Martin O'Leary Startup Marketing

Who's Behind Uncharted?

I'm Martin.

I've spent 20 years inside the growth engines of startups and Fortune 500s.

I helped launch Ireland's first digital bank. Scaled startups to $75M+ in revenue. Built go-to-market machines across Europe and MENA.

Along the way, I noticed Smart founders were burning millions on tactics that should have worked but didn't. And the successful ones? They were doing things completely differently.

Maybe it's my technical background. Maybe it's seeing both B2C and B2B. Maybe it's working outside Silicon Valley.

But I kept noticing the same pattern: The playbooks everyone swears by were written for a different game.

What's Really Happening

The fairytales aren't just wrong, they're dangerous.

They tell you:

  • You need massive teams to scale

  • Complex funnels drive conversions

  • More features mean more growth

  • Best practices work for everyone

  • Silicon Valley's playbook is universal

What I've found actually works:

  • One person with AI tools beating entire departments

  • Simple psychology outperforming complex systems

  • Removing features to increase revenue

  • Contrarian moves that shouldn't work but do

  • Regional truths that fairytales ignore

Some breakthroughs come from new technology making the impossible possible. Others come from rediscovering what everyone forgot. Most come from questioning what everyone "knows" is true.

That's why I started Uncharted.

Every Tuesday, I share what actually works. New tech that changes the game. Old psychology that never stopped working. Tactics everyone missed. All tested, measured, and ready to implement.

What I'm Tracking at the Frontier

  • AI eating everything → How one person with AI replaces entire teams

  • Strategy myths dying → Why "best practices" kill startups outside Silicon Valley

  • Founder reality checks → What actually works from those who've done it

  • Psychology still wins → Why users trust bots more than salespeople

The patterns are clear once you look past the fairytales.

👉 Subscribe to Uncharted. See what works when the rules have changed.

Warning: This newsletter will make you question everything you learned about marketing. Your current agency will hate it. Your boss might fire you. Your results will speak for themselves.

P.S. 👉 Want to chat? DM me on X or connect on LinkedIn.

User's avatar

Subscribe to Uncharted | Startup growth without the fairytales

Get startup growth insights that actually work. No fairytales, just tested wins. Every Tuesday, 5-minute read.

People

Built Ireland’s first digital bank to $5B. Now I write Uncharted. Startup growth without the fairytales. For founders, marketers, and product builders tired of the hype and looking for the truth. Based in Dubai.