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What if your tools shared context like your team does?This week on Grit, Shishir Mehrotra shares how the Coda and Grammarly collaboration unlocks context as a “superpower,” reflects on his early days at Google and YouTube, and hints at a future where tools anticipate intent and amplify how we work.He also shares how this paves the way for agent-based workflows and AI-native communication, beginning with Superhuman's email experience.Guest: Shishir Mehrotra, co-founder of Coda and CEO of GrammarlyConnect with ShishirXLinkedInChapters: 00:00 Trailer01:24 Introduction02:09 Zoo vs safari12:02 A TV ahead of its time21:25 Product decisions31:25 The data behind the algorithm37:26 The AI native productivity suite48:06 Agents are digital humans57:55 Pressure trade-off1:12:50 Insulated from judgment1:25:19 Who Grammarly is hiring1:25:51 What “grit” means to Shishir1:29:30 OutroMentioned in this episode: YouTube, Ray William Johnson, Spotify, Twitch, MTV, Chris Cox, Facebook, TikTok, Google TV, Centrata, Google Chrome, Android, Gmail, Microsoft, Super Bowl, Mosaic, Panasonic, Sony, Susan Wojcicki, Rishi Chandra, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, Comcast, LoudCloud (Opsware), Quest Communications, AT&T Southwestern Bell, Salar Kamangar, Patrick Pichette, Eric Schmidt, OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Platforms, Sundar Pichai, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Hamilton, Reid Hoffman, Sam Altman, Tesla, Waymo, Airtable, Notion, Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, Superhuman, Duolingo, Luis von Ahn, Khan Academy, MrBeast, Facebook Messenger, Snap (Snapchat), WhatsApp, Google+, Meta LLaMa, Satya Nadella, Tim Cook, Daniel GrossConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins
Sam Jacobs, Asad Zaman, and AJ Bruno and CEOs who are fundamentally changing how they are hiring and firing because of AI. These are the jobs that will and won't exist in the next 12 months, and our real-world insights on what CEOs are looking for out of their talent base. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket. Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today. Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader. You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! This episode is sponsored by UserEvidence. Want to know what actually moves the needle on trust? Download The Evidence Gap, a data-backed report on the customer proof that drives real results. Get it now at userevidence.com/evidence. Key chapters: (00:00) - Winners and Losers in AI (00:38) - The White Collar Bloodbath (03:30) - These 3 Jobs Won't Exist (25:10) - These 3 Jobs WILL Exist (& bets we're making) (42:50) - Jobs & People We're Hiring Right Now (59:05) - What is Surprising About Your Life Today?
Welcome to The Rose and Rockstar - with the Chief Troublemaker at Seventh Bear, Robert Rose, behind the bar serving one of his splendid cocktails while our host Ian Truscott, a CMO but not a rockstar, picks his brain on a marketing topic. This week, over a refreshing cocktail, we discover more about Robert's latest content marketing strategy - The Mullet. They discuss: The debate around what content we should share with the LLMs Robert's research into answer engine optimization Robert suggests we need to be business at the front with the structure for informing the robots, and then party at the back where the humans can access the good stuff. If you have a question for the bar, or maybe an opinion on what was shared this week, please get in touch - just search “rockstar cmo” on the interwebs or LinkedIn. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn and Bluesky Robert Rose on LinkedIn and Bluesky Mentioned this week This Old Marketing - The Mullet Content Strategy [Special Episode] (490) What's Broken in GTM and How to Fix It ep22: David Meyer Robert's new relaunched website: Robertrose.net Ian's firm - Velocity B Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web, Twitter, and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We'll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license You can listen to this on all good podcast platforms, like Apple, Amazon and Spotify.This podcast is part of the Marketing Podcast Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sick of trade shows that cost a fortune but never drive real pipeline? If your events strategy feels more like a brand awareness play than a revenue engine, this episode will help you flip the script. In this episode of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast titled “B2B Events That Close Deals: Strategies for Relationship-First Growth,” host Kerry Curran sits down with Meghan Lavin, VP of Marketing at Choreograph. With 15 years of experience leading events, content, and field strategy, Meghan shares how B2B marketers can drive measurable impact through smart, strategic event planning. She pulls back the curtain on what really works—beyond the booth: How to set goals and budgets that align with sales cycles and AOV What to ask for when negotiating sponsorships (and what not to sign) Creative ways to build hosted events that convert, even with limited budget How to train event staff so your booth doesn't fumble the first impression The power of post-event follow-up and content to keep relationships warm
Hoy os traemos una nueva coproducción de la revista GTM y los podcast El Vuelo del Cometa y Los Cuentos de la Casa de la Bruja. Un nuevo relato basado en un videojuego y escrito por Isaac López. Isaac López Martínez es un escritor de fantasía, ciencia ficción y terror que nació en un pueblecito de Alicante en el año 1999. Es alumno de Academia Oscura, el taller literario impartido por Álvaro Aparicio en el que se involucra alimentando sus delirios y construyendo su caja de herramientas. Este año participó en un concurso de relatos organizado por la escuela Phantastica, y se granjeó con ello la publicación de uno de sus cuentos en la antología Historias Phantasticas III con Ediciones El Transbordador que verá la luz a finales de este año; cuento que, además, ha sido seleccionado para aparecer en el número de septiembre de la revista Windumanoth. Isaac ha escrito varios relatos para GTM dedicados a mundos como el de Grand Theft Auto, Blasphemous o Castlevania. Hoy lo vuelve a hacer, pero esta vez con el neblinoso Silent Hill. - Narración: Juan Carlos Albarracín - Locución Sintonía: Antonio Runa - Música: Epidemic Sound, con licencia - Ilustración: Pixabay, con licencia https://pixabay.com/es/illustrations/noche-detener-transporte-p%C3%BAblico-8204409/ Los Cuentos de la Casa de la Bruja es un podcast semanal de audio-relatos de misterio, ciencia ficción y terror. Cada viernes, a las 10 de la noche, traemos un nuevo programa. Alternamos entre episodios gratuitos para todos nuestros oyentes y episodios exclusivos para nuestros fans. ¡Si te gusta nuestro contenido suscríbete! Y si te encanta considera hacerte fan desde el botón azul APOYAR y accede a todo el contenido exclusivo. Tu aporte es de mucha ayuda para el mantenimiento de este podcast. ¡Gracias por ello! Mi nombre es Juan Carlos. Dirijo este podcast y también soy locutor y narrador de audiolibros, con estudio propio. Si crees que mi voz encajaría con tu proyecto o negocio contacta conmigo y hablamos. :) Contacto profesional: info@locucioneshablandoclaro.com www.locucioneshablandoclaro.com También estoy en X y en Bluesky: @VengadorT Y en Instagram: juancarlos_locutor CONVOCATORIA ABIERTA – Los Cuentos de la Casa de la Bruja. ¿Eres escritor o escritora y te gustaría escuchar uno de tus relatos narrado en el podcast Cuentos de la Casa de la Bruja? Estoy abriendo la puerta a autores emergentes que quieran compartir relatos originales dentro del tono del programa: historias de terror y ciencia ficción con atmósferas inquietantes, elementos fantásticos, oscuros o insólitos, y una cuidada calidad literaria. ¿QUÉ TIPO DE RELATOS BUSCO? • Relatos de terror y ciencia ficción • Con una extensión de entre 3.000 y 4.000 palabras • Con una narrativa sólida, buen uso del lenguaje y que se presten a ser narrados en voz • Textos originales e inéditos (o que al menos no estén vinculados a compromisos editoriales) ¿CÓMO PARTICIPAR? Puedes enviar tu relato en formato Word o PDF a info@locucioneshablandoclaro.com con el asunto: Relato para el podcast. Acompáñalo, si quieres, de una pequeña nota biográfica para que pueda presentarte adecuadamente. IMPORTANTE: La recepción de un relato no garantiza su publicación. La selección dependerá de criterios narrativos, temáticos y de estilo, siempre con el objetivo de mantener la atmósfera y el nivel que caracterizan al podcast. ¡No se trata de emitir juicios definitivos sobre ningún autor o texto! Yo no soy crítico literario, ni pretendo serlo. Se trata de encontrar aquellos textos que mejor encajen con el universo del programa. Si tu relato es elegido me pondré en contacto contigo. En caso contrario agradeceré igual tu confianza y el gesto de compartir tu trabajo. Gracias por hacer crecer esta casa de relatos. ¡Espero leerte! Juan Carlos “Corman” Albarracín Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals
Jeff Ignacio sits down with John Queally, Senior Director of RevOps at Clari, to explore how modern RevOps can go from support function to strategic command center. John shares how his team leverages product telemetry, AI-powered account health scores, and a unified cadence to drive real outcomes across the GTM funnel. They also dig into why RevOps must own data quality in the AI era, and why sometimes the best ops leaders step outside of ops to level up. If you're serious about scaling smarter, this one's for you.
Nobody told startup founders building credibility felt this messy. Evan Huck, CEO and co-founder at UserEvidence (ex-SurveyMonkey, TechValidate), pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to turn verified customer proof into actual demand. Forget the fairytales: from wrestling with cold starts in outbound sales to playing the long game with brand, Evan's war stories are pure fuel for GTM teams tired of overnight success myths. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket. Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today. Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader. You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Key chapters: (00:00) - Kicking Off with Evan Huck's Unfiltered Startup Journey (02:00) - From Jackson Hole to the Boardroom—Finding Balance at Altitude (03:25) - Scaling Amid the Chaos: Inside User Evidence's Wild Year (04:31) - Ground Up: Sales Chops from SDR to CEO (05:30) - When to Cash Big Checks: The Secret Life of Enterprise AEs (06:54) - Startup Beginnings During Lockdown: Why Evan Built in 2020 (07:54) - Betting It All on Brand: Lessons from the Sweat Equity of Positioning (09:31) - Eight Quarters of Crickets: What Brand Investments Really Look Like (10:38) - Beyond Quick Hits: Convincing Investors Brand Pays (11:13) - Narrow the Bullseye: How ICP Discipline Elevated Growth (12:30) - Cracking the Enterprise: Creative Tactics That Actually Work (13:51) - CEO Hustle: Late Night DMs That Drove Real Results (14:59) - Slack Communities: Where Startup Deals and Credibility Are Born (16:00) - Talent Magnetism: Building Teams That Actually Like Each Other (18:00) - Smart Hires, Right Sequence: Why Product Marketing Came First (19:14) - Customers as Growth Catalysts: The Power of Advocacy (20:39) - Leadership Style: Why “Chill, Humble” Beats High Drama (22:07) - Book Rec for Founders: Patagonia's Blueprint for Sustainable Culture (22:43) - Wrapping Up: Truths, Tactics, and Takeaways for GTM Leaders
We talk with Lennard Kooy, CEO of Lleverage, about why nobody actually cares about AI—they care about outcomes. Lennard drops hard truths on why most companies are moving too slow, how to accelerate adoption by assisting before replacing, and where agentic workflows are creating real ROI. He also demos a live “gladiator challenge” of building a cold outreach AI agent from scratch, and outlines what every GTM leader needs to do right now to stay relevant. Whether you're a RevOps pro, a BDR sick of cold calls, or a CMO trying not to get fired—this is your wake-up call. 04:43 Interview with Lennard Kooy 09:36 AI-Powered Recruitment and Sales Automation 14:29 Adopting AI in Business Processes 21:29 Practical AI Workflow Demonstration 23:40 Generating Company Lists and Lead Data 24:24 Simplifying Automation for Users 24:47 User Experience and Customer Support 25:39 Quick Wins for New Users 28:10 Potential of Agentic AI in Go-to-Market 30:59 Guardrails for Adopting AI 32:32 The Power of MCP in AI Integration 35:25 Mid-Market Focus and ROI 37:34 Future of AI in Professional Roles 39:41 Advice for Go-to-Market Leaders 42:29 Quick Hits: Practical AI Tips 44:57 Final Thoughts and Takeaways Key Topics Reality Check: Why most businesses don't care about AI—and what they do care about The Trust Layer: How “assist before replace” is the cheat code for adoption Recruiting Reinvented: How Lleverage AI automated 70% of their hiring pipeline Agentic GTM: Where agent workflows are replacing cold calls, research, and lead scoring Demo Time: Watch Lennard build an AI agent live, in under 5 minutes MCP Advantage: Why this new spec removes dev bottlenecks and boosts AI usability Speed > Perfection: Why going slow will kill your competitive edge Hard Truths for Leaders: You will get replaced if you don't move faster Future of Work: What GTM roles look like in a near-agentic future About our Guest: Lennard Kooy is a seasoned tech entrepreneur focused on how emerging technologies can transform business operations. As CEO of AI platform Lleverage, he helps companies automate complex processes without requiring technical expertise, drawing from his experience building and selling martech company Storyteq to ITG. Known for his pragmatic approach to AI adoption, Lennard regularly shares insights on making advanced automation accessible to everyday business teams. He's passionate about strengthening Europe's position in the global AI landscape and frequently writes about the practical realities of implementing AI in enterprise settings.
