The Get: Finding And Keeping The Best Marketing Leaders in B2B SaaS

This season on The Get podcast, we have stayed close to the theme 'Solving for the Scale Journey.' We have talked with marketing leaders who have scaled… and, in one case someone on the investor side who hires marketing leaders for scale-ups. We've looked at different dimensions around scaling: Hiring. Budgeting. Aligning with the Board. Getting the balance of brand and demand right. Balancing aspirational goals with achievable goals.  Obviously, every scale journey is different. Just because someone did a scale-up in one place doesn't mean they will be successful somewhere else. But there are some themes that emerged. This episode is a recap of 10 of those themes. If you are a CEO or investor looking to know what good looks like when hiring the CMO for a scale-up, you've come to the right place. And if you're a CMO or VP of Marketing who is solving for a scale journey, you too have come to the right place. ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn), or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  The Get is produced by Evo Terra and https://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

Sydney Sloan is a scale savant! I talked with Sydney as she wrapped up her CMO role at Salesloft, contributing to a huge scale-up. She has since joined Zoom as Head of Product & Industry Marketing. Sydney had so much insight to share. It was hard to pick out just a few highlights. I asked her how a CMO can balance "getting oars in the water quickly" while managing expectations that "Rome wasn't built in a day." You'll hear about achievable goals versus aspirational goals and when to use each. You'll also learn about how to build organizational excitement around your vision. Highlights: "Be a true market leader, not just a marketing leader." Look at your budget as "buying outcomes." Balance achievable goals and aspirational goals when you are scaling. The purpose of an aspirational goal is to remove barriers from what you're doing now and think differently about how you might achieve results. "Transformational growth is different from incremental growth." Design your org charts 18 months out: The org chart for the 100MM business is different from the org chart for the 250MM business. Resist the default of having only your direct reports be on your marketing leadership team. Rather, look for emerging talent or people taking on special projects to join the team and get exposure. Surface red flags when hiring and talk to the candidates about them; you can then have a development plan for them in place on day 1. "Everyone says marketing and sales should be aligned, but no CMO wants to report to sales."   ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydsloan/ (Sydney Sloan on LinkedIn) https://zoom.us/ (Zoom Website) https://salesloft.com/ (Salesloft Website) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn) or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  The Get is produced by Evo Terra and https://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

Khalid El Khatib is the Head of Marketing and Communications for Stack Overflow, which reaches 100MM people per month -- more traffic than the New York Times website! Khalid shares how his career path prepared him for this role, and how he has structured his organization to serve not just Stack Overflow's developer community, but also its paid SaaS products. You'll hear about: Avoiding the mistake of underinvesting in brand awareness, especially in PE-backed companies The wisdom of mastering how to articulate the value of a brand investment to CEOs and CFOs How to respond when CEOs say they need a CMO but you suspect they really need a demand gen director Looking around the corners when hiring, and staffing up ahead of a growth curve Experimenting with freelancers before hiring in-house Reserving regular time on the calendar for marketing to meet with other business functions – creating a forcing function for "finding synergies wherever they exist" The wisdom of hiring someone who fulfills the job 90% and is motivated to stay long enough to fulfill all of the job   Favorite quote: "If you don't make a brand investment, you can wonder why competitors are beating you and why demand generation isn't working….A rising tide lifts all boats and an investment in brand awareness is that rising tide." ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalidelkhatib/ (Khalid El Khatib on LinkedIn) https://stackoverflow.com/ (Stack Overflow website) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn), or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  http://thegetpodcast.com (The Get) is produced by http://twitter.com/evoterra (Evo Terra) and https://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

Cynthia Gumbert is the CMO of SmartBear, the ~750-person PE-backed SaaS company that is on a growth tear, serving more and more software developers every day. Cynthia reflects on her transition from VP of Marketing to CMO. We discuss the difference between a marketing-centric mindset and a 'business first, marketing second' mindset. It's this 'business first' mindset that is key for a CMO in scaling mode. That mindset entails putting yourself into the CEO's shoes and thinking about how to help the whole company grow, not just how to grow marketing's results. In other words, change your frame from 'what marketing is doing' to 'what the company is doing.' A big part of scaling is creating discomfort with the status quo. You'll hear these learnings: Expect to hit plateaus as you scale. When you do, ask, “How do we double doing well here?” Hire for 'cultural add' as opposed to 'cultural fit' as you scale… even when that involves overcoming some discomfort. Look for ways to organize to reflect the full arc of the customer experience. In Cynthia's case, she expanded the marketing org to include communities and the training academy, as part of one web and digital experience team. This led to a 400% increase in academy enrollments. Cynthia also touched on an interesting trend for 2022: the need for micro market research. With product-led growth, customers will follow the journey of website --> trial → product. Marketers must be hyper-aware of micro customer segments and the messages that will help customers accomplish their specific goals.   ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiagumbert/ (Cynthia Gumbert on LinkedIn) https://smartbear.com/ (SmartBear website) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn), or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  The Get is produced by Evo Terra and https://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

