The Gilded Whisker

For Gabriel, ahead of our conversation

The Gilded Whisker × Planet Ü

"What if we stopped treating this like a marketing account …"

"…and started treating it like a company we're building together?"

If The Gilded Whisker were mine,
what would I do?

Something is already happening

The market is already telling us something.

0
reactions on one Facebook post
0
comments, people wanting in
0
TikTok followers, gaining fast

Existing, recent activity. Not a projection.

A post asking who wants to help lead events→ engagement→ conversation→ followers→ community

221 reactions is a signal. People don’t just want to watch The Gilded Whisker. They want to participate in it.

What’s already working on TikTok

22.8K likes across 1,731 followers, with no paid support. And the pattern in what performs is already visible: one video of Gabriel at his desk, a cat on his shoulder, did 21.5K views. The next-best clip did 2,853.

Gabriel and the cats already hold attention with almost no production behind them. Add direction, craft and a steady cadence, and this becomes an engine.

People are already searching

In one month, the Google Business Profile logged 562 profile views, 296 searches and 56 direction requests, up 36% from the month before.

Top searches: “cat cafe,” “whiskers,” and, already, “animal shelter.” The rescue mission is finding search traffic on its own.

What happens when we build a system around that?

The real business we're building

More than a cat lounge on South Congress.

THE
LOUNGE
ReservationsMembershipEvents Adoption & RescueWine & BeverageApothecary & Retail MerchCommunityCreators PartnershipsEmailContentTourism

The lounge is the center of gravity. The brand doesn’t have to stay inside the four walls to grow, and it doesn’t need to leave Austin to matter. Built here, for here, first.

The growth flywheel

Every part of the work turns this wheel.

AttentionContent, creators, PR, partnerships, paid media.
AudienceFollowers, site traffic, email, SMS.
CommunityEvents, conversation, membership, recurring rituals.
VisitsReservations, events, tourism, walk-ins.
Repeat businessMembership, new experiences, retail, communication.
AdvocacyReviews, UGC, referrals, adoption stories → more attention.

Content engine

Make The Gilded Whisker impossible to ignore.

One dedicated production day a month. Gabriel, the cats, adoption stories, the space, the drinks, the community, the founder’s point of view.

21.5K
views on Gabriel at his desk with a cat on his shoulder
2,853
views on the next-best clip

The first clip shows what people want more of. A monthly production day is how we make more of it.

Create intentionally. Distribute intelligently. One filming day becomes weeks of assets across Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Community engine

Build belonging,
and the followers come with it.

Cat yoga and private bookings already exist. These are examples of where the platform could go, not a finalized calendar.

Sound bathsBooks + WhiskersSingles nights Creator nightsAdoption eventsGame nights Wellness experiencesAustin collaborations
Event→Attendees→ Content→UGC→ Email capture→Next event

The Facebook response suggests something important: there may already be people willing to help build this, not just attend it.

Own the audience

Social media is rented attention.

Email, SMS and customer data build the relationship you actually own.

Captured through reservations, event registration, QR codes, the Hilton placement, social, membership, in-store, the website, partnerships.

Welcome→Nurture→ Invite→Return→Refer

"Kitten Yoga just opened 12 spots for Saturday."

Monthly newsletter · event announcements · membership messaging · reactivation · SMS over time

Paid growth & the Austin network

Amplify what the market already tells us it wants.

Organic creates signals. Paid amplifies them. Owned media retains them.

Retargeting

Video viewers, engagers, site visitors and subscribers, retargeted toward reservations, events, membership.

Austin network

Hotels, creators, rescues, media, local businesses, corporate groups, concierges. The Hilton map-guide placement is one early example of distribution beyond social.

Creators & UGC

We build experiences people naturally want to document, then invite creators into them. Experience → camera → story → discovery → visit.

Reputation, retention & the dashboard

Marketing doesn’t end when someone walks in.

Great experience→Review→ UGC→Referral→Return visit

We watch audience growth, email/SMS growth, engagement, site traffic, reservations, event attendance, repeat visits, membership, reviews and referral signals. Followers alone don’t tell the story.

What’s working?What can we amplify?What should we stop?Where's the next opportunity?

This requires a different kind of relationship

If The Gilded Whisker were mine…

I’d wake up thinking about it. I’d notice opportunities that weren’t written into a scope. I’d experiment, make introductions, build campaigns, look for partnerships. I’d obsess over why something worked and stop what wasn’t. I’d find ways to turn customers into community. I’d protect the brand.

And I’d keep asking: what can we do next to grow this business profitably?

That’s the relationship I’m proposing.

Planet Ü’s role

One growth partner. One shared strategy.

StrategyCreativeContentSocial Paid mediaEmail + SMSCommunityPartnerships PRWeb + funnelsRetentionAnalytics

Everything within our capabilities that we reasonably believe contributes to profitable growth, within agreed operating capacity. The question we keep asking is simple: what does this business need next?

What a month looks like

A steady rhythm you can count on.

PlanCalendar, shoot list, event ideas and campaign focus, set together.
Shoot dayOne production day with Gabriel, the cats, the space and guests.
PublishInstagram, Facebook and TikTok, edited and scheduled across the month.
CommunityEvent promotion, email, creator invitations and partner introductions.
ReviewThe dashboard, together: what to amplify, what to stop, what comes next.

What if every event created the audience for the next event?

What comes off your plate

You build the place and care for the cats.

We carry the growth work alongside you.

Content

Planning, shoot direction, editing, captions and publishing.

Paid media

Audience setup, testing, budget management and reporting.

Email and SMS

List capture, welcome flows, the monthly newsletter and event announcements.

Community

Event promotion, creator invitations and follow-up with every guest.

Partnerships

Introductions and outreach across Austin, from hotels to rescues.

Reporting

One dashboard, reviewed together each month.

All within agreed operating capacity.

What would you build if marketing capacity were no longer the bottleneck?

The economics

Purchased individually, this level of strategy, creative production, social, paid media, email, community development, partnerships and growth execution would represent a substantial agency engagement. The structure below is built to start where the business can carry it today.

Months 1 to 3, launch phase

$2,500/mo

Content engine, audience capture and event promotion. Building what the opening needs most.

Months 4 to 6

$3,500/mo

Paid media and partnerships added as the lounge finds its rhythm.

Month 7 onward

$5,000/mo

The full growth partnership, every capability engaged.

Steps can move earlier if a revenue milestone arrives ahead of schedule.

The Gilded Whisker × Planet Ü: Growth Partnership

5% equity

1% at execution, 4% vesting monthly over 24 months, on the same schedule from day one regardless of the cash ramp above. A proposed commercial framework, subject to final agreements and legal review. Third-party costs remain Gilded Whisker expenses: ad spend, software, event expenses, outside vendors, media buys.

Skin in the game

I don’t want to just get paid to work on this. I want to have skin in the game.

The cash number is priced far below what this scope would normally cost, because I believe in what The Gilded Whisker can become. The equity is how I put that belief on the line. When the company grows, we both do.

The future

A name Austin recognizes.

Events filling. Creators posting without being chased. Hotel guests discovering the lounge. An email list that can fill a room. Members returning, bringing friends. Adoption stories spreading. Local press calling.

Gabriel walking into a room and hearing, "Oh, I know The Gilded Whisker."

This is vision, not a guarantee.

The Gilded Whisker × Planet Ü

Let’s build the Gilded Whisker we both believe is possible.

You build an extraordinary place. We’ll make sure Austin knows about it.

And then we’ll give them reasons to keep coming back.

Let’s talk about building it together