#271 GTM Engineering | In this episode, Dave is joined by John Short, CEO of Compound Growth Marketing, along with Cammy Keiler, Justin Johnson, and Dan Guenet. Together, they break down the rise of GTM engineering, what it is, how it differs from RevOps, and why B2B teams are investing in it.Dave and the crew cover:The core difference between RevOps and GTM engineering (and why the latter is more focused on building than just integrating)Real GTM engineering use cases, from AI-powered sales tools to mid-funnel campaigns that go way beyond ebooksHow GTM engineers are driving higher revenue per employee and why this role should be one of your first five marketing hiresWhether you're hiring or just GTM-curious, you'll leave this episode with a clear definition of the role, real-world examples, and tactical ways GTM engineers drive impact.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (03:33) - – Why this topic resonated with 1,200+ registrants (05:48) - – What even is **GTM engineering? (08:03) - – GTM engineering vs. RevOps vs. Marketing Ops (11:18) - – How AI is driving this role forward (14:28) - – Real examples: ABM campaigns, mid-funnel tools, sales call analysis (19:38) - – Tools GTM engineers are using today (Clay, Unify, GPTs) (23:03) - – Role of GTM engineering in revenue per employee (27:18) - – How GTM engineers enable sales + reduce headcount (31:33) - – What Dan actually does all day as a GTM engineer (36:23) - – Custom GPTs for sales and marketing teams (39:38) - – What MCP servers are (and why they matter) (44:08) - – Claude, Gamma, and AI-powered content systems (46:53) - – Why this isn't just PLG (or ABM, or RevOps) (50:43) - – When to hire a GTM engineer (53:23) - – Big feelings about the role (and why they exist) (55:33) - – Closing thoughts + what to take away Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!
Hila Lauterbach, Founder of 10x GTM, and Klue Advisor. 10x GTM is a company partnering with high-growth B2B SaaS companies to accelerate revenue through strategic GTM and product marketing excellence. In this episode, KJ Hila discuss the rise of data-driven and AI-powered investment models—and why they’re not enough on their own. They also explore the most common go-to-market mistakes: lack of alignment, unclear audience, and missing foundational strategy. Key Takeaways: [5:47] Hila’s Origin Story & Overcoming Rejection [13:45] The Broken Investment Model [16:39] Building a Repeatable Go-to-Market Engine [26:50] The Future of SaaS & AI’s Impact Quote of the Show (27:00): “Every time the door was closed, I built a new door. You have to keep iterating, keep believing, and keep working hard towards your goals.” – Hila Lauterbach Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Hila Lauterbach: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilalauterbachmarketing Company Websites: 10XGTM.com and https://klue.com/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week on GTM Live, Carolyn and Trevor sit down with Mark Turner, VP of Revenue Operations at Demandbase, to break down how RevOps leaders can build aligned systems, drive better GTM execution, and measure what actually matters.Mark shares how his early background in FP&A shaped his leadership approach, bringing a data-first, analytical mindset to RevOps that balances strategic planning with operational precision. He also unpacks what it really takes to build a unified data layer across the GTM org, and why consistent definitions and connected systems are key to moving fast and measuring effectively.Key topics in this episode:How FP&A experience gives RevOps leaders a strategic edgeHow to build a unified data layer across GTMWhy sourced attribution models fall shortWhat sales velocity tells you that pipeline doesn'tWhere AI and automation are most impactful in RevOps todayHow to enable expansion and cross-sell without clunky handoffsThis episode is powered by Passetto, a GTM advisory and software company helping B2B teams build Revenue Sciences™, a measurable system that uncovers bottlenecks and data gaps, transforming go-to-market into a closed-loop engine for confident, scalable growth.
If you're building before validating the market, you're not a founder — you're a hopeful builder. In this episode, Bocar Dia, Partner and GM at Forum Ventures, shares how to build a capital-efficient, scalable sales motion in B2B SaaS, from idea to product-market fit and beyond. Drawing from his early days at Hootsuite and advising 30+ founders annually, Bocar unpacks the frameworks and mindsets for growing to $100M ARR without chasing inflated valuations.Specifically, Bocar covers:(03:13) Bocar Dia shifts from engineering to sales at early-stage Hootsuite.(12:09) Validate real pain, then pinpoint key problems to shape your MVP.(20:01) Founders often raise before soul-searching — and end up misaligned.(25:10) Product-market fit is when value drives steady inbound demand.(30:17) Sales has three phases: product fit, GTM fit and scale.(36:57) Don't scale early traction. Prove one repeatable channel first.(41:57) Hire Customer Success before Sales to drive renewals and growth.(46:30) Founders who sell first know exactly what kind of leaders and reps to hire next.(51:00) AI can help sales, but manual validation is needed before scaling.(57:53) Bocar recommends data-driven, tactical sales books for founders.Resources Mentioned:Bocar Diahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bocardia/Forum Ventures | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/forumvc/Forum Ventures | Websitehttps://www.forumvc.com/"The Sales Acceleration Formula" by Mark Robergehttps://www.amazon.com/Sales-Acceleration-Formula-Technology-Inbound/dp/1119047072"Founding Sales" by Pete Kazanjyhttps://www.amazon.com/Founding-Sales-Go-Market-Handbook/dp/1734505117Winning by Designhttps://winningbydesign.com/resources/books/This episode is brought to you by:Leverage community-led growth to skyrocket your business. From Grassroots to Greatness by author Lloyed Lobo will help you master 13 game-changing rules from some of the most iconic brands in the world — like Apple, Atlassian, CrossFit, Harley-Davidson, HubSpot, Red Bull and many more — to attract superfans of your own that will propel you to new heights. Grab your copy today at FromGrassrootsToGreatness.comEach year the US and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AILaunch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.caContent Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com#ProductMarketFit #CustomerSuccess #VentureCapital #Product #Marketing #Innovation #StartUp #GenerativeAI #AI
Most product-led businesses are tracking too many metrics and missing the ones that actually matter. They're drowning in data from 35+ different sources while their biggest growth bottlenecks go unnoticed. In this episode, Wes breaks down the exact metrics that matter for product-led growth and reveals the Reverse Funnel Scorecard - a simple tool that pinpoints your #1 bottleneck so you can focus your team's efforts where they'll have the biggest impact. Key Highlights: 01:54: The "vacation bottle" test - What 10 metrics would you track?03:43: The 3 categories of metrics every PLG business needs04:29: The 6 go-to-market metrics that actually matter05:19: What makes a "first strike" vs just clicking around your product06:21: Why tracking key usage indicators prevents churn10:23: The Reverse Funnel Scorecard walkthrough11:01: Why most founders confuse strategy problems with execution problems14:16: Live example walkthrough20:02: Why you should maximize upgrades in week 1 Stop guessing what's broken in your funnel. Use this data-driven approach to identify your biggest growth bottleneck and create focused projects that actually move the needle. Resources: ProductLed Scorecard - 07 Data_ProductLed Scorecard.pdf Reverse Funnel Planner - ProductLed Reverse Funnel Planner Project Summary Template - Project Summary - Template Partner with a ProductLed Implementer to scale your GTM to 8 figures and beyond. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive more actionable advice and learn about the best PLG playbooks from fast-growing SaaS companies: ProductLed Newsletter
In this episode of Why Did It Fail?, Shivan is joined by Joe Stubbs, VP of UK Sales at Cognism, for a brutally honest look at what happens when a new process sounds smart, but doesn't entirely stick.They dig into the early months of Joe's leadership, where the pressure was high and the ambition was huge. But a well-intentioned rollout exposed some tough truths about enablement, alignment and operational execution.If you're leading GTM strategy, trying to fix cross-team friction, or navigating change inside a fast-moving sales org, this episode is full of insight you'll want to take with you.
Databox is an easy-to-use Analytics Platform for growing businesses. We make it easy to centralize and view your entire company's marketing, sales, revenue, and product data in one place, so you always know how you're performing. Learn More About DataboxSubscribe to our newsletter for episode summaries, benchmark data, and moreWhat would happen if Marketing stopped acting like a request factory and stepped up as the hub of revenue, enablement and strategy? In this episode of Move the Needle, Kyle Lacy (CMO at Docebo, ex-Seismic, ExactTarget, Salesforce) breaks down his "CREM" framework—Communication, Revenue, Enablement, Metrics—and shows how any SaaS team can use it to earn board-level credibility and hit the pipeline number. Along the way we tackle product-level pipeline ownership, building an AI “SWAT team,” and the right way to say “no” to random requests without losing goodwill.You'll learn: • Why saying "yes" to everything is killing marketing's credibility • How to get sales, finance, and marketing aligned on revenue • When product marketing can (and should) own a pipeline number • The metrics that really matter (and the brand metric he's still testing) • How to redefine "enablement" beyond sales decks and collateral
Trade shows and events are back!But most still miss the point. If you're not walking away with real relationships and revenue potential, you're doing it wrong.Hey there, I'm Kerry Curran—B2B Revenue Growth Executive Advisor, Industry Analyst, and host of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast.In this episode, Pipeline in Person: How Relationship-First Events Drive Real ROI, we're diving into how the smartest B2B brands are getting off the expo floor and into curated conversations that actually convert.I'm joined by Jon Whitfield, Chief Operating Officer at MediaPost, who has spent over 20 years perfecting the art of high-impact, face-to-face marketing. Jon isn't just running another event company—he's building a reputation for delivering summit experiences that sponsors rebook year after year because they drive pipeline, not just visibility.And here's the surprising truth: smaller, niche gatherings with the right ratio of buyers to sponsors consistently outperform massive trade shows—if you get the format right. Jon breaks down why most conferences fail to deliver ROI—and how to fix it.We cover:The one customer value metric sponsors should use to justify their spend How curated experiences like golf, axe throwing, and roundtables deepen buyer trust What brand-side marketers actually want from events in a post-remote world And how to build stronger sponsor-attendee matchmaking and content alignment Picture this: instead of awkward badge scans, you're having real conversations over dinner, sharing challenges in closed-door roundtables, and walking away with warm leads who already know, like, and trust you.Stay to the end, where Jon shares his one non-negotiable rule for evaluating event ROI—and how to spot a conference worth investing in before you spend a dollar.If you're investing in events this year, this episode is your edge.Hit follow, drop a rating, and share it with your field marketing or partnerships lead—because pipeline starts before the pitch.Let's go!Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:02.296):So welcome, Jon. Please introduce yourself and share your background and expertise.Jon Whitfield (00:07.832):Well, hello, Kerry. Thanks for having me on. My name is Jon Whitfield. I'm the Chief Operating Officer over at MediaPost. I've been there for a long time—I didn't realize you could be at a place for as long as 22 years. Apparently, there are other places you can work. I didn't know that. No one ever told me. I just learned that you can get other jobs at other places.Yeah, I've been at MediaPost for 22 years. I've seen a lot of things change over the years, and yeah, we're thrilled just to still be kicking and doing our thing.Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:46.176):Excellent. Well, I know you've become the expert at events, and in my own experience with MediaPost, you've curated a really valuable experience for both brands, attendees, and sponsors. I want to dive into your expertise and help marketers and sponsors get more out of their conferences—and really think about what that investment looks like.We're seeing more and more value put into face-to-face relationship-building and brand-building. Conferences offer that, right? Talk about how you've seen the industry evolve and what you're seeing today.Jon Whitfield (01:38.716):Yeah, I mean, it's funny. When I first started out in this business, you had real tentpole events—like the ad:techs and the SESs of the world—that had 300 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. These were real, large gatherings that happened several times a year. If you weren't at those—whether as an exhibitor or an attendee—you kind of didn't exist. It was like, “We've got to be there.”So in the early 2000s and through the first decade of the new millennium, those large shows were really commonplace and important.We participated not only as exhibitors but also by launching our own conference series called OMMA Global, which had a couple of thousand people, 150 exhibitors, and was a two-day, multi-track content event. It was a big lift. It wasn't easy to put together or manage.But after five or six years of doing that, we realized it was really difficult to go back to our sponsor pool and guarantee them the ROI they were looking for. Because with large events, you're not really in control of the experience. You're kind of leaving it to chance: maybe someone good stops by a booth, maybe there's a follow-up, maybe someone connects at the cocktail party, maybe someone attends the sponsored presentation.Sometimes you get four people in the room, sometimes 50—you're just not in control. Over time, we learned that the more control you have over the experience—and the more you're involved in it—the more satisfied everyone will be: sponsors, attendees, everyone.Kerry Curran, RBMA (03:28.800):Right.Jon Whitfield (04:15.984):Exactly. And so, we just evolved. You've still got the big tentpole events like CES that serve a purpose. But I don't know many people in advertising or marketing who come back from CES saying, “I got a ton of business from that.”You want to be seen there, like at Cannes. These large shows are viable, but as a business, we found we couldn't deliver on the experience we promised. That's why we transitioned to smaller settings, like our Summit Series.Kerry Curran, RBMA (05:15.244):Yeah, and I've been to a number of your events as well as the big shows. I agree—both as a sponsor and as an attendee—with the smaller, more niche, intimate events, relationship-building becomes much more organic. You're on the bus to dinner, at happy hour, or even horseback riding. There's so much more opportunity to build meaningful relationships.Jon Whitfield (05:46.884):Yeah, in a smaller setting, you really get to know people. It's almost like dating. They're testing you out, seeing how you are in different environments, and you're a direct reflection of the business you're there to represent.When the event ends, they have a pretty good sense of, “Do I want to work with this person?” Or maybe, “That didn't really work out.” You don't get that level of intimacy when you're just scanning badges at a big conference. You're not getting that.So we value time spent in different environments—not just in a conference room, but also on the bus, during a golf round, throwing axes, horseback riding, whatever it is. You really see people's true selves in those environments, and that translates into better business relationships. At least, that's what we think.Kerry Curran, RBMA (07:04.492):Yeah, no—and again, I've loved it. I often describe your events as almost like destination weddings. By the end of three days, you're best friends with everyone. You've cultivated a really unique culture within your events, where the sponsors all get to know each other, and everyone's been so willing to have conversations and learn from each other.Jon Whitfield (07:43.888):Absolutely. It's something we've tinkered with for years. It's never perfect. Things happen—weather, logistics—that can muddy things up. But if you have the basic formula down and you've tried it enough times, you can predict, “This is going to be a good one.”We've been doing our Email Summit for 19 years, twice a year. We've been doing our Performance Marketing Summit (formerly Search & Performance) for 19 years. These are tried-and-true programs.And I always ask our sponsors: What's a customer worth to you? What do we need to do to deliver not just one, but two, three, four customers? We want to knock it out of the park. If a customer is worth more than their investment, that's great—I can deliver that. But if the customer value is low and the investment is high, that's