It's every CMO's complaint: “Everyone thinks they're a marketer.” With so many people outside of marketing weighing in, this can make the CMO job challenging. Our guest today shows how you can harness the emotional investment that others in the company have.  Our guest is Justin Steinman, CMO of Definitive Healthcare, the healthcare commercial intelligence company. Justin joined the company to help fuel a scale-up to the $500MM mark and went through an IPO already. He shares: What it's like to do a rebrand, a marketing transformation, and an IPO all at once How to do a marketing transformation that actually leads to the rest of the org respecting marketing How to acknowledge and embrace the emotional investment in the brand that people outside of marketing have Why a CMO should never use the phrase ‘my marketing budget' How to tell whether a company that has not traditionally invested in marketing is ready for it How to bring in practices from big companies to companies that are scaling up… without overpowering the business How one particular interview question will reveal a lot about someone's view of marketing and their ability to structure their thoughts ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinsteinman/ (Justin Steinman on LinkedIn) https://www.definitivehc.com/ (Definitive Healthcare website) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn), or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  http://thegetpodcast.com (The Get) is produced by http://twitter.com/evoterra (Evo Terra) and http://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

It's not in our nature to move slowly as marketers. We like to act, move, go, and grow, especially when there's a scale mandate. But there's wisdom and value in assessing first, like just pro athletes surveying the field of play to let the game come to them. We discuss the formula for successful scaling: Aligning on what scale means to your CEO and Board Avoiding overselling what marketing can do/determining what you are capable of achieving Assessing the resources you have at your disposal, both within and outside marketing  We also discuss: How the 10MM-15MM scale-up is different from the 50MM-100MM scaleup  Key questions to ask the Board before saying yes to the marketing leadership job How to lead your board on a journey of where marketing is taking them  How to not get offended by Board members who don't understand marketing “Moneyball” hiring Embracing the fact that your team members may only expect to be with you for a defined amount of time  ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/guyweismantel/ (Guy Weismantel on LinkedIn) https://www.ncontracts.com/ (Ncontracts website) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn) or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  http://thegetpodcast.com (The Get) is produced by http://twitter.com/evoterra (Evo Terra) and Simpler Media Productions.

Kristin Hambelton, CMO scaleup queen now running marketing for MineralTree, takes us on a deep dive of budgeting for marketing during a scale journey. You'll learn: How do you communicate to a CEO and CFO that you are investing efficiently… without overspending When do you give budget back versus ask for more How to remind your peers of what marketing will and won't do: “You won't get to scale saying yes to everything!”  How your budget should change through expansions and acquisitions From a hiring standpoint, we discuss: The wisdom of Swiss Army knife hiring - when 1 marketer manages multiple functions How to do ‘lookalike' training with your recruiter The one person on a marketing team who should NOT be remote The best question a CMO candidate could ask the recruiter: How do I rank on the scorecard for the job? How to experiment with hiring, not just with programs, and the wisdom of having some experimental people on the team whose backgrounds may initially make you squint   ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmhambelton/ (Kristin Hambelton on LinkedIn) https://www.mineraltree.com/ (MineralTree website) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn), or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  http://thegetpodcast.com (The Get) is produced by http://twitter.com/evoterra (Evo Terra) and https://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

The CMO's most important job when scaling? To create focus, protect focus, and seize control of the strategic planning process - not just for marketing but for the company as a whole. Here's how to do that. Join Erica and her guest Jay Gaines, who runs marketing at insurance tech scale-up AgentSync,  as they discuss: How to avoid ‘random acts of marketing,' reinforce the role of marketing as the business scales, and drive a shared common understanding of what marketing is there to do for the business. How marketing can -- and should -- seize control of the strategic planning process for the company as a whole How to respond to a CEO who over-rotates on a demand-first view of marketing  The one question the best CMO candidates ask the CEO before they say yes to a scale job: “How exactly do you plan to expand?”  How to avoid a surprisingly tantalizing organization misstep when scaling How employees' values are changing away from ‘growth at all costs' - which means companies need to be pitching themselves differently How a tangible commitment to work/life balance and DEI, embodied from the top-down, can accelerate hiring in the long run ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/gainesj/ (Jay Gaines on LinkedIn) https://agentsync.io/ (AgentSync website) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn) or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  http://thegetpodcast.com (The Get) is produced by http://twitter.com/evoterra (Evo Terra) and https://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

