Fiat Growth Newsletter #12

The Cost of Content is Now $0

Hey, it’s Fiat!

Welcome to the Fiat Growth Newsletter. This issue takes just 7 minutes to read, but here’s the quick rundown if you’re in a hurry:

• Content Now Costs $0: AI has driven the cost of content creation to virtually nothing, shifting the focus from production to strategy, originality, and execution.

• Avoiding AI Slop: AI can create limitless content, but there’s a thin line between smart automation and low-value noise. Learn how to stand out.

• Your ICP is Everything: Before you build, before you market—define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). The clearer your ICP, the more focused your product, messaging, and go-to-market strategy will be.

Happy reading,

Team Fiat 🚀

This issue is brought to you by Fiat Finance.

Content Costs $0—Now What?

We’ve officially hit a new era: content creation is free. AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT, MidJourney, Runway, and caption.ai allow businesses to generate blog posts, videos, images, and even full-scale marketing campaigns in seconds—for no cost.

This isn’t just a shift—it’s a complete restructuring of the content landscape. With AI removing the barrier to creation, the real challenge now is creating content that matters. The differentiator is no longer volume but quality, authenticity, and strategy.

AI Can Do the Work, But Strategy Wins the Game

• Anyone can generate 100 blog posts, 50 social media clips, and 10 whitepapers in a day. But does that content actually resonate?

• The real winners will be those who direct AI to execute a clear vision, ensuring content is thoughtful, relevant, and deeply aligned with business goals.

• The best brands are investing not just in AI tools, but in elite content strategists who can craft narratives that matter.

Newsletters & Communities Are More Important Than Ever

• With content creation at zero cost, the next frontier is distribution and engagement.

• Owned communities (via newsletters, LinkedIn, or private groups) will be the most effective way to cut through the noise and build real customer relationships.

• Social media algorithms are increasingly favoring personal brands over corporate accounts. That means founders and executives need to be at the forefront of content creation.

AI is a Tool, Not a Replacement

• The line between smart automation and AI slop is razor-thin—businesses that flood the market with low-value, generic content will lose credibility fast.

• The best marketing teams in 2025 won’t just use AI—they’ll master it. AI should enhance human creativity, not replace it.

• The smartest brands will combine AI efficiency with human creativity and deep industry expertise.

Final Thought: Content creation is no longer the bottleneck—strategy, voice, and authenticity are. If you’re not investing in these, do it now.

The Most Important First Step: Designing Your ICP Before Going to Market

Before you build a product, design an MVP, or write a single line of code, you need to know exactly who you’re building for. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the most important first step you’ll ever take. Understanding your target customer at a deep, almost obsessive level ensures focus, efficiency, and ultimately, success.

Too many founders rush into product development before doing the groundwork. The result? They build a solution in search of a problem instead of a product designed to solve a real, validated pain point.

How to Build a Crystal-Clear ICP

Your ICP isn’t just a set of demographics—it’s a fully fleshed-out persona that feels like a real person. Don’t settle for vague customer definitions like “millennials who like finance” or “SMBs looking for credit solutions.” That’s not enough. You need to get specific.

Give them a name: Meet Single Sally, Saver Sam, and Millennial Michael.

• Make them real: What do they wear? What do they buy at the grocery store? Do they use an iPhone or Android? Do they rent or own?

• Know their habits: How much do they spend on DoorDash? Do they travel? Do they have kids? How old are their parents?

• Understand their financial behavior: Do they invest? Do they have savings? What’s their risk tolerance?

• Define their socioeconomic status: What’s their income? How do they make financial decisions? What do they value most?

The more precise you get, the better your product will be at solving their actual pain points.

Examples: ICP in Action

Let’s look at two fintech examples—one consumer-facing and one B2B—where a well-defined ICP completely changes how a product is built and marketed.

Money Management App for Consumers

Imagine you’re building a budgeting app. Instead of saying “our target audience is young professionals,” go deeper:

🔹 Saver Sam (Age 30, Single, Renters in Big Cities)

• Wears Allbirds sneakers, works in tech, and spends $150/month on subscriptions but struggles to track them.

• Spends $80/week on DoorDash, drinks four Starbucks lattes a week, and wants to invest but doesn’t know where to start.

• Uses Venmo for peer-to-peer transactions and has three credit cards but doesn’t fully understand APR.

💡 Product Implications:

• Build automated expense categorization that flags recurring subscriptions.

• Offer AI-powered savings suggestions based on spending habits.

• Integrate round-up investing features for beginners hesitant to invest large amounts.

Embedded Lending for B2B Platforms

Now, let’s say you’re building a B2B embedded lending product. Instead of saying “we target SMBs looking for loans,” refine your ICP:

🔹 Growth-Mode Gina (Co-Founder of a 10-Person E-commerce Business, $2M ARR, Scaling Operations)

• Uses Shopify and Stripe but struggles with cash flow because suppliers require upfront payments.

• Doesn’t trust traditional banks but is open to alternative financing if seamlessly embedded in platforms she already uses.

• Checks her revenue dashboard daily and makes financial decisions on-the-go from her phone.

💡 Product Implications:

• Offer embedded working capital loans directly within Shopify’s dashboard.

• Enable one-click loan approval based on real-time transaction data from Stripe.

• Provide flexible repayment options tied to future sales, making cash flow management predictable.

Be an Expert Researcher. Use Every Tool Available.

Your job as a founder or product builder isn’t just to create something cool—it’s to deeply understand the people you’re solving for.

✅ Talk to real customers. Set up interviews, surveys, and focus groups.

✅ Leverage data. Use Plaid, Mixpanel, or Stripe Analytics to analyze real user behaviors.

✅ Test before you build. Create mockups, run landing pages, and get feedback before you sink resources into development.

✅ Make your ICPs real. The closer they feel to an actual person, the more effective your product and marketing will be.

Final Thought: ICPs Shape Everything

The biggest mistake founders make is building before researching. If you take the time to develop a precise ICP, everything else—your MVP, your messaging, your growth strategy— becomes infinitely easier.

At Fiat Growth, we help founders refine their ICPs to ensure they’re building the right product, for the right people, with the right strategy. Because the best marketing, the best sales, and the best user adoption all start with knowing your customer better than anyone else.

If you’re ready to define your ICP and build something that actually solves real problems, let’s talk.

That’s all for this edition. Cheers!

Fiat Growth Team