a math problem.So we work backward from that. How do we get each supporter to a place of success? That's how we approach it.Jon Whitfield (09:11.312):That's great—because I can deliver that. But if they're investing a ton and their customer value is very low, then there's a math problem, right? So it's about figuring out how we get those individuals who support our events to a place of success. That's how we approach it. We start kind of backward and move forward—and then do our best to deliver on the promise.Kerry Curran, RBMA (09:35.087):Yeah, no, that makes so much sense. And it's smart to think of it that way. Everyone needs ROI on their investments. So when you're talking to sponsors—say a new ad tech, martech, or agency reaches out and wants to sponsor—what are they usually looking for in a conference experience?Jon Whitfield (09:58.756):Well, it kind of depends on what the product is. Some of our sponsors have a more technical platform or need more time to explain their value—they might need a visual or demo. So they might want to sponsor a presentation where they get 10 minutes to show and educate everyone on who they are, what they do, and why they matter in the overall ecosystem.Others don't need that much time. They're like, “Here's what we do, here are a few of our customers, and we'd like to sponsor the brewery tour,” or “Let's take everyone on a cool boat ride.” It's more about creating a memorable experience and attaching your name to something we've built—where all boats rise. You mentioned competitors—at our events, sponsors often become frenemies. They all understand they're there for the same reason. So we keep it positive. Let's all try to win. There's no reason to make it awkward.So yeah, it really depends on what the sponsor is trying to achieve. We just recommend what we know works, based on years and years of doing these.Kerry Curran, RBMA (11:28.674):Yeah, and I like what you pointed out about branding and associating your brand with the audience. Especially in B2B, that's such a challenge. So many brands I talk to are focused on lower funnel—"I just need the sales"—but they forget their audience has to have heard of them and liked them first. The conference environment is a really effective and efficient way to do that.Jon Whitfield (11:59.534):Exactly. You also asked me earlier about how things have evolved over time—and, of course, we had this little thing called COVID in between. We were doing fine leading into it, but coming out of COVID was rough. We couldn't do in-person events, so we pivoted to virtual—Zoom events, video panels. They were fine for keeping the community connected, but nothing compares to in-person relationship-building.In 2021, 2022, and 2023, I'd start each show by asking the audience, “Raise your hand if this is your first summit.” A lot of hands would go up. Then I'd ask, “Are you still primarily working remotely?” And again—almost everyone raised their hands.And if I asked today, I'd still get a majority. So when we talk about the viability of events—how are you going to meet people if no one's in an office anymore? Are you going to go to their house? Meet at a local Starbucks? At some point, it lands back on events. And yeah, we've been fortunate to benefit from that shift.Kerry Curran, RBMA (13:15.752):Yeah.Jon Whitfield (13:25.592):I still think there's this broad shift away from full-time, in-office work. And that really emphasizes the value of in-person gatherings—big or small.Kerry Curran, RBMA (13:41.239):I completely agree. And vendors can't do lunch-and-learns like they used to, either—not if the agency or brand team is fully remote or just more dispersed. So conferences become a valuable way to introduce your brand, tease interest, and build toward a deeper sales conversation or demo.Now, we've talked about sponsors. But the other critical audience is the attendees. Your target audience is brand-side marketers across different industries and verticals. From their perspective, what are they looking for in a conference? What do they find at MediaPost?Jon Whitfield (14:41.604):When brands come together at our events, they're looking for like-minded individuals going through similar challenges. You might have someone who runs email for American Airlines sitting next to someone managing email for a restaurant chain—and they're facing the same problems.It might be deliverability. It might be creative. It might be open rates. That's just one example, but a lot of marketers want a platform where they can share ideas, collaborate, trade war stories, and ask questions—even what they think might be dumb questions—in a safe environment where they'll get real help and honest answers.So when they get back to the office on Monday, they're equipped with real insights and action items. That's the big thing.The sponsors—the vendors and platforms—provide the tools. They're the ones building solutions to help marketers do their jobs better.I always say this at our conferences: MediaPost doesn't really provide a takeaway in the traditional sense—no binders, no decks. The takeaway is the connection. It's the chance to meet tech solution providers who are working hard to make marketers' lives easier and more effective.We create the space for those connections to happen—in an intimate way, where people can really spend time together, share ideas, riff off each other, and see where it goes.I think that's what our buyers—the marketers—really want. And here's the thing: they get calls all the time from our sponsors before the event and they never answer the phone. They're busy people. But then they come to the event and say, “Oh my god, you've been calling me for months. I never picked up. But I watched your presentation—it was amazing. Let's set up a test next week.”We hear that story over and over again. It's not that marketers don't want to learn about these technologies—it's that their day-to-day is packed. So events give them the breathing room to explore.Kerry Curran, RBMA (17:08.846):Yeah, definitely. And to your point, it's so important for marketers to stay on top of the latest technology, platforms, publishers. You give them an environment to learn from peers and providers. You also do a great job balancing content and networking. Talk a bit about your approach to content and the roundtables.Jon Whitfield (17:56.014):Yeah. All of our content is built for the marketer—the buyer, the brand-side attendee. Our panels, our keynotes, anything that's not sponsored is programmed with that in mind.We want to highlight best practices and challenges from the main stage so that people can identify with what's being shared. That content sets the stage for deeper conversations later—whether it's during an activity, a reception, or dinner. It plants seeds that grow over three days.These aren't one-day fly-in events. You're invested. You're present. You're there to grow. From a content perspective, we always ask the marketer or agency side: What are your struggles? What are your wins? What lessons can you share?Kerry Curran, RBMA (18:53.730):Yeah.Jon Whitfield (19:23.664):And then, when it's a sponsor's turn—okay, you've got 10 minutes—riff on what you heard. Build on it if you want. But mostly, tell us who you are, what you do, what value you offer. We want a pitch. Show us the dashboard. Show us who your customers are. Be clear.That's how we do it. We don't cross-pollinate the content. You've spoken at our events—you know we keep it church and state. We program the editorial content. And we expect sponsors to bring equally valuable content that's insightful and impactful.That's how we create a full, engaging morning of sessions.Kerry Curran, RBMA (20:28.556):Absolutely. And you do a great job curating senior-level speakers and timely themes that reflect what marketers in those verticals are really facing.I've always found that valuable. And one of my favorite parts? Your roundtables. Like you always say—mics off, real talk. That's when people ask the questions they're afraid to ask on stage. And it's just as valuable for the sponsors—they get to hear firsthand what their audience is struggling with and start a meaningful conversation right then and there.Jon Whitfield (21:51.652):Yep.Kerry Curran, RBMA (21:56.417):It's all about building real, mutually beneficial relationships—and you've created a space that does that so well.Jon Whitfield (22:05.208):Thanks. And yeah—we've had feedback that if we could run an entire summit with just roundtables, people would love it. They're so impactful. You turn off the cameras, and people get honest.Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day, but those roundtables consistently get top marks in our post-show surveys.Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:41.484):I believe it.Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:41.484):I definitely agree. Jon, this has been incredibly helpful. I think it's important for everyone listening to be reminded just how valuable event investments can be—from education to relationship-building to, ultimately, driving sales.So for those tuning in who want to ramp up their event strategy—or need to build a business case for budget from their CFO—what's your recommendation for getting started?Jon Whitfield (23:18.244):Start by comparing the costs. What's your total investment going to be to sponsor an event? It's not inexpensive. There's travel, hotels, time. If you're a vendor or sponsor, it's not the cheapest thing in the world.So go back to that question: What's a customer worth to you?How are you currently getting customers? Are you converting through digital-only channels? Maybe you're just selling widgets and don't need in-person interaction. Fine. But if you're in a consultative or technical sale where FaceTime matters, then events are going to pay dividends.If you're trying to decide which events to support, here's what I tell people: Look at whether the sponsors from two or three years ago are still coming back. If they're not, run for the hills. That's a red flag. It means the experience didn't deliver.Look at our Email Insider Summit. We've been running it for 19 years. And for at least the past 10, you'll see many of the same companies sponsoring over and over. That doesn't happen by accident. It takes hard work. You have to care deeply about the experience and the investment people are making—your sponsors, your ticket buyers.That's something we believe in strongly. Maybe that's why we're still around. But yeah—do your homework. Know what a customer is worth to you. Run the numbers. You have to get ROI from these things. That's just the bottom line.Kerry Curran, RBMA (25:36.471):I totally agree. And one thing to level-set with your CFO is: you're probably not going to see ROI immediately. Depending on what you're selling, it might be three to six months down the road.If you come home without a signed contract, it doesn't mean it wasn't a success—it just means you're playing a longer game.And I know you also do a great job customizing sponsor opportunities at your events.Jon Whitfield (26:18.788):Yeah, it's all about knowing who you are as a company. What do you want to be known for? Is it education? Is it fun? Is it gifts?Every brand has its own playbook. That's why we offer a variety of sponsorship options—because everyone has a different goal when they come to an event.Kerry Curran, RBMA (26:59.630):Exactly. There's so much flexibility. One-on-one meetings. Content partnerships. Webinars. Lots of ways to extend the experience beyond the event.And one more thing we didn't touch on—brand attendees. You have some great senior-level VIP opportunities, right?Jon Whitfield (27:21.668):Absolutely. For this model to work, we need a strong brand-side presence—decision-makers, people with media and marketing budgets, people who want to network and learn.That's the lifeblood of our business. And we're always looking to bring in new marketers doing interesting things.That's part of what keeps this exciting. Even something as “old” as email is constantly evolving. There are always new tools and trends—whether it's AI, chatGPT, TikTok, or whatever else is coming.So yeah, we need marketers who want to tell their stories, who want to improve, and who want to meet others doing the same.Kerry Curran, RBMA (29:21.070):And that's how you pitch it to your boss. “Yes, I'm going to Amelia Island—but look who else will be there. Look at the brands and tech providers I'll be learning from.” You come back with insights and a full notebook, and your higher-ups will be glad you went.Jon Whitfield (29:47.044):Exactly. And yes—senior marketers can qualify for our VIP passes. We have a set number of those for each event. Once they're gone, they're gone.We also cap the total audience to keep the buyer-to-seller ratio balanced—usually around 1:1. It's typically 90–100 people: half brand-side, half sponsors. That way, everyone gets time to connect. And if by day three you haven't met who you need to meet—you stayed in your room too long!Kerry Curran, RBMA (30:48.834):Well, I can say I'm still close with many of the marketers and vendors I've met at your events. I always recommend your summits because they're high-value, well-structured, and genuinely productive.So, Jon—if someone wants to get in touch to learn more, how can they find you?Jon Whitfield (31:29.036):Well, not that I need more email—but you can reach me at Jon@MediaPost.com. If you're interested in sponsorships, my right-hand man Seth Oilman is your guy—Seth@MediaPost.com. He's our CRO and runs the sponsorship side.Reach out, and I'll point you in the right direction.Kerry Curran, RBMA (31:54.624):Excellent. We'll include all of that in the show notes—and make sure everyone mentions they heard you here!Jon Whitfield (32:02.552):Thanks again, Kerry. You've been such a great supporter and advocate for years. We appreciate all you've done—and don't stop!Kerry Curran, RBMA (32:17.550):Thanks, Jon. I believe in what you're doing and love being part of it. Can't wait to see you again soon!Jon Whitfield (32:30.884):You got it. Can't wait.Thanks again to Jon Whitfield for pulling back the curtain on what makes events actually drive results. Here's what we're walking away with: big expos can generate visibility, but intimate events create trust and conversions. ROI starts with one question—what's a customer worth to you? Events should be evaluated not just on cost, but on continuity, brand fit, and customer alignment.If this sparked ideas for your event or sponsor strategy, share it with your team—and let us know what resonated. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and follow Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. To learn more, visit revenuebasedmarketing.com and follow me, Kerry Curran, on LinkedIn. Flat or slowing revenue? Let's fix that—fast.Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast delivers the proven plays, sharp insights, and “steal-this-today” tactics that high-growth teams swear by.Follow / Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTubeTap ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ if the insights move your metrics—every rating fuels more game-changing episodes
Episode SummaryThis episode of the OnBase Podcast dives into AI's critical role in transforming go-to-market (GTM) strategies, brand building, and buyer engagement in the B2B landscape. Host Paul Gibson speaks with Rob Gold about how AI serves as a strategy accelerator, not just a buzzword, and explores the behaviors modern B2B marketers need to adopt to remain competitive. Rob also shares insights into Dentsu's groundbreaking AI-powered transformations and outlines the trends that will redefine B2B marketing by 2030.Key topics include the increasing importance of brand trust, AI-driven personalization, and actionable first steps for companies ready to expand their AI maturity while keeping human creativity at the core.Key TakeawaysAI as a Strategy AcceleratorAI is an accelerator for strategies, enabling organizations to reduce decision-making times and optimize buyer journeys.Brand TrustA strong brand built on trust and aligned values is essential to establish credibility with buyers.Enhanced Buyer ExperienceSimplifying complex purchase processes can shrink sales cycles and improve buyer satisfaction.Data-Driven AgilityLeveraging predictive AI enhances both targeting precision and real-time responsiveness.Trends in B2B by 2030Key shifts such as machine-to-machine commerce and marketplace dominance will demand innovative solutions.Quotes“AI is not the strategy. It is the accelerator of your strategy.”Best Moments 01:10 – Rob's Journey & Vision: How his career shaped his leadership principles at Dentsu B2B.03:07 – Key Modern B2B Behaviors: Brand trust, experiences, and the agility to stay relevant.15:44 – The Role of AI in Marketing: Using AI to enhance predictive modeling and shorter sales cycles.21:38 – Real-World Application of AI: The transformational success of AI-driven quote engine “Lily.”33:43 – 2023 to 2030 Trends: What's coming next in B2B, from autonomous commerce to ethical marketing.Shout-OutsBob Ray - Board Director, MarketbridgeTejal Patel - Founding Partner, Stanford Bridge Partners Richard Shotton - Founder of AstrotenAbout the GuestRob Gold is the Global President of Dentsu B2B, leading a network of over 1,000 B2B specialists worldwide. With more than two decades of experience, Rob's career spans global brands like BMW and Zenith, as well as spearheading innovations in B2B marketing at Merkle and Dentsu. His visionary approach blends data, technology, and creativity to drive success for some of the world's most ambitious companies.Website: www.dentsu.comConnect with Rob.