What's it like behind the scenes when CEOs hire CMOs in PE-backed companies? Hear from a ‘talent whisperer' from a PE firm. If you're a CMO looking to work in a private-equity-backed business, or a hiring leader in a PE-backed company, you will come across the PE talent partner. Learn about the role of the PE talent partner in recruiting CMOs.  You'll hear about the soft skills framework Bryan uses to vet CMO candidates. In particular, listen for his definition of agility: not just being adaptable, but being PROACTIVELY adaptable.  We unpack the difference between a candidate who can go into a new situation and figure it out versus a candidate who has a plan of attack.  We discuss whether prior experience with scaling is or is not the best predictor of future scaling success. ----- Key Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-west-448a996/ (Bryan West on LinkedIn) https://resurgenstech.com/ (Resurgens Tech Partners) ----- Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. The Get is a podcast designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS. This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey. The Get's host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.  If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money' variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty' variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/ (follow Erica on LinkedIn) or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.theconnectivegood.com (TheConnectiveGood.com).  http://thegetpodcast.com (The Get) is produced by http://twitter.com/evoterra (Evo Terra) and https://simpler.media (Simpler Media Productions).

Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy. Especially these days! The Get is designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.  I'm Erica Seidel, host of The Get. I run an executive search practice focused entirely on placing what I call the ‘make money' marketing leaders -- not the ‘make it pretty' ones.  I spend most of my time talking with today's most talented marketing leaders, and with The Get, I bottle up some of those conversations for you.  This is the 4th season of The Get. The theme for this season is ‘Solving for the Scale Journey.'  The Get is still all about helping you explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS.  If you've listened to the first three seasons, welcome back. And if this is your first time tuning in to The Get, welcome! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Again, I'm Erica Seidel, and I'm glad you're here. 

This episode wraps up our ‘diversity-in-B2B SaaS marketing' themed third season of The Get, with not one but two special guests on either end of the age/experience spectrum, discussing their take on age-related diversity in the business world in general and in B2B tech in particular. Our goal with this episode is to raise awareness of age biases and address them in our B2B marketing world. This episode is controversial but compelling. Don't miss it! https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgriesman/ (Dwight Griesman) is the CEO for Eye4Growth, as well as the former CMO of Forrester and of other companies, with decades of experience and experiences behind him. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-assous-20b37553/ (Sarah Assous) is a first-time CMO at https://www.linkedin.com/company/zoovu/ (Zoovu), the conversational AI experiences company, and previously held marketing roles at B2B companies Selligent and SmartFocus. They talk with Erica about what age means to them in the hiring and team-building context- and indeed, whether it matters at all. They share which workplace traits of people on either end of the age spectrum they find valuable, and which ones are less-than useful, as well as the crux of the debate: what is more valuable to the business- experience or experiences? Highlights include A 25-year old doesn't know what it's like to be 50+, but a 50+-year-old has been 25. How relevant is that knowledge in our dynamic business environment where reference points change and evolve so rapidly? What does it mean to have more experience? Is it only the number of years or the quality and diversity of experience - the ‘experiences' you have been exposed to? Is age a factor in hiring and getting a job in B2B marketing today? Do we have an unconscious bias about applicants based on their age? Do young people want a high degree of convenience with a very high pay? Do older people want stability and compensation but not too much challenge? What role does the hiring leader's gut feel play in picking the right candidate, when they are at extreme ends of the age spectrum? How a growth mindset trumps everything else, regardless of age. The ability to adapt, relate, and execute will always be in style.

Jeff Winter is the Chief Marketing Officer of Rocket Software, a B2B tech company that helps companies innovate using the data and tech they already have. Rocket serves customers across the Fortune 50 and has a global presence. Jeff has had a prolific career including senior marketing roles at SAP and IBM before joining Rocket. Episode synopsis In this episode, Jeff and Erica talk about company values, how they can be lived by the marketing team and how there is still room to bring in function-specific values without colliding with corporate values.  Jeff also shares the various initiatives at Rocket to improve diversity of all kinds, including the RIDE initiative and their journey to operationalize and measure the impact of diversity as a part of everyday culture. Highlights include: When Empathy, Humanity, Trust, and Love are your corporate values How Marketing leaders can take the larger corporate values and create their own functional values to complement them Working with all kinds of diversity – be it regional, gender, experience, or ethnic diversity – it's always a work in progress but there are ways to structure it and measure its impact. Jeff shares details of how Rocket is working towards operationalizing diversity and measuring its impact – including the creation of a new initiative called RIDE (Rocket Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity) Ageism in tech and why it needs more conversation Experience diversity: when we should look outside the obvious areas to hire B2B marketing talent (and when we should not) Jeff's insights on the 3 things you can do to build a more high quality, diverse team

