---
title: Marketing Partnership Finalized — Aviary
type: article
created: '2026-04-05'
updated: '2026-04-05'
source_docs:
- raw/2025-12-18-call-w-aaron-grossman-109908481.md
tags:
- meeting
- sales
- aviary
- pricing
- partnership
- marketing
layer: 2
client_source: AviaryAI
industry_context: saas
transferable: false
---

# Marketing Partnership Finalized — Aviary

Call with Aaron Grossman (Aviary) and Mark Hope (Asymmetric) finalizing the marketing engagement terms, pricing, and onboarding plan.

**Date:** 2025-12-18
**Attendees:** Aaron Grossman (agrossman@helloaviary.ai), Mark Hope (mark.hope@asymmetric.pro)

---

## Overview

This call closed out the commercial negotiation for Aviary's marketing engagement. Pricing was finalized after Aaron flagged a co-founder concern about the initial price increase, and the two-phase structure (blitz + retainer) was locked in. The strategy discussion confirmed a shift to parallel execution to meet Aviary's aggressive speed requirements. Onboarding logistics were agreed upon: soft launch the week of Dec 29, full launch Jan 5.

---

## Key Decisions

| Decision | Detail |
|---|---|
| **Blitz pricing** | $8,500/mo for Months 1–2 (reduced from $10k to address co-founder concern) |
| **Retainer pricing** | $9,500/mo for Months 3–6 |
| **Retainer structure** | Flat retainer chosen over base-plus-performance model (simpler, less definitional overhead) |
| **Execution strategy** | Parallel (simultaneous) rather than sequential task execution |
| **Lead timeline target** | First lead in 45–60 days (compressed from 90) |
| **Soft launch** | Week of Dec 29 — team alignment and asset checklist |
| **Full launch** | January 5 |
| **Month 4 review** | Check-in to assess progress and plan long-term partnership |

---

## Strategy: Parallel Execution

Aviary's co-founders (Blessing and Justin) pushed hard for speed, citing aggressive competitive pressure. Asymmetric's response was to restructure delivery from serial to parallel:

- **Before:** Build landing page → build ads → launch
- **After:** Build landing page and ads simultaneously, teams coordinating in real time

**Trade-offs acknowledged:**
- Some rework is expected (e.g., ads may need adjustment once landing page is finalized)
- Requires pulling Asymmetric resources from other work (opportunity cost)
- Introduces coordination overhead

**What can't be compressed:**
- Credit union sales cycles — decision timelines are externally determined
- Brand trust and social proof — these accumulate over time regardless of launch speed

Aviary's team explicitly accepted a "build the plane while flying it" approach and is not expecting perfection out of the gate.

---

## Pricing Negotiation

Aaron surfaced a concern from co-founder Blessing: Mark had previously indicated the price wouldn't double, but the proposal came in at $10k/mo for the blitz — roughly double an earlier informal figure. This wasn't a deal-breaker, but Aaron asked for any reduction to get Blessing comfortable signing.

Mark agreed on the spot to reduce the blitz rate to **$8,500/mo**. The retainer (Months 3–6) stays at **$9,500/mo**.

Aaron confirmed Aviary is not evaluating other vendors — all other agencies have been dismissed.

---

## Onboarding Plan

| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Dec 29–30 | Soft launch meeting — align teams, define Aviary's pre-launch deliverables |
| Jan 5 | Full engagement begins |
| Month 4 | Progress review and long-term planning discussion |

Aaron noted Blessing signs quickly once he's comfortable, so the revised proposal was expected to be signed within 1–2 business days of receipt.

---

## Action Items

- [ ] **Mark** — Send revised proposal: Blitz at $8.5k/mo (Months 1–2), retainer at $9.5k/mo (Months 3–6), flat retainer only (remove base-plus-performance option)
- [ ] **Mark** — Send written summary of parallel execution strategy ("how the sausage is made") for Aaron to share with Blessing and Justin
- [ ] **Aaron** — Secure Blessing's signature on revised proposal
- [ ] **Both** — Schedule soft launch kickoff meeting for Dec 29 or 30 with Aaron, Blessing, and Justin

---

## Notable Transcript Moments

> **Mark:** "Instead of sort of doing things in a serial way where we do one thing and then another thing and then another thing, now we're saying, what can we do simultaneously?"

> **Mark:** "We can compress the timeline from the day we start to the day we get the first lead from 90 days to 45."

> **Aaron:** "If there could be an eight, it would be signed tomorrow."

> **Aaron:** "I told everyone else to kick rocks. So it really is just what do you feel comfortable with."

---

## Related

- [[clients/current/aviary/_index]]