Ivan Zhao joins Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit to break down how the company's minimalist design became a strategic edge in a world overwhelmed by bloated software. He shares why the AI agent still hasn't arrived, and how Notion's modular approach might be the closest thing to making it real.Guest: Ivan Zhao, co-founder and CEO of NotionMentioned in this episode: Fuzzy Khosrowshahi, Airbnb, Sequoia Capital, Linear, Figma, Apple, Things, Microsoft, BMW, Lumiere, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Rippling, Matt MacInnis, Inkling, Steve Jobs, Douglas Engelbart, Alan Kay, Bill Gates, OpenAI ChatGPT, Y Combinator, Andrej Karpathy, Toby Schachman, Simon Last, Spotify, SlackConnect with Ivan ZhaoXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins
On this week's episode, John Barrows hits the floor at Rev Fest—a one-of-a-kind event hosted by Go Nimbly's CEO, Jen, at the iconic House of Yes in Brooklyn. This isn't your typical sales conference. It's loud, unconventional, and hyper-focused on RevOps—the unsung heroes of modern GTM strategy.In a series of quick-hit, high-impact interviews with leaders from Snowflake, Clay, G2, StrongDM, and Figma, John asks each guest the same three questions:What should sales stop doing?What should sales do more of?And if you had a magic wand, what would you change about the sales & RevOps relationship?The answers? Candid, surprising, and exactly what sales pros and leaders need to hear.Whether you're a rep trying to work better with ops, or a leader looking to scale smarter, this episode delivers direct insights from the RevOps trenches.Are you interested in leveling up your sales skills and staying relevant in today's AI-driven landscape? Visit www.jbarrows.com and let's Make It Happen together!Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/Connect with John on IG: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/Check out John's Membership: https://go.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-membership?ref=3edab1 Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter
#270 Strategy | Dave is joined by Holly Xiao, Head of B2B Marketing at HeyGen, an AI video generation platform that helps teams produce personalized, high-quality content, fast. Holly has led marketing at high-growth startups and now runs the enterprise GTM motion at HeyGen, where she blends strategy, creative execution, and AI-powered workflows to reach modern B2B buyers.Dave and Holly cover:The 4 channels her lean team is betting on to drive enterprise pipeline (and what's not working anymore)How B2B marketers are using AI video for event marketing, sales enablement, onboarding, and beyondWhy SEO is falling short and how HeyGen is shifting focus to webinars, events, and YouTube insteadIf you're figuring out how to use AI in your marketing or just trying to do more with less, this one's full of practical ideas to help you think differently about team structure, channels, and strategy.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (03:48) - – Holly's nonlinear path to marketing (06:48) - – Getting started in marketing ops (08:48) - – Why she joined an AI startup (10:48) - – How HeyGen's marketing org works (13:48) - – PLG vs SLG: Key differences (15:48) - – The 4 channels driving pipeline (17:48) - – What's working: Events + webinars (19:48) - – Booth strategy that stands out (24:23) - – Brand vs demand events (26:23) - – Building community and user events (27:53) - – SEO is declining. Now what? (30:23) - – Running marketing in 2-month sprints (33:23) - – Aligning product and marketing cadence (35:23) - – Her daily AI tools (36:53) - – ChatGPT vs Gemini workflows (38:23) - – Real AI video use cases (40:23) - – Personalized event promos with avatars (41:23) - – Support, training, and onboarding videos (42:23) - – Fortune telling and music videos?! (43:23) - – Why AI won't replace marketers Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!
What if AI made switching platforms effortless—and what would that mean for SaaS? This week on Topline, Sam Jacobs, Asad Zaman, and AJ Bruno unpack the latest headlines around Databricks, Snowflake, and Ramp to explore whether AI is truly shifting the foundations of enterprise software. They debate the reality behind “vibe coding,” question whether AI is actually boosting productivity (or just slowing us down), and discuss why so much of today's AGI conversation feels overhyped. Plus: the rise of nano agents, the illusion of developer efficiency, and what jobs might look like in 2030. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket. Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today. Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader. You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! This episode is sponsored by UserEvidence. Want to know what actually moves the needle on trust? Download The Evidence Gap, a data-backed report on the customer proof that drives real results. Get it now at userevidence.com/evidence. Key Chapters: (00:00) - Welcome and Introductions (02:00) - The Retreat Recap and Business Decisions (04:30) - The Vanishing Switching Costs in SaaS and Cloud (07:00) - Skepticism Around Kubernetes and Cloud Portability (09:00) - Middle Market and SMB: Where AI-Enabled Switching Gains Traction (12:00) - The Paradox of Switching Costs and Enterprise Inertia (15:00) - The Ramp Phenomenon: Outpacing Incumbents with AI-Driven Finance (18:00) - Future of Finance Teams: Human + AI Agents Collaboration (22:00) - The Challenge of AI Hallucinations and Model Reliability (26:00) - The Reality Check: AI Tools Slowing Developers Down (29:30) - The Evolving Role of QA: More Fun or More Tedious? (34:30) - Vibe Coding: Promise, Reality, and Use Case Limitations (38:30) - Centralized AI Agents vs. Specialized Nano Agents (42:30) - Envisioning 2030 Businesses: AI's True Impact Unfolds (45:30) - Defining General and Super Intelligence: Myth vs. Reality (50:30) - The AI Singularity and Moral Frameworks: Can Machines Learn Ethics? (54:30) - The Grains of Sand, Rubik's Cube Permutations, and AI Complexity (57:30) - Lighthearted Hot Takes: WNBA Enjoyment & Infinity Skepticism (59:00) - Shoutouts to Masterminds, Meals, and Podcasts (01:02:30) - Parting Thoughts on AI Adoption and CTAs for Listeners
It's never been harder to be a CMO—and never more important to get it right. Budgets are shrinking, burnout is rising, and the pressure to deliver pipeline and prove impact hasn't let up. If you're still trying to lead through this alone, you're already behind.Hey there, I'm Kerry Curran, B2B Chief Revenue Officer, Industry Analyst, and host of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast.In Scale Smarter Under Pressure: How CMOs Win with Peer Collaboration, I'm joined by Kathleen Booth, SVP of Marketing and Growth at Pavilion. We talk about how today's most effective CMOs are navigating change, pressure, and AI disruption—without losing their edge. Kathleen shares what she's seeing across Pavilion's global network of go-to-market leaders and why the ones still winning are focused on three essential pillars:Profitable, efficient growth AI for go-to-market Personal transformation Because resilience isn't a luxury anymore—it's a leadership requirement.We also dive into what makes GTM25, Pavilion's flagship event, different from any other conference out there—and why it's a must-attend for marketing and revenue leaders looking to scale smarter in 2026 and beyond.Be sure to stay tuned to the end, where Kathleen shares a powerful mindset shift that redefines what it means to be a modern CMO—and how to become the strategic growth architect your business needs now.If you get value from this episode, hit follow, drop a quick rating, and send it to someone in marketing, sales, or the C-suite who needs to hear it. Let's go.Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:01.417)Welcome, Kathleen. Please introduce yourself and share your background and expertise.Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (00:06.382)Hey Kerry, thanks for having me on the show. My name is Kathleen Booth. I am the SVP of Marketing and Growth at Pavilion, a global private membership community for go-to-market executives. Our mission is to help go-to-market leaders succeed in their careers at a time when tenures are notoriously short and the pressure is extremely high.Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:33.417)Excellent. Thank you so much for joining today, Kathleen. As we've discussed, I'm a bit obsessed with Pavilion right now. There are so many smart examples, learnings, coursework—just tons of content to up-level executives. But what I love is that it emphasizes that marketing, sales, and customer success must work together to drive revenue and business growth. I know you're talking to a lot of CMOs, CROs, and customer success executives. What are you really hearing today? What are the challenges or what does the marketplace look like for them?Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (01:19.086)The theme word of the year is “uncertainty.” We get a lot of feedback from our members and more broadly. We're living through a time of tremendous pressure on go-to-market leaders in general—and CMOs in particular. It wouldn't be a podcast if we didn't mention AI.Artificial intelligence is transforming everything so quickly, it's difficult to find solid ground. As soon as you think you understand something, it changes again. Data shows buying complexity is increasing. Leadership turnover is high. Legal, regulatory, and geopolitical instability make it hard to predict even six months out.Recent data from G2 shows vendor shortlists are shrinking—from four to seven options previously, to just one to three now. That makes it harder to even get considered. Marketers have to step up brand awareness and demand, but budgets are under pressure.According to Gartner, only 24% of CMOs say they have enough budget to execute their strategy. Marketing budgets as a percent of total revenue are down 11% from 2020. The challenges are growing, but our toolset is shrinking. Then there's AI. It brings promise—but also complexity.Salesforce found that marketers see AI as both the top opportunity and the top challenge. One person called it a “proble-tunity.” Around 75% of marketers have experimented with AI, and marketing is seen as the most advanced department when it comes to adoption. But only 32% say they're using it adequately.And the result of all of this? Burnout.Gartner's CMO Leadership Vision report shows that marketers facing high levels of change are twice as likely to experience burnout. We're all feeling it. To make it worse, only 14% of CMOs are viewed as effective at shaping markets—a skill that's crucial for hitting revenue targets.All of this suggests the modern CMO must be commercial, creative, and AI-powered. We're in a first-principles moment where we need to rethink what marketing organizations look like, how to build go-to-market motions, and what role AI should play.We can't just be storytellers or data crunchers. We need to be strategic growth architects.Kerry Curran, RBMA (06:10.941)Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree. To your point, where the CMO was once seen as the creative or visual lead, now marketing is more directly connected to revenue. McKinsey did a study a year and a half ago saying companies that put marketing at the core of their growth strategy outperform their peers.Then in June, they released another study saying the biggest challenge for CMOs now is getting closer to the CFO—earning respect at the leadership table. And you're right: it can't all be done by AI. It's not just branding and communications anymore. It's more complex—and CMOs have more demands, tighter budgets, and higher expectations.What frustrates me is that it still falls to the CMO to educate the rest of the executive team on the value of marketing. I know Pavilion does a great job helping upskill and educate executives—especially in marketing and sales. What's the solution? How are you solving this? And how should leaders outside of marketing be thinking about it?Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (07:49.068)At the start of the year, we identified three cross-cutting themes for the Pavilion community—not just for marketing. And they've held up, even with how much has changed.First is “profitable, efficient growth.” This speaks directly to marketers needing to understand the P&L and get closer to the CFO to make smarter bets.Second is “AI for go-to-market.” Unsurprisingly, we have to lean in. I love that marketers are seen as AI leaders within their organizations. If we can solidify that position, it's not just job security—it's a way to lead from the front. We should be saying, “I'm out ahead of this, and I'm bringing the company with me.”The third theme—maybe a little “woo-woo”—is “personal transformation and resiliency.” Because it is hard. The stress is real. You and I were talking before we started recording about unplugging for vacation. That's not just a luxury—it's essential. We can't teach people how to take care of themselves, but we can remind them that it matters just as much as staying on top of AI.Kerry Curran, RBMA (09:54.183)Yeah, definitely. I love those three pillars—and they truly are cross-cutting. Can you go deeper on how Pavilion is helping marketers in each area? I know you're doing a lot with AI onboarding, upskilling, and coursework. And yes, marketers are definitely carrying the torch there.Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (10:24.046)Sure! One way to encapsulate it is with our flagship event: GTM2025. It's happening September 23–25 in Washington, D.C. (you can learn more at attendgtm.com). It brings our members together to share perspectives and preview where our “product”—which is really an experience—is heading.For marketers specifically, we have a dedicated sub-community led by incredible members. They host regular roundtables because—let's be real—the landscape is changing too fast for blogs and newsletters to keep up. You need peers. You need the hive mind.Then, tied to profitable, efficient growth, we have our CMO School—teaching what it takes to be world-class. GTM2025 will feature sessions on P&L fluency, leadership, and more.AI and GTM is a huge theme. The entire conference focuses on “AI and the Future of GTM.” It's not just a buzzword—every speaker is talking about how it's transforming their work. We're also teaching specific courses on building an AI-augmented go-to-market team: tools, workflows, and real-world examples.For the personal transformation side, we're one of the only conferences with a wellness room—sound baths, guided meditations. We also include topics outside the typical ABM and ad campaign tracks. This year, our keynotes reflect that.One I'm super excited about is Will Guidara, author of “Unreasonable Hospitality.” He was GM of Eleven Madison Park—the world's first vegan Michelin-starred restaurant. The book is about how hospitality—not just great food—helped them become the best restaurant in the world. It's surprisingly a business book: process, customer orientation, service. He'll talk about hospitality as a driver of business excellence.Then we have Henry Schuck, CEO of ZoomInfo. They just changed their NASDAQ ticker to GTM—so they're clearly committed to go-to-market alignment. I'm excited to hear his perspective.We'll also feature Noelle Russell, author of “Scaling Responsible AI.” AI is still the Wild West, and we need to understand the guardrails. What are we accountable for as adopters?Finally—and this is a first—we're hosting a geopolitical keynote panel because the event is in D.C. We can't talk go-to-market strategy and ignore what's happening with the economy, regulation, supply chains, tariffs, and labor.Our panel features Josh Barro and Megan McArdle—both independent, balanced journalists—plus one more speaker TBD. They'll focus on facts, implications, and how leaders should incorporate them into strategic planning.And for those who prefer to skip political talk, don't worry—the bar opens early!Kerry Curran, RBMA (17:47.997)Yes! That is so relevant for what's on business leaders' minds—especially CMOs. I love that you're hitting every angle. From hospitality and customer-centricity to AI and global context—it's all interconnected. And I'm especially excited for the Women's Summit the day before.Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (19:00.758)Yes! Anne and Lindsay—leaders of our Women of Pavilion community—have built something special. They led our first Women's Summit last year, and it was incredible. This year's agenda is entirely member-driven, sourced from our networks, and centered around the real issues facing female leaders.Kerry Curran, RBMA (19:40.647)Lindsay was a guest on the podcast—she's brilliant. And Anne as well. Every event and session I've attended has been so thoughtful. Kathleen, this has been incredibly valuable. For listeners unfamiliar with Pavilion, can you share what resources and support it provides?Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (20:08.110)Of course. Pavilion is a private membership community for go-to-market executives and aspirants. We offer:- A private Slack community with functional groups- 50+ local chapters around the world- Pavilion University (with CMO School, GTM School, AI School, etc.)- Career services, job board, mentorship- Events: GTM, CMO Summit, local dinners, and moreIt's about creating a trusted peer network, providing operator-built education, and fostering connection. That's how we support leaders through this new GTM era.Kerry Curran, RBMA (21:34.439)Totally agree. I joined in March and wish I had joined sooner. The coursework has brought structure and rigor to initiatives I previously had to figure out on my own. The peer learning is incredible. And the dinners are next-level—I'm headed to one in Boston tomorrow. Last time we joked we should build a better CRM on a cocktail napkin.Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (22:45.709)I love that.Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:56.605)We're clearly biased, but for those thinking about how to grow and lead in today's GTM world, what should they be focusing on?Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (23:15.118)I'll close with some data and advice: 84% of leaders believe their company's identity will need to significantly change in the next five years. That's massive.CMOs are well-positioned to lead that change—if they step up:First, build cross-functional leadership muscles. Pavilion excels at this. It's not just about marketing—it's learning to partner with sales, CS, ops.Second, shape the market. Be the narrative builder and operationalize brand trust. With AI exploding, brand is having a renaissance. CMOs must lead here.Third, guide the customer experience. We've talked about hospitality, but post-sale is more important than ever. Marketing needs to drive loyalty, retention, and evangelism.With AI and product data, we can now create truly personalized journeys—at scale. That opens a world of opportunity.Kerry Curran, RBMA (27:01.095)So many valuable points. Thank you for joining us today, Kathleen! How can people learn more about GTM2025, Pavilion, or connect with you?Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (27:19.886)You can learn more at joinpavilion.com and attendgtm.com. And feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn—just mention you heard this podcast!Kerry Curran, RBMA (27:40.585)Thank you! Looking forward to seeing you in September.Kathleen Booth | Pavilion (27:45.623)I can't wait.Thanks for listening to Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. If Kathleen's insights resonated with you and you're ready to stop leading in a vacuum, remember this: the best CMOs aren't doing more—they're doing it smarter, together. If you got value from this episode, do me a quick favor: hit follow, leave a rating, and share this with someone in marketing, sales, or the C-suite who needs to hear it.And don't miss the event of the year for go-to-market leaders: GTM2025, hosted by Pavilion. It's where marketing, sales, and customer success executives come together to connect, learn, and lead what's next. Register today at attendgtm.com.If you want more growth frameworks, peer strategies, and go-to-market insights, head to revenuebasedmarketing.com or connect with me, Kerry Curran, on LinkedIn. More powerhouse episodes are coming soon, so stay tuned and keep scaling smart. Flat or slowing revenue? Let's fix that—fast.Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast delivers the proven plays, sharp insights, and “steal-this-today” tactics that high-growth teams swear by.Follow / Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTubeTap ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ if the insights move your metrics—every rating fuels more game-changing episodes
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Ron Gabrisko is the Chief Revenue Officer at Databricks, where he joined in 2016. Under his leadership, Databricks has scaled from $0 to over $4BN in annual revenue. He has grown the sales team from 0 to over 1,000 globally, leading expansion into enterprise, government, and international markets. Ron previously held senior sales roles at Cloudera and IBM, bringing deep experience in data and AI infrastructure. His tenure at Databricks has been defined by hypergrowth, multi-product adoption, and world-class GTM execution. Agenda for Today: 00:04 – The Databricks Origin Story: Ali, Ben Horowitz & 7 PhDs 00:08 – Ali vs JPMorgan: Turning Down $10M to Stay Cloud-First 00:13 – Prospecting Day: How Ron Scaled the GTM Culture 00:16 – Why Databricks' Pricing Model Was Its Secret Weapon 00:19 – Enterprise vs SMB: The Risky Bet That Paid Off 00:23 – From $2M to $13M ARR: How Ron Built the First Sales Engine 00:29 – Can AI Replace Salespeople? Ron's Brutally Honest Take 00:36 – How to Get Your First Million-Dollar Rep (and Keep Them) 00:42 – The Culture Secret Behind Scaling to 5,000 Sales Reps 00:45 – Why Databricks Waited Until $500M ARR to Go International 00:52 – What Makes a Great Sales Meeting? Ron's Gold Standard 00:58 – The Snowflake Wars: Why Ron Says Databricks Is 5 Years Ahead
Dan Hurwitz is a revenue and business transformation leader with a proven track record of scaling growth-stage B2B tech companies. He has led 12 Series A through C startups through GTM transformations, driving 5 successful exits, including acquisitions by Salesforce, Under Armour, and InMarket. Dan excels at building high-performance sales, marketing, and customer success teams, aligning GTM strategies with business goals, and accelerating revenue growth. Dan also consults early-stage startups through his company First Trax Advisors and hosts the podcast How to UnF**k Your Startup, offering insights to help founders navigate growth challenges.Want to learn more about Dan? Check him out here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dahurwitz/Want more content from Brandon? Click here - https://linktr.ee/getoveryourself_podcast
Qasar Younis is the co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, a leading vehicle intelligence platform that helps companies develop and deploy autonomous systems at scale. In June 2025, the company raised $600M at a $15B valuation. Before Applied Intuition, Qasar was the COO and a group partner at Y Combinator, and earlier founded TalkBin, which was acquired by Google. He's also held engineering roles at General Motors and Bosch. In today's episode, we discuss: • The two founder traits Silicon Valley undervalues • How to get 1–3 extra months of work done every year • Lessons from YC on pattern matching and founder feedback • The battle-tested startup formula Qasar used at Applied • Why co-founder fit is make-or-break • Applied's playbook: vertical SaaS, product-led GTM, and leveraging VC networks • Why Applied went multi-product in the early days • Contrarian takes on startup culture, compensation, and cost control • Why domain expertise is making a comeback • And much more… Referenced: • Applied Intuition: https://www.appliedintuition.com • Ansys: https://www.ansys.com • Bilal Zuberi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bzuberi • Bosch: https://www.bosch.com • Elad Gil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eladgil • General Motors: https://www.gm.com • “Google's Acquisition of TalkBin”: https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/25/google-acquires-talkbin-a-feedback-platform-for-businesses-thats-only-five-months-old/ • “High Output Management”: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884 • Kyle Vogt: https://x.com/kvogt • Marc Andreessen: https://x.com/pmarca • “Only the Paranoid Survive”: https://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Strategic-Inflection/dp/0385483821 • Paul Graham: https://x.com/paulg • Peter Ludwig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig • Sam Altman: https://x.com/sama • TalkBin: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/talkbin • “The History of the Standard Oil Company”: https://www.amazon.com/History-Standard-Oil-Company-Volumes/dp/1519455860 • Waymo: https://waymo.com • Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com • Zoox: https://zoox.com Where to find Qasar: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/ Where to find Brett: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/ • Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson Where to find First Round Capital: • Website: https://firstround.com/ • First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/ • Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/firstround • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital • This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast Timestamps: (01:26) Two founder traits Silicon Valley undervalues (04:23) Gain 1-3 extra months of productivity yearly (05:52) Why founders should read outside the startup canon (07:27) Lessons from YC (13:44) Why it's harder to start than to quit (15:52) The moment you become a real founder (20:24) How great founders master luck (21:46) Qasar's battle-tested startup formula (25:37) The founding insight for Applied (31:42) How Applied expanded beyond automotive (38:05) Why Applied went multi-product early (45:45) What no one says about startup secondaries (49:02) Why being cheap is a startup superpower (51:04) The myth of "competition doesn't matter" (53:50) Early scrappiness: The Sunnyvale house setup (54:50) Why domain knowledge is making a comeback (58:32) The mentors who shaped Qasar
In this episode of TECHtonic, host Thomas Lah is joined by Wendy Wooley, VP of Customer Experience and Strategic Programs at ScienceLogic, to explore how AI is not just transforming products, but fundamentally reshaping how tech companies go to market. Wendy reflects on her 10-year journey at ScienceLogic, the development of the Skyler AI Suite, and how the Agentic AI Autonomic IT Maturity Model is helping customers unlock value faster. Together, they explore what it means to align AI innovation with customer-centric value realization—and why that alignment is no longer optional.Listeners will gain insights into:The evolving expectations of enterprise buyers in the AI eraWhy “first time to value” is now a non-negotiable benchmarkHow to shift from selling features to selling outcomesWhy modern GTM strategies must speak to both the CIO and the CEOIf you're in tech and still leading with features instead of business outcomes, this episode is your wake-up call. Modern buyers demand more—and AI is raising the bar.
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Alexander Klyanitskiy and Valentina Zakirova, the founding partners of AdHoc Ventures, a brand-new fund laser-focused on what they call Human Interaction Tech.They explore why online communication, remote work, and AI are disrupting how we relate at work and in life, and why that opens a massive opportunity for a new kind of VC firm. With a track record of backing unicorns like Flo, Revolut, and Patreon, and institutional knowledge from Bain and SDV, the duo is now raising their first fund to scale this vision.We dive into how they define their category, the growing $150B+ market opportunity, their standout portfolio performance, and how their unfair advantages—from GTM playbooks to Tier 1 VC intros—create gravity with both founders and LPs.