Pantheon is building the world's best web ops (website operations) platform to empower marketing and development teams to take control of their websites. Christy Marble, the Chief Marketing Officer of Pantheon, is a global SaaS growth marketing expert with over 20 years of experience leading all facets of marketing. Prior to Pantheon, she served as CMO of SAP Concur, and CMO of Visier. Episode synopsis Christy and Erica discuss building a marketing leadership team that does not compromise on diversity. They also discuss whether prior SaaS experience is necessary in a marketing leadership role at a SaaS company. They ponder why female candidates can feel the need to explain themselves more, and what needs to happen to break through unconscious bias in the workplace. Highlights include:  - Personal lessons on managing gender diversity from the home environment - How diversity, equity, and inclusion are 3 different things - How the hiring practice of doing a ‘listening interview' and then a ‘questioning interview' can be critical to hiring success - How Christy builds and structures her organization and marketing leadership - How to effectively transition from a bigger to a smaller company, by presenting yourself as a ‘sherpa'

Openpath offers cutting-edge workplace safety and security solutions though touchless access control. It is a hardware and SaaS company with about 80 people. Kieran leads marketing for Openpath and has previously led marketing at Belkin and Radioshack. He has been recognized by Forbes as one of “https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipteam/2020/10/01/the-worlds-most-influential-cmos-2020-resolute-leadership-in-transformative-times/ (The World's Most Influential CMOs 2020)”. Episode synopsis In this episode, Kieran and Erica delve into the big trends in B2B that will impact B2B SaaS marketers and the work they do, in 2021 and beyond. Kieran shares valuable real-life experiences from his career, stressing that an agile mindset is the key competency of a CMO in today's environment. We also delve into what a CEO needs to think about when hiring a CMO, considering there is no one fixed template of what a CMO should do. Highlights include:  The key trends impacting B2B CMOs today Why there is no one universal CMO role… and the core competency of a good CMO The pros and cons of marketing leaders reporting to CROs The most important emerging role in marketing Whether diversity needs to be approached in a systemic way, or whether  individual leaders should establish their own initiatives Why empathy for customers will rule in 2021… and why building ongoing relations with the end-user is critical for B2B Marketing

Concur is a global SaaS leader in travel and expense management. David Hsu is the Global VP of Marketing Data and Technology and has worked in senior marketing roles at IBM and CA in the past. At Concur, he leads a global 30-member team with the mandate to support marketing with analytics, automation, martech, and project management solutions and services. His team balances both transactional, problem-solving work and more strategic innovation projects. Episode synopsis In this episode, David and Erica talk about different kinds of diversity that are critical in a global team - regional and location-specific diversity, role and skill diversity within the team, and the more human aspects of diversity such as gender, race, and personal preferences. David shares his experiences on the process he follows to set a common vision and strategy for the global team, as well as his take on addressing the diversity of all types in his agenda. Highlights include:  How to cross-pollinate ideas and best practices across global teams The process of developing an annual strategy and how to get the team to own and lead it The conscious shift of moving from being a transaction-driven team to a strategic advisory function How to bring the diversity aspect into hiring without falling into the trap of familiarity bias The role of the leader in owning diversity – should they avoid it, proactively lead the discussion, or wait til the company is forced to surface the issues? How some companies are stretching the hiring brief to make room for diverse voices. For example, companies seeking out qualified candidates without college degrees, or not advertising the role on LinkedIn The rise of future roles in marketing - for instance, David recently created a Data Strategy role on his team to bridge the data gap between tech and business What leaders should do to ensure diversity on their global teams

Eric brings nearly two decades of experience as a senior go-to-market leader in high-growth technology businesses, including as CMO for Sovos, and as CEO of mobile startup Zerista, which he successfully exited. Quick Base is an app development platform that helps problem solvers of any technical background to work together to create an ecosystem of applications safely, securely, and sustainably. Episode synopsis What does a diverse team really mean to the organization? How can you make ‘culture' more data and process driven? Should employers prefer experience over diversity? Great insights for SaaS companies as Erik and Erica deep dive into the meaning of culture and how it can become a competitive differentiator when done right. Highlights include: Why diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams, even though the alignment is harder Why diverse teams need to be like a soccer team and not a relay team The 3 things you need for a diverse team to work: Making a team goal that's bigger than the individual goal A transparent strategy that brings the team together, and a process that helps interlock the team A common way of behaving and holding each other accountable Why culture needs to be treated as a first-class citizen, right alongside goals related to financial performance Making culture data-driven and process-driven for real outcomes How to reconcile hiring for experience versus hiring for diversity Roles that are changing the shape of B2B SaaS marketing teams

