees
We interview a cross-section of staff honestly, including some who might raise uncomfortable points.
- 2
Find the genuine reasons to join
We identify what is actually true and attractive about working there, rather than generic claims that could apply anywhere.
- 3
Build the careers content
The careers page, job post templates and employee stories are written from what staff actually said.
- 4
Review the candidate experience
We check what happens between application and offer, since branding cannot fix a process that loses candidates through delay.
- 5
Hand over and refresh periodically
Content is handed over for ongoing use and revisited periodically as the team and roles change.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every monthly report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No lock-in, no guarantees we cannot keep
Three to six months at a time. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how you sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 45-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak, within a few working days
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Do you help our portfolio companies hire?
We already market to founders. Is this the same work?
We hire one person a year. Should we bother?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Startups
Employer branding for the rest of the startups.
Or start from employer branding.