Guest: Hikari Senju, Founder & CEO at Omneky -- AI isn't just generating ad copy—it's reshaping the entire performance marketing playbook for B2B SaaS. In this episode, Hikari Senju, founder and CEO of Omneky, shares how the platform evolved from an enterprise solution to a self-serve powerhouse—and why smart creative strategy matters more than big budgets. Key insights from this episode: Why brute-force creative testing consistently outperforms guesswork How ad performance data can directly inform GTM messaging Why brand inconsistency across platforms kills trust and conversion How AI-powered ads are becoming core to revenue strategy If you're a B2B SaaS CMO or CRO looking to improve ROAS, scale faster with fewer resources, or make AI actually work for your GTM team, this episode is a must-listen. ---Not Getting Enough Demos? Your messaging could be turning buyers away before you even get a chance to pitch.
In this episode of the FutureCraft GTM Podcast, hosts Ken Roden and Erin Mills reunite with returning favorite Liza Adams to discuss the current state of AI adoption in marketing teams. Liza shares insights on why organizations are still struggling with the same human change management challenges from a year ago, despite significant advances in AI technology. The conversation covers practical frameworks for AI implementation, the power of digital twins, and Liza's approach to building hybrid human-AI marketing teams. The episode features Liza's live demonstration in our new Gladiator segment, where she transforms a dense marketing report into an interactive Jeopardy game using Claude Artifacts. Unpacking AI's Human Challenge Liza returns with a reality check: while AI tools have dramatically improved, the fundamental challenge remains human adoption and change management. She reveals how one marketing team successfully built a 45-person organization with 25 humans and 20 AI teammates, starting with simple custom GPTs and evolving into sophisticated cross-functional workflows. The Digital Twin Strategy: Liza demonstrates how creating AI versions of yourself and key executives can improve preparation, challenge thinking, and overcome unconscious bias while providing a safe learning environment for teams. The 80% Rule for Practical Implementation: Why "good enough" AI outputs that achieve 80-85% accuracy can transform productivity when combined with human oversight, as demonstrated by real-world examples like translation and localization workflows. Prompt Strategy Over Prompt Engineering: Liza explains why following prompt frameworks isn't enough—you need strategic thinking about what questions to ask and how to challenge AI outputs for better results. 00:00 Introduction and Balance Quote 00:22 Welcome Back to FutureCraft 01:28 Introducing Liza Adams 03:58 The Unchanged AI Adoption Challenge 06:30 Building Teams of 45 (25 Humans, 20 AI) 09:06 Digital Twin Framework and Implementation 17:34 The 80% Rule and Real ROI Examples 25:31 Prompt Strategy vs Prompt Engineering 26:02 Measuring AI Impact and ROI 28:21 Handling Hallucinations and Quality Control 32:50 Gladiator Segment: Live Jeopardy Game Creation 40:00 The Future of Marketing Jobs 47:49 Why Balance Beats EQ as the Critical Skill 51:09 Rapid Fire Questions and Wrap-Up Edited Transcript: Introduction: The Balance Between AI and Human Skills As AI democratizes IQ, EQ becomes increasingly important. Critical thinking and empathy are important, but I believe as marketers, balance is actually more important. Host Updates: Leveraging AI Workflows Ken Roden shares his approach to building better AI prompts by having full conversations with ChatGPT, exporting them to Word documents, then using that content to create more comprehensive prompts. This method resulted in more thorough market analysis with fewer edits required. Erin Mills discusses implementing agentic workflows using n8n to connect different APIs and build systems where AI tools communicate with each other. The key insight: break workflows down into steps rather than having one agent handle multiple complex tasks. Guest Introduction: Liza Adams on AI Adoption Challenges Liza Adams, the AI MarketBlazer, returns to discuss the current state of AI adoption in marketing teams. Despite significant technological advances, organizations still struggle with the same human change management challenges from a year ago. The Core Problem: Change Management Over Technology The main issue isn't about AI tools or innovation - teams can't simply be given ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity and be expected to maximize their potential. Marketing teams are being handed tools while leaders expect employees to figure out implementation themselves. People need to see themselves in AI use cases that apply to their specific jobs. Joint learning sessions where teams share what works and what doesn't are essential. The focus has over-pivoted to "what's the right tool" when it should be on helping people understand, leverage, and make real impact with AI. The AI Adoption Plateau Many organizations face an AI adoption plateau where early adopters have already implemented AI, but a large group struggles with implementation. Companies attempting to "go fully agentic" or completely redo workflows in AI are taking on too much at once. Success Story: The 45-Person Hybrid Team Liza shares a case study of a marketing team with 45 members: 25 humans and 20 AI teammates that humans built, trained, and now manage. They started with simple custom GPTs, beginning with digital twins. Digital Twin Strategy for AI Implementation Digital twins are custom GPTs trained on frameworks, thinking patterns, publicly available content, and personality assessments like Myers-Briggs. These aren't designed to mimic humans but to learn about them and find blind spots, challenge thinking patterns, and overcome unconscious bias. For executive preparation, team members use digital twins of leadership to anticipate questions, identify gaps in presentations, and prepare responses before important meetings. The progression: Simple digital twins → Function-specific GPTs (pitch deck builders, content ideators, campaign analyzers) → Chained workflows across multiple departments (marketing, sales, customer success). Prompt Strategy vs. Prompt Engineering Following prompt frameworks (GRACE: Goals, Role, Action, Context, Examples) isn't enough if the underlying thinking is basic. AI magnifies existing thinking quality - good or bad. Example: Instead of asking "How do I reduce churn?" ask "Can you challenge my assumption that this is a churn problem? Could this data indicate an upsell opportunity instead?" This transforms churn problems into potential revenue opportunities through different strategic thinking. The 80% Rule for Practical AI Implementation AI outputs achieving 80-85% accuracy can transform productivity when combined with human oversight. Example: A team reduced translation and localization costs from tens of thousands of dollars monthly to $20/month using custom GPTs for eight languages, with human review for the final 15-20%. Measuring AI ROI: Three Strategic Approaches Align with Strategic Initiatives: Connect AI projects to existing company strategic initiatives that already have budgets, resources, and executive attention. Focus on Biggest Pain Points: Target areas where teams will invest resources to solve problems - excessive agency costs, overworked teams, or poor quality processes. Leverage Trailblazers: Identify curious team members already building AI solutions and scale their successful implementations. Handling AI Hallucinations and Quality Control AI models hallucinate 30-80% of the time when used as question-and-answer machines for factual queries. Hallucinations are less common with strategic questions, scenario analysis, and brainstorming. Prevention strategies: Limit conversation length and dataset size to avoid context window limitations Use multiple AI models to cross-check outputs Implement confidence checking: Ask AI to rate confidence levels (low/medium/high), explain assumptions, and identify what additional information would increase confidence Live Demo: Claude Artifacts for Interactive Content Liza demonstrates transforming the 2025 State of Marketing AI report into an interactive Jeopardy game using Claude Artifacts. The process involves uploading a PDF, providing specific prompts for game creation, and generating functional code without technical skills. This "vibe coding" approach allows users to describe desired outcomes and have AI build interactive tools, calculators, dashboards, and training materials. Future of Marketing Jobs and Skills Emerging roles: AI guides, workflow orchestrators, human-AI team managers Disappearing roles: Language editors, basic researchers, repetitive design tasks Transforming roles: Most existing positions adapting to include AI collaboration Critical skill for the future: Balance Innovation with ethics Automation with human touch Personalization with transparency Balance may be more important than emotional intelligence as AI democratizes cognitive capabilities. Key Takeaways The Gladiator segment demonstrates how dense research reports can become engaging, interactive content without engineering resources. Making AI implementation fun helps teams stay balanced and avoid overwhelm. Success comes from starting with tiny AI wins rather than comprehensive strategies, focusing on human change management over tool selection, and building systems that augment rather than replace human creativity. This version removes the conversational back-and-forth while preserving all the searchable content people would look for when researching AI implementation, digital twins, prompt strategy, change management, and practical AI use cases. Stay tuned for more insightful episodes from the FutureCraft podcast, where we continue to explore the evolving intersection of AI and GTM. Take advantage of the full episode for in-depth discussions and much more. ----more---- To listen to the full episode and stay updated on future episodes, visit the FutureCraft GTM website. Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered advice. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are our own and do not represent those of any company or business we currently work for/with or have worked for/with in the past.
Use cases, not just features.That's how Simon Ooley, co-founder of Veles, a YC-backed startup reshaping how enterprise sales teams engage buyers, and former sales leader at Procore and Builder, reframes the future of enterprise sales. Instead of selling products, he helps teams sell outcomes—anchored in urgency, ROI, and the real problems customers are trying to solve.In this episode of the B2B Go-To-Market Leaders podcast, Simon joins Vijay to unpack his journey from BDR to founder and YC-backed entrepreneur. They dive deep into:Why traditional sales roles are merging under the GTM umbrella.How can large teams eliminate inefficiencies in quoting and deal desk processes?The power of use case-based selling to drive urgency, personalization, and long-term customer successSimon breaks down why founder-led sales isn't just about hustle, but about curiosity, experimentation, and relentless clarity on what your buyers actually care about. You'll learn how Velus is shifting sales conversations from product features to business cases—and why that shift might be the most important evolution in GTM strategy today.Whether you're scaling a sales team or starting from zero, this conversation is packed with tactical insight and a whole lot of heart.Connect with Simon Ooley on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonooley/Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/Brought to you by: stratyve.com
#269 AI Search & SEO | In this episode, Dave is joined by Andrei Țiț, Head of Product Marketing at Ahrefs, a leading SEO tool trusted by marketers around the world. Andrei has been on the front lines of how AI is reshaping search and what that means for marketers trying to stay visible in an AI-first world.Dave and Andrei cover:Why branded search volume is now a top indicator of visibility in AI-generated results (and how to grow it)The new playbook for SEO in 2025, including what metrics to track beyond traffic and backlinksActionable tactics to get your brand mentioned by AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI OverviewsWhether you're a marketing leader or an SEO newbie, this episode will help you rethink your approach to content, attribution, and brand in the AI era.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (02:48) - – Why this was Exit Five's most-registered webinar ever (05:08) - – Meet Andrei from Ahrefs (06:48) - – Is SEO dead? Not quite, but it's harder than ever (08:28) - – AI traffic is growing fast (63% of sites already see it) (09:18) - – Why brand is your best SEO defense (11:48) - – How Google measures brand impact (keywords, mentions, clicks) (14:48) - – Calculating content ROI with traffic value (17:18) - – Why branded search volume predicts AI visibility (21:18) - – How to track brand mentions in ChatGPT, Perplexity & AI Overviews (24:18) - – AI traffic = fewer clicks, better leads (29:23) - – How to improve your visibility in AI-generated answers (36:23) - – Why backlinks matter less and PR matters more (43:23) - – New rules for writing content LLMs can surface (52:23) - – Final takeaways: metrics to watch and content to prioritize Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!