With 25 years in B2B Marketing, including start-ups and companies such as Akamai and Silicon Graphics, Jenny features on the Top 50 Women in Revenue That You Should Know and the Top 60 Most Influential Marketing Thought Leaders list. She's been a part of not one or two but 11 successful exits! ActiveCampaign is a Customer Experience automation company which has grown from 60 to 600 people over the last two years. Episode synopsis In this episode, Jenny and Erica talk about bringing diversity into every facet of B2B tech, from the interview and hiring process to the way the team builds and retains its unique culture and vibe. Jenny tells us why a ‘culture add' versus ‘culture fit' approach helps bring net new perspective to the team and adds value and space for growth. They also talk about ageism, experience diversity, and gender in the B2B SaaS world. Highlights include:  What a marketing leader can bring to diversity initiatives Hiring in a way that's inclusive, starting with ensuring equal access to the opportunity How to organize your team to ensure it's as diverse as possible How a leader can be vulnerable and authentic and create a safe place for working together and building relationships respectfully How roles and new titles are evolving in B2B companies to reflect growing industry hyperfocus on people and engagement Whether age diversity in B2B tech is seen as a liability or a plus. Is the number of years worked really as important as mastery and innovation?

Lori Cohen, a veteran CMO and a veteran fractional CMO, has worked with several different growth-stage B2B SaaS companies. In this episode, Lori and Erica talk about how to drive optimal value from a fractional CMO engagement. Highlights: -The differences among a full-time CMO, a fractional CMO, and a consultant While alignment with the CEO and building trust with the team remain the same, the key differentiator is that fractional CMO roles have an exit plan baked in. This lets them avoid the political aspects and do the best job for the company knowing that there is an exit plan/date. This is also why they can challenge the CEO more than a full-time CMO – something especially critical for early stage companies. -How fractional CMOs succeed as uber-consultants, even as they manage multiple engagements with CEO clients who expect access at all times -The real reasons early-stage companies should hire fractional CMOs

Todd is a fractional CMO in the Bay Area and also the co-author of the book ‘Beyond Product.' He's on the board of directors of MOCCA (Marketing Operations Cross-company Alliance) and has previously served Verisign, Neustar, SAP, and IBM in a variety of senior marketing roles. Highlights from Todd and Erica's conversation include: - Who needs a fractional CMO and when (hint: It's not just for early-stage companies) - Advantages of fractional CMOs: --Upscale your marketing strategy without the expenses of a full-time CMO --Get rich perspectives and cross-pollinate ideas -When not to hire a fractional CMO (hint: when what you actually need is a lead gen manager!) -Measures of success with fractional CMOs: Is it the number of hours served or the nature of the value and seasoned expertise that they bring? -The secret value of a Fractional CMO (It's more than the marketing expertise but you won't hear it in the pitch!) -How to pick the right fractional CMO: Advice for CEOs

In this three-part series of podcasts – our Fractional CMO special – we explore the ‘what, when, why (and why not)' of fractional CMOs. You will get a great flavor of whether this is the right path for your B2B SaaS company. We answer the questions you are most likely to have, including: How is hiring a fractional CMO different from hiring a consultant and different from hiring a full-time CMO? What are the key skills to look for in a fractional CMO? How to get the most long-term value from a fractional CMO engagement? What types of people do NOT make good fractional CMOs? And lots more! Mike DiPietro works as a fractional CMO exclusively with one PE company and its portfolio companies. Mike started in sales and evolved into marketing and GM roles and spent over a decade at Kronos. He was also CMO at HealthcareSource and ExtensionEngine. Mike and Erica help us understand: - The good, the bad, and the ugly of being a fractional CMO -The blend of strategizing, coaching, and doing that you can expect from a fractional CMO -The value that PE firms see in fractional CMOs: PE firms want their portfolio companies getting help seeing what good looks like, so they can grow as fast as the PE firms think they can grow - How a CEO should frame what they need from a fractional CMO -The difference between someone who has successfully been a fractional CMO and someone who is a “CMO pretending to be a consultant”

Erica Seidel's conversation with Jason Seeba, SVP of Marketing at Eightfold.ai, is interesting and unusual because not only does Jason lead marketing at a talent intelligence company (and The Get is all about marketing talent!), but also because of his diverse background spanning demand gen, marketing, technology and marketing operations. Jason was Chief Marketing Technology Officer at Bloomreach, and then extended his role to take over all of marketing. And finally, he was a client of Eightfold.ai before he joined them full time as they were moving into the hyper growth curve. Aside from sharing his own experience, Jason also shares his best advice for marketing tech pros that want to ascend to the CMO role. And he discusses why his golden interview question is “How do you get to know customers and what they need?” For CEOs and CMOs who are hiring marketing leaders, you will find tips for finding and keeping the best marketing and martech talent, especially in uncertain times. Of course, because it's Jason and he's from Eightfold, which is an HRTech tool for talent intel, you will also hear some really practical tips on how and when you can use tech to help you find and keep your best talent.

What happens when Marketing leaders take on Sales? Scott Horn is the CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) of PrismHR, a SaaS company in the HR space. He shares his story of life as a CRO after over 2 decades in Marketing. Prior to his role as CRO at PrismHR, Scott was Chief Marketing and Revenue Ops officer at [24]7.ai, and the chief marketer for Seagate. He also spent 17 years at Microsoft - a tenure almost unheard of in B2B marketing. Scott is passionate about hiring great talent- and the key to that process is getting the interview right. Scott shares what he's learned over the years when it comes to building great teams, and tells us how he is training his team to be great interviewers. Along the way, he shares practical insights on: - How to tell if someone “has self-awareness and wants to learn” - The trick to hiring for that critical role of SDRs (Sales Development Representatives) and BDRs (Business Development Representatives) - What CEOs get wrong when hiring CMOs - Why your LinkedIn profile matters more than your resume to get the best job today

We all know that marketing needs to be authentic and tell believable stories. But aside from the marketing itself, the marketing leaders behind those strategies need to be authentic and believable too. Christina Mautz from Moz tells us why, and how she puts this principle into practice every day on the job. This authenticity starts with the hiring process. When asked if she was a growth marketer, Christina replied. “No, I'm not.” A gutsy move in the current economic scenario, some may say. Listen to know what she did say, and how it landed her the job anyway. Erica and Christina also explore why being a ‘consultant' is not necessarily a bad thing when applying for a full-time marketing leadership role. Christina shares her take on the ideal first 90 days as CMO, and the challenges and opportunities as she went about taking the reins as CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) as well as CMO at Moz.

Three-time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Tricia Gellman has been there and done that at Salesforce Canada, Checkr, and now, conversational marketing category leader Drift. Aside from sharing the story of how she came to be the CMO at Drift, the conversational marketing company well-known for its non-traditional brand building and marketing methods, she and Erica talk about: ● Hiring your first CMO: what to think about (and what's the hardest thing about it) ● The CMO+ Role – how the role of the CMO is morphing ● How B2B CMOs can be more CX-focused ● How to achieve CEO and CMO alignment ● How CMOs can move from scrappy to scale ● Tricia's personal examples of marketing org and culture design – mistakes and learnings

Prital Kadakia leads the Growth team at Serent Capital, helping portfolio companies to scale up, drive results, and find the right leadership talent. As a sales and marketing expert at a PE firm, Prital's work with portfolio companies spans sales force effectiveness, pricing, operational efficiencies, strategic partnerships, strategy development, procurement, and digital marketing. In this episode, we talk about how PE investors work side by side with portfolio companies, including how they look for the ideal marketing talent, what they expect the CEO and CMO to know about growth marketing, and how to navigate the challenges of hypergrowth. Here are our top themes and takeaways from the conversation: 1.Things for CEOs to think about when finding the right marketing leader ● Context in which the marketing leaders were successful in earlier roles ● Ability to own the bookings and results (something which is not core to every marketer's DNA, but is a crucial flag for PE investors, who are focused on close alignment between marketing and sales), ability to forecast into the future - most B2B tech companies have long sales cycles, so focusing on the right metrics that will have a material impact in 6/12/18 months is crucial 2. Common pitfalls for CEOs to avoid as they search for their marketing leader ● Not having clarity about what you want ● Hiring a CMO when a VP of Marketing would be more aligned to the stage and pattern of growth 3. Tips for marketing leadership candidates: what to keep in mind if you are a potential CMO being interviewed with someone from the PE investor side for your dream B2B SaaS job! (Hint: know thy investor, and thy ROI!)