Teryn Thomas is Founder and CEO at EdLight. EdLight is your AI Math Co-Teacher, they're Seed funded. I worked with the EdLight team using the Customer Insights Roadmap process which included customer research, insights, positioning, messaging, competitor analysis, GTM strategy, website, social channels, sales emails, and conference materials.I'm doing a bit of my own customer research with this unique episode.Here's what we cover:How's it going for you guys since we worked together;How were you feeling before we started working together;Why did you go with me;Now that we've worked together what was the stand out moment for you;What's been the impact of our working together.Teryn on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/teryn-thomas-a00b51145EdLight: www.edlight.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanovWebsite: furmanovmarketing.com
Chain.io is a vertical integration platform deeply embedded in the shipping and logistics space, helping connect massive freight companies with retail brands through the millions of messages required to track shipments and navigate customs. With $18 million in funding, the company has positioned itself as critical infrastructure for an industry that became front-page news during COVID. In this episode, Brian Glick shares hard-won lessons about building in a legacy industry, the realities of enterprise sales cycles, and why he never took himself out of the sales process. Topics Discussed: Building vertical iPaaS for logistics before the category existed in supply chain How COVID accelerated understanding of data movement as a strategic problem The challenge of selling complex integration technology to legacy industries Transitioning from founder-led sales while maintaining founder involvement Using podcasting as relationship-building infrastructure for 10-year customer lifecycles Building authentic employee thought leadership without formal programs The impact of AI on traditional integration and data movement businesses GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Don't fully remove yourself from enterprise sales—strategically deploy your founder advantage: Brian learned that completely stepping back from sales was a mistake. Instead, he discovered the power of strategic founder involvement: "As a founder I am an incredible asset to my team, but that doesn't mean I have to be on every meeting." He now enters deals at the beginning to build relationships, trusts his sales team to advance opportunities, then returns at crucial moments to help close negotiations. This approach maximizes founder value while empowering the sales team. Timing pain points matters more than pain intensity: Chain.io experienced a counterintuitive sales pattern during COVID—initial uptick as customers felt pain, followed by a downturn when pain became overwhelming. Brian observed: "A little bit of pain is good for sales... when it gets too much pain, people freeze up." B2B founders should recognize that acute customer pain creates urgency, but excessive pain paralyzes decision-making. The sweet spot is when customers feel enough discomfort to act but retain capacity to evaluate new solutions. Legacy industries require relationship-based, not scale-based GTM motions: After trying to build a "standard SaaS BDR SDR style go-to-market machine," Brian realized it was wrong for both his market timing and industry culture. He pivoted back to relationship-driven sales focused on live events and consultative engagement. For enterprise logistics customers making decisions that affect 40 countries, "nothing is simple and no decision is made by one person who's going to click a buy now button." Founders in traditional industries should think more like SAP than HubSpot. Use podcasting as relationship infrastructure, not lead generation: Brian launched his podcast "almost day one" as free marketing, but discovered its real value in relationship building for long sales cycles. He doesn't track metrics or measure ROI traditionally, noting: "I know that I've gotten a CIO of a major freight company... [who] sent me a screenshot of my podcast... and I know how much that one customer pays me is more than I've ever invested in the podcast." For B2B founders with complex sales cycles, content should build relationships rather than optimize for attribution. Build category understanding through customer education, not just problem-solving: When Chain.io launched in 2017, "that category did not exist in supply chain." Brian spent years helping customers understand that data movement was a strategic, first-tier problem rather than something "you tack on the end of some other project." Category creation often requires patient market education—founders must be prepared to invest in customer understanding before expecting rapid adoption, especially in conservative industries. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM
Is your SaaS team aligned—or just busy? In this episode of SaaS Fuel, Jeff Mains sits down with Jolly Nanda, GTM advisor and sales strategy expert, to discuss how SaaS founders can build scalable growth by aligning product, marketing, and sales from day one.Jolly shares insights from scaling teams at SAP, Adobe, and Atlassian, and breaks down what early-stage SaaS leaders can do today to build healthy sales pipelines, improve forecasting accuracy, and foster a culture of truth-telling inside the funnel.In this episode, you'll learn:How to fix the misalignment between sales, product, and marketingWhat most founders get wrong about pipeline hygieneWhy culture—not comp plans—drives real sales performanceHow to use product-led growth alongside sales, not against itThe mindset shift every founder must make to scaleIf you're tired of hero sales and pipeline guesswork, this episode gives you a clear framework to build process-driven, revenue-responsible teams.Key Takeaways00:00 – The sales number isn't the whole story04:10 – Early-stage GTM red flags05:30 – Product, marketing, and sales: 1 team, not 306:42 – Sales culture vs sales process08:18 – Why incentives don't fix a broken system10:01 – How to build a truth culture in sales11:47 – Why PLG doesn't mean anti-sales13:40 – Building alignment between product and revenue teams15:19 – The right kind of friction in sales and onboarding17:02 – Discovery before demo (and why that order matters)19:14 – “Hero sales” vs. scalable sales21:00 – Why most pipeline data is not accurate22:48 – Trust is a byproduct of process24:12 – 4 elements of good pipeline hygiene26:00 – Sales managers: stop being scorekeepers28:09 – Real forecasting starts with sales call truth29:20 – The connection between missed targets and broken process30:32 – How to change sales culture without killing morale32:00 – Leading indicators vs lagging indicators in GTM34:29 – Product-led + sales-led = better customer journey36:14 – Why you need revenue roles inside product38:06 – Pricing is part of GTM, not just finance 40:00 – Aligning marketing messaging with sales narratives41:27 – The next evolution of GTM rolesTweetable Quotes"Pipeline hygiene isn't a Salesforce task—it's a culture of truth." – Jolly Nanda"If sales, marketing, and product aren't on the same page, your customer feels it first." – Jolly Nanda"Don't fix sales with comp plans. Fix it with better process and culture." – Jolly Nanda"Product-led growth isn't the enemy of sales—it's fuel for it." – Jolly Nanda"The goal isn't activity—it's alignment." – Jeff MainsSaaS Leadership LessonsPipeline hygiene is a culture issue. It's not just about clean CRM—it's about truth in the funnel.Sales, product, and marketing must operate as one team. Siloed GTM leads to chaos and churn.Product-led growth doesn't eliminate sales—it elevates it. The handoff must feel seamless to the customer.Scalable sales = process + mindset. Don't build your GTM around a hero rep.Truthful forecasting starts with sales conversations. If reps are sandbagging or guessing, fix the culture first.Curiosity beats control. The best leaders build cultures where feedback flows freely across GTM.Guest ResourcesWebsite -
How did Tripadvisor become every traveler's starting point?Steve Kaufer joins Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit to break down how Tripadvisor became the internet's trusted travel companion, built on over a billion reviews and decades of trust. He also shares why early personalization fell short and how AI is finally doing what travel agents once did by understanding the traveler, but faster, smarter, and at scale.Guest: Steve Kaufer, co-founder of TripAdvisorChapters:(00:00) Trailer(00:45) Introduction(01:32) Early days of Tripadvisor(08:14) Catching the startup bug(18:42) Luck and timing(26:54) $200M: a combo of money and risk(37:37) I love creating stuff(40:45) Hardest part of being a public CEO(46:21) Never let a good crisis go to waste(51:54) An average traveler(55:49) Social proof vs artificial intelligence(1:02:59) Back in the saddle(1:09:54) Not for the faint of heart(1:12:16) What “grit” means to Steve(1:12:31) OutroMentioned in this episode: Google, Expedia Group, Barry Diller, Interactive Corporation (IAC), Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, OpenAI ChatGPT, IMDb, CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction), Amazon, Google Chrome, Give Freely, Honey, Rakuten, Macy's, American Cancer Society, Google GeminiLinks:Connect with SteveXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins
In this weeks' Scale Your Sales Podcast episode, my guest is Leeron Yahalomi. Previously, she was a Head of Customer Success at Regie.ai. LeeRon Yahalomi is a GTM leader passionate about blending AI innovation with human insight. With deep experience in building teams and scaling post-sale operations, she's known for turning customer value into business growth. In today's episode of Scale Your Sales podcast, Janice speaks with Leeron, they explore how AI is transforming post-sales operations, why customer success must evolve into a revenue-driving function, and how leaders can build trust, inclusion, and data-driven strategies in today's hybrid world. Leeron also shares why curiosity, authenticity, and asking the right questions are key to leading high-performing, empowered teams. Welcome to Scale Your Sales Podcast, Leeron Yahalomi. Timestamps: 00:00 Embracing AI: The Next Wave 06:09 AI Call Notes for Workforce Efficiency 08:01 Reframing Work: Start Where They Are 12:25 Strategic Planning and Resource Request 14:56 Sales as Discovery Art 17:25 Customer Success Drives Future Sales 22:07 Customer Engagement Defines Company Perception 23:32 Data-Driven Customer Insight Process 27:22 Empowered Women's Presence https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeron-yahalomi-1b066819/ Janice B Gordon is the award-winning Customer Growth Expert and Scale Your Sales Framework founder. She is by LinkedIn Sales 15 Innovating Sales Influencers to Follow 2021, the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Customer Experience Nov 2020 and 150 Women B2B Thought Leaders You Should Follow in 2021. Janice helps companies worldwide to reimagine revenue growth thought customer experience and sales. Book Janice to speak virtually at your next event: https://janicebgordon.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/janice-b-gordon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaniceBGordon Scale Your Sales Podcast: https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/podcast More on the blog: https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/blog Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janicebgordon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScaleYourSales And more! Visit our podcast website https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/podcast/ to watch or listen.
In this week's throwback episode of The 20% Podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dom Odoguardi, a GTM leader at Trellus who has been sharpening his entrepreneurial skills long before stepping into the startup world. From running social media and managing 94 interns in college to leading Sales, Marketing, and Community at an early stage company, Dom shares the lessons he's learned from both structured and chaotic environments.Key topics include:Growing up as a first-generation Italian American and the influence of early experiencesThe transition from selling pizza (no pineapple allowed) to managing large teamsHow real world experience shaped his perspective on Sales, Marketing, and EntrepreneurshipThe importance of demand generation and social sellingWhy cross-functional collaboration is the secret to early stage GTM successHis hot take: Social selling is actually marketingThis conversation is packed with advice for anyone navigating the world of startups, sales, and content driven demand generation.Please enjoy this week's episode with Dom Odoguardi.I am now in the early stages of writing my first book! It will cover my journey into sales, the lessons learned, and include stories and advice from top sales professionals around the world. I'm excited to share these interviews and bring you along on this journey!Like the show? Subscribe to the email: Subscribe Here
Le Pixel est mort… vive la Conversion API ?Dans cet épisode de No Pay No Play, on vous explique concrètement comment Meta suit vos ventes — et pourquoi le tracking est devenu un enjeu critique pour vos performances publicitaires.Vous apprendrez :Ce qu'est la Conversion API (CAPI) en mots simplesPourquoi elle est devenue indispensable depuis iOS14Comment la combiner intelligemment avec le PixelComment savoir si vous avez bien installé la CAPILes erreurs à éviter sur Shopify, GTM, etc.Que vous soyez annonceur ou media buyer, cet épisode est un passage obligé pour comprendre comment Meta attribue vos conversions aujourd'hui.
Public SaaS companies are growing faster—but private equity–backed SaaS companies are doing it more profitably. In this episode, AJ and Asad dig into new data from David Spitz comparing ARR growth and EBITDA margins across both groups, and debate what's really driving the difference: lower R&D spend, selection bias, or superior go-to-market execution. They also unpack the implications of long CAC paybacks, PE-style operational rigor, and whether most founders truly understand the capital partners they're signing up with. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket. Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today. Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader. You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! This episode is sponsored by UserEvidence. Want to know what actually moves the needle on trust? Download The Evidence Gap, a data-backed report on the customer proof that drives real results. Get it now at userevidence.com/evidence. Key Chapters: (00:00) - Introduction to Topline Podcast and Episode Overview (02:42) - Exploring SaaS Growth Metrics and Margins (05:29) - The Role of R&D in SaaS Companies (08:32) - Understanding CAC and Payback Periods (11:22) - Cohort Analysis and Its Importance (14:34) - Navigating Board Dynamics and CEO Challenges (17:26) - The Importance of Understanding Investors (20:39) - Lessons from Previous Funding Rounds (23:34) - Market Dynamics and Founder Challenges (26:25) - The Impact of Market Conditions on Founders (29:39) - Acquisition Strategies and Long-Term Vision (32:34) - The Future of LinkedIn and Social Networks (35:42) - Conclusion and Key Takeaways (36:10) - The Evolution of LinkedIn and Market Dynamics (38:30) - Challenges in Product Market Fit and Email Cadences (40:45) - The Challenger Sale: Relevance and Misconceptions (46:40) - AI's Impact on Sales Methodologies and Market Dynamics (53:38) - Defining Intelligence in AI and Its Implications (01:02:00) - Best Practices for Using AI Effectively
Why Most B2B Positioning Fails (And How to Fix Yours)Most B2B positioning fails because teams refuse to make strategic choices—and it shows up in generic homepages, weak messaging, and confusing GTM.In this episode, we share a masterclass from Anthony Pierri—co-founder of Fletch PMM and positioning expert for 300+ B2B startups. If you're a marketer struggling to get your team aligned around clear messaging that drives revenue, this is for you.Anthony breaks down why positioning must live on your homepage, how to choose between use case vs category strategies, and the 4 key questions every B2B company must answer.Tune in and learn:+ The 6 most common B2B positioning mistakes (with real examples)+ Why your homepage is the best place to anchor positioning+ How to craft a clear, credible message your team can align aroundIf you've ever felt like your messaging is vague, your homepage is generic, or your GTM teams are misaligned—this episode will show you how to fix it.-----------------------------------------------------
How do you build a billion-dollar AI business with Product-Led Growth?Discover the secrets behind Fireflies.ai's unicorn success.In this episode of Liftoff with Keith, Krish Ramineni, Co-founder & CEO of Fireflies.ai, reveals how he scaled the market's leading AI notetaker into a unicorn over a decade-long journey packed with lessons in innovation, product-led growth, and resilience.Once a Microsoft Product Manager, Krish now leads product, design, and GTM at Fireflies, championing a vision where humans and AI collaborate to achieve extraordinary things.