Erica Sheehan is a cybersecurity marketing whiz and the VP of Marketing at Guardsquare, a Belgian mobile application security company that she is helping to expand to the US market. Aside from stints at Novell and Oracle, Erica was most recently VP of marketing at ObserveIT. During her tenure, the company quickly grew 4X and was recently acquired. Erica is a great example of a marketing leader who has successfully gone from larger to smaller companies. Hear what it means to make that switch, why being analytical is crucial to the marketing leadership role, how high-performing marketing leaders should evaluate a potential employer; and what it's like to build a marketing team in a rapidly-growing company. Here are some of the themes from the conversation: 1. The difference between average and great in a B2B marketing leadership role 2. Why analytical skills and field marketing experience are both important in shaping a marketing leader 3. How CEOs can assess if a marketing leader coming from a large enterprise to a high-growth smaller company can ‘scrap' 4. The trend of the CMO or VP of Marketing reporting into the CRO (as opposed to the CEO) 5. How to know whether you need a marketing leader who is more demand-oriented, more brand-oriented, or more product marketing-oriented 6. And finally, some unmissable insights into hiring and building a marketing team in a high-growth environment

In this episode, Erica calls on Drew's experience as a marketing leader to talk about shepherding a marketing organization through hyper-growth, how to get beyond interviews, and how to get insights into candidates' behavioral profiles to build high-performance marketing teams. As the first marketing lead in a legacy business that did not have a history of organized marketing, Drew has not just transitioned The Predictive Index brand into the digital world but has also built marketing into a lead and revenue generation function that numbers around 60 members today. What sets Drew's perspective apart is his focus on culture, values, and healthy conflict as cornerstones of building great marketing teams that can sustain and grow along with the business. He shares his advice for new CMOs that are reporting into the CEO for the first time (instead of reporting to a CMO), insights on what makes CMOs and their teams fail, and his own THREADS value system at The Predictive Index. Here are some of the highlights from the conversation: Marketing leaders need to be able to give away their Legos: marketing typically overlaps with product, sales, and operations; and based on the business context, marketers need to demonstrate that they can keep the things they are amazing at and give away the things other experts/functions are good at. CMOs – and entire teams - don't fail because of lack of effort or ability, but due to a lack of alignment and clear role design. They fail because of misalignments between the CEO and CMO around expectations, responsibilities, authority, resources, and incentives. Even in hypergrowth situations, results are not everything: CMOs should hold people accountable for quantitative business results and also for behaving in ways that match the stated culture of the organization. It is the job of the head of Marketing to manufacture and create the right environment and culture for great chemistry to happen. Drew discusses how he spends more time on the people components of his job, making sure his team members are upholding their core values framework, and celebrating wins around these core values. Net: performance is important but not above values. An unhealthy lack of conflict is as problematic as unhealthy conflict. Drew adapts Patrick Lencioni's concept of 5 dysfunctions of the team to share his idea of a layered pyramid: trust is at the bottom, which leads to healthy conflict; the conflict leads to commitment, which leads to accountability. Only when you have this in place can the team start driving towards sustained results. Sometimes, marketers have to pull conflict and differences of opinion out of people to avoid a culture of appeasement. Are you looking for culture fit, culture add, or culture stretch? When it comes to choosing and integrating new members into a high-growth marketing team, it is important to know when you need what.

David Badler is a Partner at Susquehanna Growth Equity, leading the value creation practice. He partners with CEOs and their teams to accelerate growth by collaborating on key strategic, go-to-market, talent-related, and operational areas. The fund has invested in 55 companies and has over 30 active portfolio companies, of which about 20 are B2B SaaS companies. In David's words, “My job is to help CEOs grow their companies from $20 million to $100 million plus,” In this episode, see why he refers to CMO searches as ‘revenue searches'- and how CEOs can ensure they find marketers who can lead growth. When it comes to marketers worrying about the title they will hold in a high growth company (VP Marketing or CMO) -- or whom they will report to (the CRO or the CEO) David quotes Sheryl Sandberg: “If you are going to get on a rocket ship, try not to worry what seat you are on”. He also shares how CEOs can avoid their preferred CMO candidate getting vetoed by investors, and the pitfalls to avoid while searching for the ideal CMO. Hint: it's all about getting your scorecard right, and aligning with the board and investors well in advance. Want a peek into the scorecard that a CEO of a B2B SaaS company could be using to evaluate CMO candidates? Here are some key elements from one CMO search: - Lead and demand generation experience, with a focus on the functional expertise that matters to the company - inbound versus outbound - Numerical fluency - Demonstrated ability to work with sales to drive revenue - Strong marketing operations ability - putting fundamental processes and systems in place - Scale, speed and impact in past roles. For example, someone who made a great CMO at a $5 million company may not make a great CMO at a $50 million company. Someone who has never owned a function but excelled at parts of it may do really well stretching into a larger role. Join Erica and David as they walk through exactly what investors are thinking when they are helping their CEOs and Founders find the right marketing talent to help grow into their next set of millions!