When playbooks go stale and everyone's chasing the next big AI breakthrough, the standout B2B brands are doing something else entirely. They're building immersive worlds and inviting their audience in.That's exactly what happens in Silo, the hit Apple TV+ show, where attention to detail creates a gripping, lived-in universe. In this episode, we explore the marketing lessons behind it with special guest Karen Budell, Chief Strategy & Partnerships Officer at Totango.Together, we explore what B2B marketers can learn from crafting immersive brand worlds, creating standout brand visuals, and building trust through curiosity and community.About our guest, Karen BudellKaren Budell is the Chief Strategy & Partnerships Officer at Totango, the industry-leading customer revenue suite that turns AI-powered intelligence into customer-led growth. She previously served as the company's CMO, leading the marketing team responsible for brand and content, events, growth marketing, product marketing, and sales enablement. Budell is an active member of various CMO and GTM executive communities, including Pavilion, and serves on the G2 Executive Advisory Board. Budell previously held marketing leadership roles at SurveyMonkey, as Vice President, Brand Marketing, and Google.During her four years with Google, Budell led a team responsible for narratives and brand building for YouTube Ads and was instrumental in launching Google Marketing Platform. Having found success working with businesses of all sizes, both private and public, Budell's 20-plus year career in brand building and leadership has been fueled by her roots in journalism and a passion for storytelling through integrated, content-fueled campaigns.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Silo:Craft your world, don't just explain it. Silo hits because it's immersive. Every dusty set and muted tone pulls you deeper into its reality. That kind of worldbuilding isn't just for TV. “You need to create a unique world for your company, for your customers,” Karen says. In a sea of same-sounding content, your world is your edge and your responsibility.Curiosity is your competitive advantage. In Silo, curiosity is dangerous, but it's also how characters discover the truth. The same holds for marketers. “That is one of the most important traits of a good marketer… curiosity,” Karen says. It's not about having all the answers; it's about asking better questions and letting that inquiry shape your strategy.Emotion is in the details. Silo doesn't rely on big exposition; it builds feeling through design. You don't need to be told life underground is bleak. You feel it. “You feel claustrophobic as a viewer sitting at home watching this,” Karen says. “You feel like you're underground with them and yearning for a glimpse of what's outside.” In B2B, your content should do the same, evoke emotion through setting, tone, and texture, not just copy.Quote"We are in a great period of unlearning and relearning. I think that's what's exciting to me. Being curious. That's your superpower these days.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Karen Budell, Chief Strategy & Partnerships Officer at Totango[01:35] Why Silo?[03:17] Understanding Silo[07:51] B2B Marketing Lessons from Silo[22:34] The Power of Asking Questions[30:12] YouTube Strategy for B2B Brands[33:50] The Rise of Video Content[37:43] Totango's Brand & Content Strategies [39:12] Events and Experiences in Marketing[41:26] Final Thoughts and TakeawaysLinksConnect with Karen on LinkedInLearn more about TotangoAbout Remarkable!Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. In today's episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Head of Production). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.
Episode Summary: In this packed episode, Lacey Miller joins Erin and Ken to demystify what it means to be a "Go-to-Market Engineer" in today's AI-fueled marketing landscape. She breaks down how she uses agentic AI workflows to build repeatable, high-output growth systems without the team bloat. If you've ever wondered how AI changes content strategy, brand building, or TikTok for B2B... this is your playbook.
#267 Product Marketing | Matt is joined by Jennifer Cannizzaro, VP of Product Marketing at Responsive and former marketing leader at Whoop and DocuSign. Jennifer brings deep experience in building strategic, insight-driven marketing teams at high-growth B2B companies and she's at the forefront of using AI to scale smarter, not just faster.Matt and Jennifer cover:How product marketing can become a company-wide growth lever through tighter GTM alignment, strategic planning, and better customer intelPractical ways her team is using AI to reduce content workload, cut freelancer spend, and increase speed-to-marketHow to coach marketers to use AI responsibly, and why curiosity and judgment matter more than everIt's a tactical, behind-the-scenes look at what high-impact product marketing really looks like in 2025, including strategy, systems, and AI.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (02:37) - – What product marketing owns today (06:24) - – Launch and learn vs launch and leave (07:34) - – How PMM drives company strategy (10:59) - – Aligning teams around growth levers (14:34) - – Gathering customer and market intel (18:39) - – Quick, AI-powered research tactics (20:19) - – Sharing insights across the org (25:00) - – Real examples of AI in use (28:20) - – Eliminating freelancer spend with AI (30:00) - – What to feed AI to get results (32:50) - – Coaching teams to use AI well (36:20) - – Weekly AI spotlights and team habits (38:35) - – Building a team-wide AI culture (42:05) - – Setting realistic AI expectations (45:50) - – Example prompts and experiments (48:07) - – The role of community and mentorship (54:20) - – Final thoughts and wrap-up Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Zuddl.We're halfway through 2025, and one thing's clear: events continue to be one of the highest performing marketing channels. Niche meetups, conferences, curated dinners, networking - you name it. Everyone's leaning in.Events are a core part of our playbook this year at Exit Five. So far, we've hosted two virtual sessions each month, one large virtual event, one in-person meetup, and we're deep in the weeds planning our Drive conference coming back to Vermont this September.Zuddl helps us run a smarter event strategy - from driving registrations, managing invites, automating comms, reminders, analytics, tracking. Their Salesforce integration also makes it simple to report on pipeline and revenue from events without pulling in ops.On top of that, the differentiator with Zuddl is how their team is insanely good at supporting us. They always go above and beyond for us - and that's how we've been able to keep the momentum going with 12+ events already this year, with plenty more to come.If events are part of your marketing strategy, you need to look at Zuddl to see how companies like Zillow, CrowdStrike, and Iterable are using the top event platform for Business events in 2025. Head over to zuddl.com/exitfive to learn more.
This week on GTM Live, Carolyn sits down with Sam Dunning, SEO leader and B2B growth expert, to unpack how SEO has dramatically evolved and what top-performing companies must do to adapt.They dive into why traditional SEO—focused on keywords, rankings, and traffic—is now too siloed, and how modern SEO needs to align with revenue, messaging, and the full customer journey.They also explore outdated SEO metrics, the pitfalls of last-touch attribution, and why shifting to a revenue-influence mindset is essential.You'll hear what modern SEO looks like in a revenue-led org, how category narrative (not keyword stuffing) is the new growth lever, and how AI is reshaping both content production and search behavior.Together, Carolyn and Sam challenge the idea that SEO can be a standalone marketing channel, it's a powerful GTM distribution engine when done right.Key topics in this episode:Why SEO can't be a silo anymoreHow to reframe SEO as a distribution strategy, not just a traffic engineWhy aligning SEO with your company's POV drives better outcomesHow AI is reshaping the content and SEO landscapeWhy B2B companies need to track influence, not just rankings or leadsThe biggest SEO measurement mistakes teams still makeWhat high-performing teams are doing differently with content
Joseph Burns built the perfect AI recruiter. Then he did something radical. He shut it down. This isn't a TED Talk about tech utopia. It's a wake-up call for every executive in career transition who's been ghosted by a bot, sidelined by bias, or fed the myth that “applying online” is a strategy. Joseph is a former Facebook product leader turned founder who speaks five languages. including the most misunderstood one in hiring: AI. In this episode, Joseph breaks down: What elite execs are doing instead of clicking “apply now” Why automating human connection is sabotaging your hiring How Joseph would run a job search like a GTM strategy, not a résumé refresh How companies are saving time and losing top talent with AI interviews The irreplaceable nuance of intuition, emotion, and storytelling in interviews Joseph didn't just build the tech, he walked away from it. Because great hiring isn't about efficiency, it's about getting it right. Would you trust a bot to pick your spouse? No? Then don't let it pick your team.
Databox is an easy-to-use Analytics Platform for growing businesses. We make it easy to centralize and view your entire company's marketing, sales, revenue, and product data in one place, so you always know how you're performing. Learn More About DataboxSubscribe to our newsletter for episode summaries, benchmark data, and moreIn this episode of Move the Needle, we sit down with Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro and the mind behind the now-mainstream concept of “zero-click content.” Amanda dives into why marketers must stop obsessing over clicks and start optimizing for impressions, reach, and value on investment (VOI). From redefining marketing metrics to helping stakeholders buy into new ways of measuring success, Amanda shares a practical, experience-backed approach to content that builds sustainable impact over time.What you'll learn:Why zero-click content actually drives long-term business growthHow to shift from ROI to VOI and what that looks like in practiceCreative ways to repurpose content to fuel multiple teams and channelsHow to build stakeholder alignment by supporting your colleagues' objectives
Scaling without losing speed is harder than it looks — especially when you're chasing enterprise customers and building an AI-native platform. Lindsey Scrase, Chief Operating Officer of Checkr, Inc., reveals how her customer-first mindset, forged during her tenure at Google Cloud, is driving Checkr's transformation into a core hiring infrastructure platform while scaling AI across operations. With a track record of building high-velocity GTM motions and a strong commitment to second-chance hiring, she explains what it takes to evolve into an AI-native enterprise.Specifically, Lindsey covers:(03:55) Early-stage Google Cloud, then called Google Apps.(06:46) How a culture of wearing multiple hats inspired continuous improvement.(10:40) Early execs need curiosity and first-principles thinking over fixed playbooks.(15:57) A shift from gig-focused roots to strong SMB and mid-market segments.(21:39) Strong leaders think long-term and dive deep into day-to-day details.(27:16) Enterprise growth demands tight alignment across GTM, product and CS.(31:25) AI will become table stakes as true adoption goes beyond branding and hype.(35:25) Generative AI chat boosts CSAT by delivering instant, contextual responses.(41:13) Take bigger swings earlier and don't take things so seriously.(45:01) Direct feedback builds trust and prevents conflict from turning toxic.Resources Mentioned:Lindsey Scrasehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-scrase-0702442/Checkr | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/checkr-com/Checkr | Websitehttps://checkr.com/Trueworkhttps://www.truework.com/“Working Backwards” by Bill Carr and Colin Bryarhttps://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencionihttps://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756This episode is brought to you by:Leverage community-led growth to skyrocket your business. From Grassroots to Greatness by author Lloyed Lobo will help you master 13 game-changing rules from some of the most iconic brands in the world — like Apple, Atlassian, CrossFit, Harley-Davidson, HubSpot, Red Bull and many more — to attract superfans of your own that will propel you to new heights. Grab your copy today at FromGrassrootsToGreatness.comEach year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AILaunch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.caContent Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com#Leadership #GTMStrategy #EnterpriseGrowth #Product #Marketing #Innovation #StartUp #GenerativeAI #AI
When everyone's racing to launch big strategies, success takes more than smart tactics. It takes alignment, discipline, and deep cross-functional trust.That's how the heroes in Spidey and His Amazing Friends, the hit animated Marvel kids' show, defeat the villains. In this episode, we unpack marketing lessons from Spidey's universe with the help of our special guest Emily Ferdinando, CMO at Bugcrowd.Together, we explore what B2B marketers can learn from nailing ABM execution, building content grounded in community feedback, and turning shared goals into real, coordinated action.About our guest, Emily FerdinandoEmily Ferdinando is a go-to-market leader with a focus on pipeline and revenue growth. She brings 15 years of GTM leadership experience, specializing in optimizing operational processes and data-driven strategy. With a background in sales and operations, Emily brings a unique approach to Marketing focused on down-funnel impact and top-line growth. Emily joins Bugcrowd from Veracode where she most recently led the Growth Marketing organization. Her background includes leadership roles across the GTM engine, including Global Business Development, GTM Enablement, and Operational Strategy. While there, she led the team through multiple events and two successful exits. Emily lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two young children. She enjoys the outdoors and stretching her creative muscles through painting, fiction writing and guitar.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Spidey and His Amazing Friends:Alignment over silos. In one episode, Spidey, Ghosty, and Miles all chase Rhino with their own plans, each using their powers, none working together. The mission falls apart. “We can say we have the same goal all day, but if we're not aligned on how we get there… that's what it's gonna look like,” Emily says. In marketing and in superhero teams, the difference between success and disaster isn't talent, it's coordination.One-size-fits-all content fits no one. Spidey's world works because it's made for everyone. Each with different powers, personalities, backgrounds, and their own story. That same inclusive mindset should guide your content. “Many people did not fit squarely into one piece,” Emily says. “If we ran our strategy that way, they were missing exposure to a lot of content that was really relevant to them.” Real impact comes from serving the overlaps, not the edges.Simple stories stick. Spidey and His Amazing Friends makes complex ideas—like teamwork, trust, and problem-solving—land through bright colors and clear stakes. For marketers, that's the goal too. “Making internal assumptions without pressure testing with the people who are going to be receiving the output of your team, it's a huge miss,” Emily says. Whether you're leading kids or customers, never assume they're on board. Ask, listen, and build with them.Quote“Spidey and His Amazing Friends, they really teach you what actual in practice, collaboration is supposed to look like and not look like. And it's really as simple as…you step back. We all know what we're supposed to do. It's just really hard in practice sometimes, and sometimes you can learn from the kids' shows. You just step back and go, we know what to do, we just need to do it.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Emily Ferdinando, CMO at Bugcrowd[01:00] Why Spidey and His Amazing Friends?[02:20] The Role of a CMO at Bugcrowd[03:00] Origins of Spidey and His Amazing Friends[19:38] B2B Marketing Takeaways from Spidey and His Amazing Friends[29:21] Bugcrowd's ABM Launch[33:30] Repackaging Content for Better Engagement[40:13] Bugcrowd's Content Strategy and Community Engagement[47:20] Final Thoughts and TakeawaysLinksConnect with Emily on LinkedInLearn more about BugcrowdAbout Remarkable!Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. In today's episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Head of Production). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.
Guests: Garrett Lord, co-founder and CEO of Handshake; and Mamoon Hamid, partner at Kleiner Perkins.Handshake set out to democratize career opportunity. In the process, it unlocked something more: a high-trust expert network built on verified talent and earned trust.This week on Grit, Garrett Lord shares how what began as a platform for student job seekers is now partnering with leading labs, enabling experts to train real-world AI systems. He explains how owning verified domain talent has become their core strategic edge, bypassing middlemen and turning a decade of trust into lasting advantage.Connect with Garrett LordXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmailConnect with MamoonXLinkedInLearn more about Kleiner Perkins