Mike and Erica discuss the challenges and opportunities of building marketing teams at a hyper-growth company. Expanding from 65 to 500 people. Onboarding 50 new hires per quarter. Growing 50% YoY, A marketing team that's getting bigger and stronger each quarter – if that's not hypergrowth, then we don't know what is! We talk about how the role of a marketing leader grows and changes as the company grows, and some of the challenges with hiring ahead of plan, based on Mike's experiences at Coveo. We also talk about the need to balance ‘scrappy' and ‘scale' in a hyper-growth environment. For example, would you as a CEO hire a CMO who needed to ‘stoop' into the role (someone coming from a much larger firm that has already done a big revenue climb) or ‘stretch' into the role (someone who has not yet been the top marketer, or who comes from a smaller firm)? Mike offers 3 tips for anyone taking on a marketing leadership role in a hyper growth company: - Bring data to every marketing conversation, including data from existing marketing programs and data from across the company - to make themselves more credible to the leadership team. - Build a culture where people expect change. Embrace change, but also build a strong vision for what you are trying to achieve as a marketing team, along with a strong set of shared values. - "Hire people that scare you a little.” In our organizational design segment, Erica and Mike speak about specific org structure changes that Mike helped make to marketing at Coveo. He shares two - about centralizing shared services between customer acquisition and product marketing; as well as building collaborative crews who don't have a hierarchical responsibility to each other but work together on various time-bound or ongoing business initiatives. Finally, our last segment takes on trends that will impact marketing leadership in B2B SaaS companies for 2020. Here are some that stood out: 1. CRO titles and how that's going to impact the marketing org structure in high growth enterprises 2. Marketers mastering data for real revenue outcomes 3. More intentional role design for marketing leaders 4. Putting content marketing on a diet 5. The need for B2B SaaS marketing leaders to talk PE What do you think? What trends will impact the role of the B2B SaaS CMO in 2020 and beyond?

Julia Stead is unique as a B2B SaaS CMO because she defies the stats about the average tenure of B2B SaaS marketing leaders -- Julia spent over 7 years climbing the marketing ranks at Invoca before Erica placed her as CMO at Allocadia. (In case you were wondering, the average tenure of a CMO for a technology company is under 2.5 years - in SaaS companies, it's usually lower. In Silicon Valley, the average tenure of a marketing leader is 6 to 18 months!). In Episode 2 of The Get, Erica and Julia talk about the anatomy of a CMO search: from the perspective of both the company and the winning candidate. Highlights: - Julia shares how she rose fast in her career , and why she believes it's important to go the distance with your employer (with secrets from her self-improvement plan!) - What should you look for in prospective companies to see if they have the right culture of growth/ support? - How is the CMO job different from the VP Marketing role? - Balancing brand and demand as a CMO - Structuring a B2B SaaS marketing team as the CMO - Vital tips for marketers aspiring to be CMOs in B2B SaaS companies Julia is a founding member of Women in Revenue – and tells us why it matters to women professionals in revenue marketing

Erica Seidel, founder of The Connective Good, SaaS Marketing Talent Whisperer and your Host on The Get, helps navigate one of the most important – and challenging - decisions you will make as a B2B SaaS business leader - finding and keeping the best senior marketing talent. If you are a B2B SaaS business leader, then you probably know that The average tenure of a CMO for a technology company is under 2.5 years In SaaS companies, it's usually lower In Silicon Valley, the average tenure of a marketing leader is 6 to 18 months The costs of a mis-hire are significant, and can lead to churn of both customers and other employees Why ‘The Get'? There are lots of podcasts on recruiting, but they are usually meant for recruiters and HR folks. The Get is for B2B SaaS Business Leaders who want to address one of the most overwhelming challenges they face - finding and keeping the best senior marketing talent As someone who specializes in leading B2B SaaS marketing leadership searches, Erica brings unique insight and perspective as the host of The Get Here are some of the nuggets in this 25-minute introductory episode: The hardest and most enjoyable aspects of B2B SaaS marketing leadership searches How CEOs can tease out what they are looking for in their CMOs Great questions to ask candidates to really vet their marketing chops Erica's 6 pro tips for high growth B2B SaaS CEOs looking for marketing leadership What – and who - is coming up on future episodes of The Get through 2020 Are you intrigued? Then FOLLOW US on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Podcasts , Spotify and Sticher or your preferred podcast platform so we can alert you when a new episode drops! Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes and Soundcloud Share with your network on LinkedIn and Twitter.